Religion and Politics

I wasn’t sure that I should repost the picture of this piece of “art” here, but without a picture it is really impossible to imagine what a crucified frog would look like. In fact, I almost missed this story altogether - but last week the Museum in Bolzano announced that it would not take down the display despite the Pope’s request. I think it’s rather sad that the frog is actually supposed to depict the artist (the late Martin Kippenberger) and human anguish. The letter from the Vatican said that the religious sentiments of many people were wounded. So, does it offend religion as a whole - just Christianity - just the Roman Catholic Church - or only the artist himself, who also took a video of himself being crucified? It’s a sad world, and this “frog” is a grotesque thing indeed - after all, why is it holding an egg and a beer mug?

See here for one source of the picture and an article.

The world of “religion and politics” just got a whole lot more interesting now that the Republican Party has chosen a woman to be their Vice-Presidential candidate, who also happens to be an evangelical Christian. She is also the first woman on a party ticket since 1984 (Ferraro). Sarah Palin, who has been the Governor of Alaska for 20 months, is anti-abortion and helps McCain with the Christian right. Some women were impressed while others were offended by Palin’s description of herself as a “hockey mom” as part of her self introduction to the nation. Despite this initial introduction, the question of Mccain’s vice-presidential selection process got even more bizarre when the news came out that Palin’s 17 year-old daughter is five months pregnant. It does not seem that this rather “shocking” news has had any impact on the Christian base of the Republic Party and their platforms against sex education in the schools that move past abstinence. Obama has referred to his own mother’s age when he was born and that it is beyond politics to discuss the Palin family’s personal matters. In essence, this announcement may be helpful for self-reflection in the United States. With more young people watching the news and following this year’s election, it might be beneficial that the topic of teenage pregnancy is making headlines – although clearly Bristol has it far easier than most teenage girls. Families and schools can look together at this high profile case of a small-town America girl (now the daughter of a VP candidate) and what kinds of problems will await her and her family. Even if it shouldn’t affect Palin’s candidacy, this “unwanted” pregnancy should be a topic for reflection and questioning among all groups in the U.S., particularly the Christian right and the anti-abortion groups – which so far were planning to fully support Palin for the VP post.

Recommended Reading:

I don’t know how the New York Times does it, but it always makes the debate on evolution and creationism interesting. In case you missed this Sunday’s paper, the article “A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash,” tells the story of a science teacher that faces the challenge of teaching evolution in Jacksonville. Amy Harmon reminds readers that states have been giving more emphasis in recent years to “what has long been the scientific consensus: that all the of the diverse life forms on Earth descended from a common ancestor, through a process of mutation and natural selection, over billions of years.” This “consensus,” however, does not include the 50% of Americans, who “have consistently said they believe God created all living things in their present form.” 

An excellent interview on TheWorld website looks at the reconstruction of mosques in Banja Luka – the capital of the Serb-run part of Bosnia. The backdrop of the rebuilding is the capture last month of Radovan Karadzic. The discussion is with Andras Reidlmayer, an expert of Islamic architecture at Harvard, Bedrudin Gusic, the president of Banja Luka’s Islamic community at the time, and Muhamed Hamidovic, a former professor of architecture from Sarajevo. Jeb Sharp, the reporter, reminds readers that all 16 of the city’s mosques were destroyed by Serb forces. The conversation focuses on the efforts to recreate the Ferhadija, which was built in the 1570s and blown up in 1993. The wreckage after the explosion was scattered throughout the city, when “Serbs went to extraordinary lengths to obliterate any evidence.” Two-thirds of the fragments of the mosque have been recovered.

These pictures are from the TheWorld website.The first picture is the Ferhadija mosque. The second photo shows the pieces, which have been collected of the Ferhadija after it was destroyed.

Six members of the Turkish Constitutional Court have voted to close down the AKP (the ruling Justice and Development Party). However, four others voted only to deprive the party of half of its government financial assistance. Closure of a political party requires seven votes. The court chairman, according to one news report, said that the cut in financial assistance was a warning. It is not entirely clear what such a warning will mean to the party. The case was brought against AKP in March “on claims that it became the focal point of anti-secular activities.” Other news reports question the procedure of bringing such cases before the court and that changes should be “made before opening of closure cases.” Turkey’s Prime Minister has said that the AKP is committed to the secular system. The AKP entered the political scene on August 14, 2001 and won 46.6% of the vote in the July 2007 elections. If AKP had been banned, the current government would have been removed from power – forcing elections. The poignant element of the debate over whether Erdogan and the AKP are “Islamizing” the country is that it unfortunately focuses so much on the question of hejab and women’s clothing. Would that really “Islamize” the country? The New York Times reminds readers that Turkey’s chances of gaining membership in the EU would have been hurt if the court closed the party, and the BBC reports that Turkey’s Labor Minister has said the court’s decision was “a victory for Turkish democracy.” Roger Hardy, for the BBC, has also written an analytical news piece about the second court case, which has been “deepening the rift between secularists and a government with Islamist roots.” The article discusses Ergenekon, the ultra-nationalist group that has been indicted on allegations that it was planning to overthrow the Turkish government.

Charles Le Gai Eaton wrote in the introduction to his book, Islam and the Destiny of Man (1985), “Religion is a different matter.”

This blog’s working premise is that the forces of religion influence to a great degree world politics and international debates on critical issues like terrorism and human rights. Even if a country faces the historical absence or minimization of religion, this void will still be a major element in its national debate and policy formation. What should be our working assumptions of the most God-fearing and religious countries in the world? Indeed, those states that base their politics (and foreign policies) to a significant degree on the principles of religious faith will often use rhetoric to characterize the gap between their religiously-inspired policies and the agendas of more secular states.

This blog aims to bring to its readers images and descriptions of world religious belief through in-depth discussion of world news and the voices of foreign policy analysts, who try to uncover the connections between religion today and the world’s political dilemmas. The goal is to always appreciate the diverse religious views of people and societies. Knowing what influence religious forces have on governments will also help reveal the complexities of regional politics, thereby permitting a sounder analysis of the foreign policy decision making process.

The interactions between religious governments, people, and their movements and the so-called secular world will dominate the discussion here. Issues such as the war on terror, rule of law, democracy, and human rights will all be brought to the table (this blog) to discover the role of religion in political issues such as nation- and state-building. Blogs will present in the future newsworthy items and current events, but there will also be interviews and literature reviews (in order to provide as much information and research to the readers as possible).

Comments, suggestions, and alerts to newsworthy items from readers of this blog are always welcome.