Religion and Politics

The most fascinating news story about the Muslim holiday eid al-fitr this year may concern Bangladesh. The AFP reported that Muslims in Dhaka were praying for free and fair elections, and the head of the emergency government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, “called for peace.” The country has been under emergency rule since January 2007, and there are elections scheduled for December 18 by the current military government. The AFP also reported that President Iajuddin Ahmed said, “The appeal of eid al-fitr is eternal in establishing a friendly and peaceful society.”

picture from AFP

I try not to make this blog too much about incidents of terrorism or about the violence that results from religious extremism, but it is such a tragedy to see the pictures coming out of Iraq today. We have become almost blind to the many suicide bombings there, but it is so devastating to think that people should die on a religious holiday - and particularly as they leave from prayers at a mosque. The attacks happened at the end of the holy month of Ramadan - the Shiites at the mosque were marking the holiday of Eid al-Fitr with prayers. The reports are that 16 people were killed near the mosques as they left morning prayers. In other areas of the country, the victims in other attacks were all Sunni. Last Sunday, at least another 32 people were killed.  At the heart of what has happened, however, it is a real tragedy to see suffering when people expect to be joyous for a religious holiday.

Apparently, the world should now choose between freedom of expression or the freedom to practice religious belief without being insulted. Egypt’s Foreign Minister told the General Assembly a few days ago that speech is “being used to incite hatred based on religion.” His full statement before the 63rd session of the General Assembly can be found here. In essence, Ahmed Aboul Gheit argued that there should be a rejection of the repeated attacks on religions as part of the so-called “legitimate exercise of the freedom of expression.” The goal is to balance freedom of expression with the personal “sentiments” of others. His aim was to explain how attacks against religion have led to greater cultural tension throughout the world.

There is more news about religion, politics, and the United Nations. This past Thursday, Religions for Peace launched a new partnership with UNIFEM (the UN Development Fund for Women) “to engage communities of faith around the world to lead efforts to end violence against women.” Part of this cooperation entailed signing on to the “Say NO to Violence against Women Campaign.” According to the Say NO factsheet, the economic costs of intimate partner violence in the U.S. exceeds 5.8 billion USD per year. $4.1 billion are for medical services, while almost $1.8 billion are lost in productivity. The Secretary-General of Religions for Peace said that “people of faith around the world believe that it is a moral responsibility to end violence against women.” The Say No to Violence campaign is part of the UN Secretary General’s global campaign UNiTE to End Violence Against Women, which runs until 2015. These ambitions are also directly linked to Millenium Development Goal #3, which promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Now, UNIFEM is hoping to collect one million signatures through its SAY NO website.

At the UN General Assembly’s high-level debate yesterday, representatives of three countries discussed the need to encourage dialogue “and mutual respect between peoples of different faiths, beliefs, and values.” The UN News Centre reported that the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende said that governments face a challenge “in balancing the need to affirm the cultural and religious values and customs of citizens with building bridges with the rest of the world.” That statement, however, implies that in some countries the religious values of people are on one side and cooperation is on the other, thereby leading to conflict with the rest of the world. This only leaves me wondering – which countries did Mr. Balkenende have in mind? Are some religions inherently difficult to balance with international cooperation? The Crown Prince of Brunei also spoke on the issue and said his country “has long supported the need for worldwide dialogue between faiths,” and the head of government of San Marino emphasized the importance of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue.

Nicholas D. Kristof wrote an interesting editorial recently about the “sleaziness of this presidential campaign.” His point was that the political campaign was transforming Obama into a Muslim after all, but only because “religious prejudice is becoming a proxy for racial prejudice.” Actually, this column by Kristof is really scary, and if it’s true that a sizeable part of the country has “otherized” Obama, then there will be lasting ramifications for the dialogue between Christianity and Islam. He concludes by saying that journalists have a responsibility to “blow the whistle” if the campaign is magnifying “the ugliest prejudices that our nation has done so much to overcome.”

The underlying statistic (from Pew): Only half of Americans know that Obama is Christian.

On September 5, this blog discussed the social debate over the construction of a sensationally beautiful mosque in Cologne. Now, there is news that conservative forces in Italy are also attempting to limit the construction of mosques. Reuters reports that “polls show Italians mistrust Muslims, and a third do not want a mosque in their neighborhood.” The main question now is whether the Northern League will be able to push through a bill of regulations on the construction of mosques. The law will – for example – ban minarets, block mosques from being built near churches, and forbid loudspeakers. There are more than one million Muslims in Italy.

The White House website informs Americans about yesterday’s official Iftaar dinner. President Bush attended the dinner and gave a small speech to commemorate the holy month of Ramadan. Muslim congressmen Keith Ellison and Andre Carson were noted to be in attendance, and the President specifically mentioned the role of Muslims in the United States in “innovation and invention.” Time was also taken to remember “all the brave Muslim Americans who wear the uniform of the United States Armed Forces” and that America’s strength lies in its religious diversity. The President said, “We reject bigotry in all its forms.”

Pope Benedict XVI was in France for three days last week. On Friday he arrived in Paris, where he was met by President Sarkozy and his wife. As regards the intellectual content of the Pope’s visit, a New York Times Article says that he warned “the Parisian intelligentsia of the dangers of secularism.” Sarkozy, according to France24, on his end, “renewed his call for positive secularism,” which he first spoke about in Rome last year and would mean religion playing a greater role in public life. Apparently, the Pope’s aim is to bring faith and reason closer together. Rachel Donadio reported that Benedict XVI’s first visit to France centered on the tensions between faith and reason and that “his message went counter to a deep vein of anticlericalism in France.” She also reported that the Pope is thereby calling for a “redefinition of laïcité,” or secularism (the divide between church and state). The Pope also denounced “fundamentalist fanaticism,” when he addressed cultural figures - including Muslim leaders - two years after his controversial speech in Regensburg.

Picture Source: France24

The BBC, among other news providers, reported yesterday that the most senior judge in Saudi Arabia has said that it is permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV channels that broadcast immoral programs. Sheikh Salih Ibn al-Luhaydan commented on a radio program that “It is legitimate to kill those who call for corruption if their evil cannot be stopped by other penalties.” The BBC Arab affairs analyst said that “the sheikh’s views cannot be easily dismissed,” and fighting extremism will be harder in Saudi Arabia if the top judge legitimizes “beheading.” The BBC report can be found here.