Ingrid Mattson – Compete in Good Works Program 5310
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AI: Transcript ©
How often do we hear today that religion
is the greatest source of conflict and violence
in the world?
It is understandable that people feel that way,
but is it true?
In his study, body count,
Naveed Sheikh, a scholar at the University of
Louisville,
has compiled lists of major political violence across
world history.
There, he finds that the largest number of
deaths were lost in conflicts to protect and
expand the interests
and borders of nation states,
emerging nations,
and colonial or imperial powers.
In Europe, in World War 1 and World
War 2, in the Japanese occupation
of China,
in imperial and communist China and Russia to
destroy internal political opposition
by the Mongols and their imperial expansion,
and even in American colonialism
and expansion whereby millions of natives were killed.
In all of these cases, except in the
destruction of American indigenous communities,
religious differences were a minor or irrelevant factor.
And even in the case of Native Americans,
religious prejudice could hardly be distinguished from racial
racial prejudice.
This does not mean, however, that religious people
can rest easily.
Our faiths have been and are used to
justify violence and intolerance.
Among many examples we can give, I am
plagued by the knowledge that thousands of innocent
people died in this country in the terrorist
attacks of September 11th,
by men who justified their actions in the
name of my religion.
In those cases where religious identity is conflated
with ethnic, tribal, or national identity,
conflicts between different groups seem more enduring.
We think of the tragic clashes
between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland,
the genocidal
campaign of Serbian Christians against Bosnian Muslims,
and the enduring conflict between Israeli Jews and
Palestinian Muslims and Christians.
Yet in these and in other conflicts,
peacemakers
motivated by religious faith have contributed to reconciliation
and alleviated the suffering of many people.
The Grand Mufti of Bosnia,
himself a victim of the 4 year siege
of Sarajevo
and a man who had to conduct hundreds
of funeral prayers for innocent Muslims
massacred at Srebrenica
in the name of Serbian Christianity,
led his people towards reconciliation.
The orphans of Srebrenica
were taught to pray,
oh god, teach us that tolerance is the
highest degree of power, and the desire for
revenge,
the first sign of weakness.
Oh god, if we sin against people,
give us the strength of apology.
And if the people sin against us,
give us the strength of forgiveness.
Martin Luther King Junior, Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai
Lama,
archbishop
Desmond Tutu,
each one an individual of faith who has
drawn upon the discourse of peace,
justice, and human dignity
in their respective traditions to create powerful,
positive movements.
As a Muslim, I know that the religion
of Islam is mostly a positive force for
peace among my community.
The majority of the world's Muslims live in
poverty,
the result in many cases of the legacy
of European colonialism
and subsequent dictatorship.
Yet ordinary Muslims across the world
draw upon their faith to continue to live
ethical lives,
to show gratitude towards god in the most
dire of circumstances,
and to show charity and hospitality
towards others,
even if their own means are limited.
Americans who travel to the Middle East and
other regions where there are majority Muslim cultures
have experienced this hospitality and kindness.
Since September 11th, however,
the steady news of suicide bombings and terrorist
attacks committed by militant Muslims
has resulted in another impression,
that Islam promotes violence
and that Muslims are in some kind of
essential conflict with the West or even with
Christianity.
It is the nature of the news to
focus on the most dramatic, bizarre, and disturbing
events of the day,
Yet when most Americans do not know Muslims
personally
or have little knowledge about Islam,
the result of these persistent violent images leaves
a distorted impression.
Certainly, it has been appropriate for Muslims to
take more responsibility
for our faith
to ensure that it is not hijacked to
harm others.
It is not appropriate, however,
for ordinary Muslims
to be to have their own faith defined
by the extremists.
This is why in 2006,
when Pope Benedict the 16th delivered a speech
in Regensburg, Germany,
in which it seemed that he suggested
that an innate violent and tendency and anti
rationality
was in Islam, Muslims were deeply hurt.
Not only was it upsetting to have such
a great spiritual leader misunderstand
our religion,
but many Muslim leaders were concerned that this
speech would contribute
to further discriminatory
and intolerant actions towards Muslims in Europe,
with the result that Muslims would feel further
alienated from civic life,
a feeling that could contribute
to mistrust and even hatred.
In what I can only perceive as a
divinely
inspired act of reconciliation,
a group of prominent Muslim scholars gathered to
write an open letter to the pope and
to Christians of the world to break this
cycle of provocation,
alienation,
and division.
In October
2007,
a 138
of the most prominent scholars and leaders from
across the world,
Muslims from Nigeria to Indonesia,
issued an open letter entitled,
a common word,
and it begins with this statement.
Muslims and Christians together make up well over
half of the world's population.
Without peace and justice between these two religious
communities,
there could be no meaningful peace in the
world.
The future of the world depends on peace
between Muslims and Christians.
The basis for this peace and understanding already
exists.
It is part of the very foundational principles
of both faiths,
love of the one god and love of
neighbor.
These principles are found over and over again
in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity.
The unity of god, the necessity of love
for him,
the necessity of love of neighbor is thus
a common ground between Islam and Christianity.
The response to the common word has been
extraordinary.
Hundreds of Christian religious leaders, including American denominations,
responded positively and sensitively with their own letters.
Over time, more and more Muslim and Christian
leaders
joined in, and Jewish leaders were also invited
to comment and participate in the discussions.
Major conferences exploring the implications of the two
commands of love on god and neighbor were
held across the world.
But most importantly,
perhaps from my perspective,
has been the response of ordinary believers
who seem relieved to have an authoritative
document
permitting them to continue what they already wanted
to do,
to contribute to the common good with people
of other faiths.
It is religious ideology that forms a barrier
to this intuitive and compassionate
impulse for cooperation
on the part of ordinary believers.
It is thus the responsibility
of religious leaders
to remove such ideological
barriers.
There are those who are afraid of interfaith
work,
but we have to accept that there is
a divine command
that there be multiple religions in the world.
The Quran says,
we have assigned a law and a path
to each of you. If God had so
willed, he would have made you one community,
but he wanted to test you through that
which he has given you. So compete in
good works.
You will all return to God, and he
will make clear to you the matters about
which you differed.
There is so much work to be done
in the world today.
As religious people, as professor Timothy Winter of
Cambridge University said,
we are called to prove to the world
that we are a force for good.
The modern crisis of faith is all too
often triggered by a sense that religion yields
the bitter fruit of enmity and conflict.
Our most urgent task then, as we seek
to recover our place as defenders of human
dignity and mutual respect,
is to show in practice, and not only
in words, that we can cooperate together for
the common good.
When we cooperate
together in good works, everyone will benefit.