Just Questions
Last week's words from Muslim Canadian Congress representative Tarek Fatah pose an interesting challenge to people of all faiths in Canada:"If bishops were meeting regularly with the RCMP, what do you think their congregrations would think?"*What if the leaders of your church were consistently at work in conjunction with the nations' authorities to weed out potential security threats? What if church leaders were pointing to those members of their congregation and implicating them as dangers to society? If this is a practice we Canadians deem acceptable in Muslim religious communities, why do we not also bring this into effect in Jewish, Christian, Hindu or other instances? At what point should faith communities capitulate to the State in order to protect the State's interests? At what point should religious leaders alert the authorities if they suspect members of their congregation of unlawful behaviour? Where is sanctuary? When do we offer it? What do we do when those to whom sanctuary is offered are against our government? * Globe & Mail - June 8, 2006 | "Authorities confronted wall of silence" |
posted by andrew at 5:42 p.m.
4 Comments:
Radical Islam is know of, understood, and tolerated by the imams in the mosques and by family members and friends. That is why Israel razes the houses of suicide bombers in Palestine. To show that negligence is in essence compliance with terrorism.
I do not think christianity has these kinds of problems, but whomever so is silent in bearing witness to evil or the language of it, they, too, are culpable of the damage it may inflict. To speak out against evil, though it may compromise your faith, is a difficult thing to do.
By the way, I'd advise being careful visiting my site. It's not the most religion-friendly around....
Adrian - I suspect that Christianity, in some senses, does, in fact, have this problem - at least in some corners. The wackos that bomb abortion clinics in the name of life and of God come to mind. Aren't these, in some senses, domestic terrorists, albeit on a smaller scale?
I'm glad, tho, that we can recognise these incidences as factional and, in most cases, unreflective of the faith group's overarching peaceful, reconciliatory aims.
And personally, I think that religion, including Christianity could use some sparring partners to help it own up to some of the fucked up shit in its past and present.
It seems to me, at least, that some significant Christian factions are getting off on their religiosity while ignoring their call to active service of other human beings, and indeed the whole of creation (or the whole earth, if you'd prefer).
There are many things we all, as a human species need to make amends for - Christians included.
Interesting. I've rarely read an apology from a person of faith. That you can see the flaws and within your religion is an indication you are endowed with critical thinking.
I agree that radical elements in christianity are indeed factional, and usually removed from what has settled into a peaceful, albeit incredibly powerful, religion. Of course, if we were to assume that George W Bush is acting in conscience of his religion in Iraq, you may find christianity has been highjacked once again by fanaticism.
Where I see the main problem with Islam, is that radical elements are not merely factional and isolated, but prevalent in every major country in the world today that contains an Islamic demographic. This would indicate to me that the religion itself is in trouble, and not, as Muslim apologists would suggest, only a minority group of radicals.
Where Christian radicals still have some logical inconsistencies has in part already been pointed out by you: abortion clinic bombings. Another would be supporting capital punishment while being "pro-life"; stopping stem cell research because it is tampering with the work of "God", even though it could lead to breakthrough medical cures; right-to-die cases refused on the principle that terminally ill patients should not be allowed to take their own lives, suffering a painful end...
Sometimes people just don't make any sense. And sometimes they need to be reminded of that. Christian faith gives no-one the ticket to the right answer.
Embracing Christ, embracing Christ's teachings as a way of life does not permit anyone to stand still, to say "I have the right answer," because that betrays the fact that no one human has the whole picture.
Faithful Christianity, I should think, necessitates humility, and resubmitting one's self time and again, at the foot of the cross, acknowledging human frailty, and seeking new understanding.
And that, I think is where much of today's trouble comes from - people so set in their ways that they forget to pay attention to the harmful effects of their actions upon the world around them.
And for Christians, well, that should be a big wakeup call.
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