A Tale of Two Countries

By contrast, violence has flared again in Egypt, where elections are held this week. The violence has included the deaths of demonstrators as well as the burning of Christian churches and the killing of Christians. Much of the protest centers on the Egyptian military, against their perceived unwillingness to relinquish power. The military partnered with the Egyptian people in the earlier revolution to rid the country of the corrupt rule of Mubarak, yet now appears unwilling to allow an unfettered civilian government to rule.

This is a recurring theme of newly freed nations. The group which plays the role in ridding the country of tyranny, itself refuses to relinquish power.

What would have happened to our own country if George Washington had followed the usual pattern? He could have used his powers as commander of the American armed forces after he successfully led them to victory over the British to seize power. Instead, he resigned his commission. Later, after two terms as president, he stepped aside, saying two terms was enough. By leaving the office voluntarily and allowing for a peaceful transfer of power, he established a valuable precedent for the country.

The decision of a popular individual to see power as a trust and a refusal to use it for selfish purposes is a rare choice.

Winning the Peace

Freedom of Religion and the Religious

Sectarian violence flared this week in Egypt. Coptic Christians, who comprise about ten percent of the Egyptian population, wonder if the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak’s corrupt but secular regime will help or hurt minority religions like Christianity. Will a more religiously oriented state lead to less freedom of religion for non-Muslims?

The Muslim Brotherhood, with Islamist leanings, may win greater political power in Egyptian parliamentary elections scheduled later this year. Members of the Brotherhood suffered under Mubarak. Such suffering, some analysts say, has produced a more committed membership, organized to campaign more effectively than other groups, including secular ones.

Must one be secular to practice tolerance?

As Christians in this country become increasingly aware of hostility and the decline of their influence, the temptation grows to seek political power. I not only lived as a minority Christian in several countries, but I’m a descendant of Baptists who struggled for religious freedom.  I do hope we American Christians do not follow the path some are suggesting for the Muslim Brotherhood.

A Religious Disconnect

One reason for the 9/11 tragedy is the disconnect between religiously oriented societies and secular societies. This religious disconnect appeared years ago. An unforseen consequence of the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990′s was the loosening of ties between the United States and countries in the Middle East. We no longer shared a common atheist enemy.

The disconnect appeared even earlier, in the 1970′s, with the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Iran. The young Iranians who took the Americans hostage objected to U.S. support for the Shah. They wanted a theocratic rule by the Islamist ayatollah, Khomeini. At that time we tended to see the world as divided between the secular Soviet Union and the secular United States and it allies. This tendency blinded us to another force: religion’s importance in the Middle East and the increasing dissatisfaction with the West’s consumer-oriented lifestyle.

In his book, All Fall Down, about the takeover, Gary Sick writes “We are all prisoners of our own cultural assumptions, more than we care to admit. Those of us who are products of Western cultural tradition … share certain assumptions … .The notion of a theocratic state seemed so unlikely as to be absurd” (pp. 192-3.) Thus we were unprepared for the Iranian revolution which put in place their theocratic state.

What about the recent toppling of other secular governments in the Middle East? How important will religion be to these new regimes?

How Much Do We Believe In Democracy?

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton recently traveled to Paris to discuss with allies how to boost democracy in newly-liberated Libya.

The United States successfully championed democracy in Europe following World War II and in eastern Europe following the Soviet collapse of the 1990′s. Less so in Iraq and Afghanistan.

How are Christians to view democracy? Do we encourage our fellow Christians in the Middle East to support democratic movements, perhaps at cost to themselves?

Democracy is a relatively new issue. Christianity was born in a theocracy within an imperial empire, both at times hostile to the new religion. It endured barbarian invasions, feudalism, the rise of a cultural Christianity within that feudalism, and the rise of the modern European states.

In the late 1700’s, a secular state arose without a state religion, the new United States. However, most of the people within that state were at least nominal Christians, and Christians exercised great influence.

Christians came to think of the United States as a “Christian” nation. Nevertheless, it was a republic, with freedom of religion and  democratic institutions. What happens if a clear majority of Americans no longer follow Christian teachings?

Does the Christian minority have a right to try to impose their beliefs by law? If so, how are Christians different from other groups who want to impose beliefs through the state? Some Shia Muslims or Indian Hindus, for example—or Islamists in Libya?

Our kingdom is not of this world. Else, Jesus said, his followers would fight as the world’s kingdoms fight. But the first followers didn’t. Christianity advanced in those first centuries through witness, preaching, and above all forming communities of love and purpose.

How Safe Are Religious Minorities In The Arab Spring?

How will countries newly liberated in the ‘Arab spring’ treat minorities? What will be their policies toward human rights? Practitioners of minority religions from Christianity to the Baha’i  faith are apprehensive about their treatment in the new order.

A meeting of countries active in encouraging the recent movement of Libyans to unseat the Qadhafi regime (the Libya Contact Group) is exploring ways to “win the peace” and prevent bloodshed from competing factions in that country. The United States stated its position that the new Libyan government should respect all Libyans, from whatever tribe, region, or minority.

Unfortunately, Christians have not always been as tolerant in the past as they now call for nations with Christian minorities to be. They sometimes used secular authority as a force for their own religion.  When Christianity became popular in the latter days of the Roman Empire, for example, it began to dominate. This led eventually to the medieval, all-encompassing church that sanctioned charges of heresy against all who disagreed and eventually to such atrocities as the Inquisition and wars in the name of religion.

If we are confident of our religious experience, we allow Christianity to compete in the global market place, as the apostle Paul did. Any religion that seeks to dominate by force results in nonbelievers suggesting that the world is better off without religion—Christianity or otherwise.