Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue(BIRD)

BANGALORE INITIATIVE FOR RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE (BIRD)
‘Ashirwad’ 7, 4th Cross, HRBR Second Block,
Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore 560 043
INDIA,
Tel. 080 25455717
E-mail: benjaminpn@hotmail.com


MISSION STATEMENT
We believe that the religious attitude is a thing of permanent value to mankind, individually and collectively; and consider it, wherever it is found, deserving of reverent recognition. Amidst the conflicting claims made on behalf of different religions, all of which have sprung from this common attitude, we believe there is an urgent need for a full and free exchange of our differing religious experiences, in a spirit of mutual respect, appreciation and sympathy
We believe that such an interchange of experiences will lead to an enrichment of one another’s religious life; mutual respect, understanding and tolerance; and
co-operation in purifying and strengthening the religious attitude of mind as against the irreligious or materialistic attitude from which our personal, social and national problems have to be tackled.
We also believe in sharing our deepest convictions with one another, but sharing them on a basis of equality, of genuine respect for and acceptance of the validity of each other’s faith. Such a sharing demands earnestness, both in holding one’s own faith and in seeking to understand another’s. For we get nowhere if we meet on a basis of indifference to all faiths.
The Initiative provides an element of newness in the relationship between religions when it openly and unreservedly asserts that there is no monopoly in religious truth, that the followers of the different religions can help each other best by each being true to one’s understanding of the Truth, and that we can all grow together into an ever-deepening and widening understanding of, and approximation to, Truth.
We realize that any attempt to weaken the hold of the truth of any religion upon mankind is to weaken religion itself. Therefore we strive not to weaken but to strengthen each other by mutual respect, trust and co-operation.
We seek to help one another more fully to understand and live up to the best in all religions.
The Initiative invites people of all faiths to share through it the richness of their various religious traditions and experiences in this adventure of spirit and support of one another in the struggle for social justice, identifying themselves as closely as they are able with the oppressed and the disinherited, and treating all human beings as brothers and sisters.






In order that each may bring into this Initiative the very best that he/she can, we desire to explore fully the value of our religious traditions and disciplines and present them for the benefit of all. But we do not desire to persuade any one within the Initiative to our own religious belief and practice.
We are convinced that only through Inter- Religious dialogue can we diffuse the recurring tension between religious groups and communities in our country and that the Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue will be able to provide a platform for addressing those issues which are the causes for tension and resentment.
The Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD) is a little lamp to signify that whatever the darkness, however profound the sense of loss, the light of God’s love – be it Ram, Allah or Jesus - and the clarity of their enlightenment still shines, and will continue to shine, for those who have eyes to see, a heart to love and a soul to believe.

P.N.BENJAMIN
Coordinator
BANGALORE INITIATIVE FOR RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE (BIRD)








BANGALORE INITIATIVE FOR RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE (BIRD)

A BRIEF REPORT
The following are the names and addresses of the prominent members of the Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD) who regularly meet to iron out differences and chalk out programmes aimed at dispelling fears and misunderstandings between religious communities. A short report of activities and achievements of BIRD too is given below.
Hindu representatives
Prof. Upendra Shenony, Keshava Shilpa, Kempegowdanagar, Bangalore 560 019 Tel. 6612732
Mr. Y.K. Raghavendra, Advocate, No.203, 28th Cross-, 7th Block, Jayanagar 560 0082. Tel 6647626
Mr. Chandrashekar Bhandary, 74, Ranga Rao Road, Shankarpuram, Bangalore 560 004, Phone 6610081
Prof. V.Yagneshwara Somayajulu, 4011, I ‘A’ Main, 7th Cross, Gayathrinagar, Bangalore 560 021 Tel. 3322729
Mr. V.A.Gopala, Keshavashilpa, K.G.Nagar, Bangalore 560 019, mobile 98440-50711.
Mr.Om Prakash, Manager, New York Life Insurance, MG Road, Bangalore 560 001
Mr. Bala Kumar, Chief Executive, Tycho-healthcare, ITPL, Whitefield, Bangalore
Christian representatives
Sister Pauline Chakkalakal, dsp, Daughters of St.Paul, 18, Albert Street, Richmond Town, Bangalore 560 025, Tel. 2210787
Rev. Dr. M.J. Joseph, Director, Ecumenical Christian Centre, PB 11, Whitefield P.O., Bangalore 560 066 Tel 8452270
Fr. Dr. Mathew Vattathara, Dharmaram College, Hosur Road, Bangalore 560 029, Tel. 5536781
Rev. Dr. J. Jayakiran Sebastian, Associate Professor, United Theological College, 63 Miller’s Road, Bangalore 560 046 Tel. 3330502 e-mail kiransebastian@hotmail.com
Dr. Ken Gnanakan, ACTS Ministries, Koramangala, Tel 5531024/5532516
e-mail. gnanakan@vsnl.com
Fr. (Dr. Albert Nambiaparambil, Director, UPASANA, Thodupuzha 685 584, Kerala, Tel. 0486-223286 e-mail: upasana.dr.@satyam.net.in
Mr. Noel Noronha, President, Basel Mission Christian Association, 70/33-34, II Cross, CSI Compound, Bangalore 560 027 Tel 2220600
Mr.E.Edward David, 52 D’Costa Layout, Cooke Town, Bangalore 560 084, Tel. 5476041 e-mail edwardavid@yahoo.com
Mr. John V. Yesudas, No. 78, Joe Villa, ERA Road, Ejipura, Viveknagar, Bangalore 560 047, Tel. 5713093
Dr. Thomas George, Ashville, 9 Asoka Road, St. Thomas Town, Bangalore 560 084, Tel. 5476265
P.N.Benjamin, B-1, Lan Castle, 186 Wheeler Road Extn,
Bangalore 560 084, Tel. 25800647 e-mail: benjaminpn@hotmail.com
Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel, Registrar, Dharmaram Vidyasketra, Hosur Road, Bangalore

Muslim Representative
Dr. Mumtaz Ali Khan, 18, 1st C Main Road, Gangenahalli Extn, Bangalore,
560 032. Tel. 3333217
BUDDHIST
Mr. Siddharth, Peepal Tree, Tel. 080 5354436

Activities
The following is a brief report about our activities so far.
Samartha Memorial Lecture
On 7th October 2001, BIRD organized the first Rev. Dr. Stanley Samartha Memorial Lecture at the Bishop Cotton Boys’ School. Francois Gautier delivered the lecture on "the Need for Inter-Religious Dialogue". More than 500 invitees attended. Among them were a large number of VHP-RSS-BJP activists as well as disciples of Guru Sri. Sri. Ravishankar. They were surprised to learn that there ever lived a Christian thinker like Dr. Samartha – "the Christian prophet of religious pluralism" as Francois Gautier has described him.
Immediately after the lecture, the Hindu leaders expressed their desire to enter into dialogue with Christians and the first meeting took place at the Dharmaram Vidya Shektra (Catholic Theological University) in the last week of October. Since then we have been meeting each other regularly once a month and also on special occasions at the RSS headquarters and the Bible Society of India’s central office in Bangalore.
In November 2001 BIRD participated at the national dialogue between Christian spiritual leaders and RSS leaders at Aluva, Kerala.
Meeting with RSS leaders
Christian members of BIRD were invited to the RSS camp held in Bangalore. They met top-ranking national leaders of the RSS, including Shri. Sudarshan, on 26 January 2002 and discussed problems faced by the Christians. (Press reports enclosed). BIRD coordinator invited the RSS leaders to hold the next round of national level talks with Christian leaders in Bangalore on 22 March 2002.
Panel discussion
A panel discussion on "the scope for dialogue between RSS and Christians" was held on 13 Feb. It was addressed among others by Mr.H.T. Sangliana, police commissioner, Mr. Francois Gautier and Mr. Allen Mendonca of Times of India. More than 200 people participated. (Press reports enclosed).
Fact-finding team
What BIRD has achieved is something marvelous. At the first round of its meeting with RSS representatives in Bangalore itself the RSS leaders were so magnanimous enough that they assured the Christians that if there would be an attack on Christians allegedly by Hindu activists, they would rush to the trouble-spot along with the Christian representatives of BIRD and help bring peace and normalcy immediately. And they fulfilled that commitment on 19th March by sending a joint fact-finding team led by Dr. Upendra Shenoy to Mysore as soon as the news about the attack on the Holy Family Church was flashed on the electronic and print media world-wide. The report of the team has turned out to be a milestone in peace making. (A copy of the report is enclosed).
National-level talks
BIRD hosted, along with the Christian Alliance for Communal Harmony the 6th round of national-level talks between RSS and Christian leaders at the initiative of Mr. John Joseph, member, National Commission of Minorities, at the United Theological College, in Bangalore on 22 March. It was a roaring success. About 200 representatives of the Christian community from all over Karnataka participated in the dialogue with Mr. Sudarshan and other leaders of the RSS.
On January 20, 2003, Mr. Sudarshan and other top leaders of the RSS, on a short visit to Bangalore invited BIRD representatives for friendly exchange of views and ideas to further strengthen relationship. Prof. Thomas George, Advocate Dr. Vincent Panikulangara, Mr. Derrick Fullenfaw and Mr. P.N.Benjamin spent more than three hours with the RSS leaders.
The result
BIRD is genuinely proud of its achievements in a short span of time. The most important of them all is that we do not hear of any attacks on the Christian community these days in India. The initiatives BIRD has taken to remove the misunderstandings and dispel mutual fears between the RSS and Christian community have borne fruits. The bond of friendship BIRD helped to build between them is strong enough to withstand any future onslaught
Release of Ian Stillman
A deputation consisting of representative of the Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue( BIRD) met Miss Uma Bharati, then Minister in the Central Cabinet, on 24 June 2002 and submitted a memorandum to be passed on to the Prime Minister urging his government to release Mr. IAN STILLMAN, a disabled British Charity worker who was undergoing 10-year imprisonment in Shimla jail on charges of possessing 20 kg cannabis, a charge he had refuted. Uma Bharati told the delegation that she was moved by the plight of Mr. Stillman and would do everything possible to free him from the Shimla jail. Later on BIRD was in touch with its friends in the RSS and VHP to use their influence with the Government of India to see that Stillman was released.
As a humanitarian gesture, the Government of India freed fifty-year old Mr. STILLMAN on December 7, 2002 and handed over to the British High Commission officials in Shimla.
Father Harry Stocks
Long before the actual formation of the BIRD, its members had established friendly relations with the leaders of RSS and VHP in Karnataka. Their proven honesty and integrity, credibility and sincerity, in words and deeds, played a major role in February 2001 in getting the deportation order issued to Fr. Harry Stocks, a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, cancelled and his visa extended. Fr. Harry has been working among the deaf in India since 1967.
Networking
BIRD has been able to establish contacts with various organizations in Bangalore as well as through the length and breadth of Karnataka and encourage peace initiatives similar to what it has been engaged in the past one year. In Bangalore alone BIRD joins hand with the Temple of Understanding, YMCA, Senior Citizens Forum, Indian Heritage Academy, Institute of Universal Consciousness and Islamic Voice.
BIRD, in order to fulfill its commitment of enabling the process of building up the human values of mutual love, respect and tolerance among people of different faith; has been striving to create a larger mass base with identical value premise. The means and measures adopted include dialogues and campaigns together with evolution of cadres. The interventions made hitherto in these contexts have enabled BIRD to make inroads into a vast area, reaching out to far-flung places of Karnataka State. Notable among the out-reach areas are the District of Bidar, Belgaum, Bagalkot and Dharwar in the Northern region and Kollegal Taluk in Chamarajanagar District in the South. This has become possible due to the identification and sharing of views and visions of BIRD with like-minded individuals and voluntary agencies.The most significant outcome is the initiation of dialogue among different faiths at Belgaum District by "Gram Deep" and "Chetan", two community development organizations .
We are in the process of building an Inter-Fath Centre in association with "Peoples Movement for Self Reliance", another community development organizatiion based at Kollegal , to ensure religious tolerance and communal amity. The very constitution of the governing board of PMSR with two Christians, two Hindus, two Muslims and one Buddhist monk speaks for the steadfast involvement of this group in bringing about the sense of "community oneness" in its constituency.
In Robertsonpet, too a similar movement has taken roots led by Mr. Selvaraj, a Dalit Christian leader working with the State Bank of Mysore.
Meeting with Sri Sri Ravishankar
At the personal invitation of Sri Sri Ravishankar, BIRD’s coordinator spent about an hour with the Guru in his ashram on 15 June 2003. Guru sought BIRD’s cooperation in organising an interfaith-dialogue in the Art of Living ashram in Bangalore at the end of the year.
YOUTH FOR PEACE & PROGRESS
REPRESENTATIVES of six organisations led by the Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD) came together on Friday, August 8, 2003 to establish a new forum called Youth for Peace and Progress at Dharmaram Vidy Kshetram. The session consisted of mostly lectures centred around peace at a time when the world was torn in strife.
Apart from the six Indian organisations, representatives of university delegations from California and Luwiun participated in the event.
The speakers included some well known names in the reformist and intellectual sphere of Bangalore, including Prof. N.S.Ramaswamy (founder of Indian Instiute of Management, Bangalore and Temple of Understanding). Dr. Mumtaz Ali Khan, P.N.Benjamin, coordinator, Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD), M.J.Narendranath (YMCA), Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel (Centre for Study of World Religions) and Fr. George Koovakal (Messengers of Peace and Harmony).
Prof. Robert Pomo, Director of Dance and Arts at the University of California, explained how the arts had helped in fostering peace in the troubled regions of Latin America. "We did hundreds of theatre performances on the streets, railway stations, parks…and occasionally, on stage," he said. "The lesson we learnt was to never stop thinking and conversing and always remaining active in the world".
Mumtaz Ali Khan was critical of the Muslim clergy who, he said, had prevented progress. He traced communal problem to a few people who influenced the masses for their own purposes.
Prof. Bert Borkart, Director of Religious Studies at Luwiun University in Belgium, talked about the improtance of face-to-face communication to prevent violence. "I think reciprocity has key value in international relations" he said. He added:"We have to work at a very local level. We’ve established direct links with our community in Belgium and communities in Guatemala. And personal contacts are extremely important. We also have to learn from them, for example on democracy and environment. Latin America is known to have great respect for environment. .Even if you cannot make a difference to India, you can still make a difference to Bangalore".
Prof. Ramaswamy highlighted Hindu contribution to the idea of world peace. "For learning from every religion, we should have an understanding of the essentials and ideals of every religion. This can be the starting point for fostering harmony".
The session was moderated by Fr. Chandrankunnel

Future plans
BIRD has proposed to embark on a three-year programme with four specific programmatic components and they are:
Inter-faith dialogues
That will consider organization of inter-faith dialogues among religious leaders, institutional hierarchies, professionals, service clubs, Non-government organizations, corporate houses, students of schools and colleges
Forum for artists, orators and writers
Organisation of exhibitions, publications and debates on communal amity inviting well known artists, orators and writers and also upcoming aspirants to be able to express their opinion and thus arouse the social concern of the masses.
Campaign for creation of larger mass base
Creation of a larger mass base to be able to embark on a movement approach; where all people could be helped to thing and act alike in one accord with concern and compassion for the fellow being
Cadre evolution
To prepare motivated men and women with skills to organize and monitor peace committees in their respective residential areas and also to inculcate human values among the student community of the local schools
ANTICIPATED OUTCOME:
Enrichment of one another’s religious life
2) Mutual respect, understanding and tolerance
3) Co-operation in purifying and strengthening the religious attitude of mind
4) Inculcation of human values
5) Development of love, care and concern for fellow beings
Longing for peace and harmony AND
Concern over personal, social and national problems
BANGALORE INITIATIVE FOR RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE (BIRD)
COST PLAN FOR THE THREE YEAR PROGRAMME
( in INDIAN RUPEES)
HEADS OF EXPENSE
YEAR I
YEAR II
YEAR III
TOTAL





PROGRAMME EXPENSES









INTER-FAITH DIALOGUES
Organisation of seminars @ I per month for each of the groups on rotational pattern
Venue @ Rs.1000 + Participants’ food & travel @ Rs.4000 + Incidentals @ Rs.1000
Each programme @ Rs.6,000 X 12 per annum
72,000.00
72,000.00
72,000.00
216,000.00





*ARTISTS AND WRITERS FORUM
Organisation of workshop for writers, artists and orators on a quarterly basis
Venue @ Rs.1000 + Participants’ food & travel @ Rs.5000 + Publicity @ Rs.2000 + Incidetals
Each programme @ Rs.8000 X 4 per annum
32,000.00
32,000.00
32,000.00
96,000.00





* CAMPAIGN FOR MASS BASE
Organisation of peace rally, publication of hand bills and posters – quarterly basis
Placards & posters @ 2000 + Food & beverages Rs.1000 + PA System Rs.1000 + Publicity @ Rs.1000 + Incidental @ Rs.1000
Each @ Rs.6000 X 4 per annum
24,000.00
24,000.00
24,000.00
72,000.00





* CADRE EVOLUTION
30 youth per quarter from villages to be brought to central location (ISI Bangalore) 2 days programme
Boarding & Lodging @ Rs.12,000 + Travel @ Rs.6,000 + Stationary & study materiasls @ 3,000 + Incidentals Rs.1000
Each programme @ Rs.22,000 X 4 per annum
88,000.00
88,000.00
88,000.00
264,000.00





PROJECT COORDINATOR @Rs.10,000 per month
120,000.00
120,000.00
120,000.00
360,000.00





Sub-total
336,000.00
336,000.00
336,000.00
1,008,000.00





ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES









Establishment: rent, power, water, @ Rs.10,000 pm
120,000.00
120,000.00
120,000.00
360,000.00





Furniture & Office equipments
100,000.00








Computer accessories etc @ Rs.2000 per month
24,000.00
24,000.00
24,000.00
72,000.00





Post & telegraph @Rs.1000 per month
12,000.00
12,000.00
12,000.00
36,000.00





Travel l& Conveyance @ 2000 per month
24,000.00
24,000.00
24,000.00
72,000.00





Audit accounts & evaluation@ Rs.20,000 per annum
20,000.00
20,000.00
20,000.00
60,000.00





Contingencies
25,000.00
25,000.00
25,000.00
75,000.00





Sub-total
325,000.00
225,000.00
225,000.00
775,000.00





GRAND TOTAL
661,000.00
561,000.00
561,000.00
1,783,000.00


Legal status
BIRD is a registered Trust. We have applied to the Income Tax authorities for Tax Exemption under 80G of the IT Act and also for the 12A approval.
We shall be grateful if you could please extend your support to the work of the BIRD.
You contribution to our organization may please be sent by cheque/demand draft drawn in favour of: South Indian Bank Ltd A/c Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD), and mailed to:

P.N.BENJAMIN,
Coordinator, BIRD,
'Ashirwad',
7, 4th A Cross,
HRBR Second Block
Kalyan Nagar
Bangalore 560 043
INDIA
Tel. 080 25455716
e-mail: benjaminpn@hotmail.com

Some Stray Thoughts on Indian Christians

A BLESSING IN DISGUISE
"Driven by the drumbeat of what it sees as a hostile propaganda against their beliefs and values in the name of secularism, Hindus are beginning to gravitate towards extremism". It is all very well for vested interests to play the communal card. But this will not pay. Communalism of the minorities will only make the majority community more fanatic..
HIRELINGS
Let there be no doubt that the Christian leaders are mere hirelings who have turned churches and its institutions into dens of thieves. They have bartered away Christ for a fistful of dollars, living in mansions while Christ’s poor go without a covering on their head; enjoying the flesh-pots while the flocks lead a hand-to-mouth existence. No wonder they want to maintain the status-quo. No wonder they want no government auditing. No wonder they cry wolf against the Hindutva brigade. No wonder they do not even want the laity to know – our ignorance is their bliss.
There was once a Jesus Christ who walked this earth as the Good Shepherd. And He died on a wooden cross. Today his representatives on earth fly around the world wearing gold crosses around their neck. What a mockery of the Master! But why should I forgive them when they know exactly what they are doing? They are trying to fool the naïve people like….!
Christianity in today’s India with a renascent Hinduism faces an unprecedented crisis. If it is alive to the situation and sensitive to the signs of time, it has to rethink itself, reorient itself, and rediscover its basic substance and interpret that in terms acceptable to the Indian mind and genius, wrote Prof. S.K.George, in the Niyogi Commission Report in early 1950s. His words are relevant today more than ever before.
Christians form just about 3% of the Indian population. "Very often they have to depend not so much on their rights as on the goodwill and generosity of powerful majority Hindu community. Christians in India are dependent in a double sense, on the goodwill of the Hindus and on the churches in the West whose fellowship sustains them and whose affluence often supports them. Judging from numbers there is hardly any equality in relationship. But Christians in India can play a creative and critical role in the life of our nation. What matters most is the quality of their life as Christians and the courage of their faith". (Dr. Samartha, Courage for Dialogue).
The attitudes Indian Christians have inherited towards neighbours of other faiths were very largely shaped in the colonial era, with Europe dominated history, church-centred theology, and unexamined assumptions of Western superiority in race, culture, and religion. The church in India should give up this posture and should have the courage to reject past errors and seek new ways of relationships with their neighbours. The right to profess, practise and propagate one’s faith should be used faithfully and responsibly, not in an aggressive and flamboyant style. Highly organized missionary activities, supported by vast sums of money from abroad, using expensive mass advertising techniques, loudly proclaiming the word to large crowds, quite often by preachers from outside whose knowledge of the people’s religion and culture is limited – do these constitute the way of Christ? Our neighbours in the community should be regarded not as statistics but as persons, not as potential recruits to the kingdom but as partners in common enterprises in the community."
The ‘onlyness’.
The most precious freedom that Indian Christians enjoy is to hold Jesus Christ as their saviour, as the Son of God, as the "only true divinity". It is their absolute right to cherish that belief – and if any Hindu outfit or government tries to impeach upon that liberty, then definitely, Indian Christians should fight tooth and nail for their religious privileges. They would be justified to speak about Hindu fundamentalism, saffron brigade or Hindutva. But the moment Christianity tries to impose this belief of only one true God- Jesus Christ- on the world, then it is itself impeaching upon the freedom of others. For this belief of only-ness of our God as the real one and all others are false is at the root of many misunderstandings, wars and terrorism.
Attacks against Christians
Like most of those who have regular columns to write to newspapers and need factual information, I keep my personal file of clippings so I don’t slip up on accuracy. The violent attacks against Christians have been going on for the past several years. Sister Rani Maria was stabbed inside a bus and murdered in February 1994 in Madhya Pradesh. A helpless Father Christudass was hit on the head, punched and kicked, stripped naked, scissored up his hair, ashed his face and garlanded with chapels and shoes, and paraded naked on the streets of Guhiajori in Bihar in 1997.
Three Catholic priests, Lawrence, Joseph and Anup were shot dead in 1994 in Gumla, again in Bihar. The headless, tortured body of Father A. T. Thomas, Jesuit priest and liberation theologian, was discovered in the jungles of Hazaribagh in Bihar in 1997. All these and many more happened before the BJP-led government came to power. Why didn’t we unleash a nation-wide protest and send investigation teams?
Ghastly murder
There is no doubt that the ghastly murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons needed to be universally condemned and the culprits severely punished. But the massive outcry it had evoked raised a fundamental question in my mind: Is the life of a white man more important and dear to Indian Christians than the lives of hundreds of innocent Indians – men, women and children – killed by militants in various parts of the country? Have we, as Christians, ever condemned such killings? Or the unending massacres of innocent Dalits all over the country at regular intervals? Does it mean that the value of a life depends on the religion to which that person belongs? Are some lives expendable and others accountable? This is a blatant discrimination. Should human suffering, loss of lives be barters in the hands of foreign-funded organisations to embarrass Hindus?
As true followers of the Prince of Peace, the Christians in India should have forgiven the criminals and forgotten the incident the moment the saintly widow, Gladys Staines said: "In the name of Jesus I forgive those who committed this crime and may they experience in their hearts God’s forgiving love". She was witnessing Christ in the darkest moment in her life. But, instead of following her example, the Christians have been spreading hatred, like butter on hot bread, against the Hindus, especially against the Sangh Parivar. Many Christians have made millions of dollars in the name of Staines’ murder. They have cynically used the Staines’ murder for far too long. They must remember: "Kindle not the coals of sinners by rebuking them, lest thou be burnt with the flame of the fire of their sins." (Ecclesiastics, viii
Military enterprise?
Terms such as "evangelistic campaign", "missionary strategy", "campus crusade", "occupying non-Christian areas", a "blitzkrieg" of missionaries, and sending "reinforcements" sound more appropriate to military enterprises than to Christian witness to God’s redeeming love in Jesus Christ. The statistical approach implied in the words "the unreached millions" is derogatory to neighbours of other faiths.
"Unreached" by whom? When Indian Christians themselves use these phrases, which have originated outside the country, to describe their neighbours living next door to them in the community, Christians should not be surprised if the
nehigbours are offended
The real source of danger to the Indian Christian community is not the handful of Hindu extremists. Most of the violent incidents have been due to aggressive evangelising. Other than this there have been few attacks on Christians. Finally the sensitive and sensible Christians must realize that acts of certain "born-again" varieties of Christian evangelists who denigrate Hindu gods and abuse Hindu rituals as barbaric are the root cause of tension between Christian and Hindu communities. Christian leaders known for their erudition, equipoise and empathy should come out in the open to disown such acts of intolerance.

The Commission to preach the gospel is usually quoted by all Christian groups. But they conveniently ignore the fact that there are other very important elements in the teachings of Christ. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust do corrupt but lay up your treasures in heaven…You cannot serve God and Mammon…Forgive your brother not seven times but seventy times seven. Love your enemy. Love one another as I have loved you".
Such teachings should have led to the formation of a distinctive life-style based on simplicity and integrity and total non-acquisitiveness. But we do not find Christians any different from others. They go to law over property disputes. They sell their sons and daughters for specific sums of money in the marriage market. They accept bribes and play the game of money and power as assiduously as any one else.
Unless Christians share the sufferings of the people they have no word of the gospel to them, whatever true things Christians might say. Revival songs they sing, long prayers they pray and long sermons they preach amount to lip-religion and at the same time Christians swallow widows’ houses. This is how Jesus characterizes hypocrisy. This is an old phenomenon where integrity of life and the truth of words don’t conform to one another. Life does not confirm the words Christians speak. Jesus described it as hypocrisy and created enemies who encompassed His death.
If Christians as a community took the teachings of Christ seriously they would be justified in preaching. To preach what they do not practise is to put the cart before the horse. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
One last point. Christ himself said: "You encompass sea and land to make one convert and then you make him twice the son of hell as you are". Dalit/Tribal Christians’ conversion to Christianity has meant nothing but substitution of social discrimination within the Churches for discrimination within the Hindu society.
P.N.BENJAMIN
Coordinator
Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD)

Father, forgive...

FATHER, FORGIVE THEM…..
A Friday every year is devoted to the solemn ceremonial recollection of a death – the death of Jesus Christ on a cross. Christ’s death on the cross was a decisive act that has motivated millions of people in the last two thousand years to identify themselves with the sorrows of this world and to struggle for a more just society. It has inspired many ordinary people as well as saints to works of compassion for the poor, the outcast and the leper.
Even for non-believers in Christianity there is poignancy about the story of the Crucifixion of Christ. Some of his sayings as He hung on the cross have had an extraordinary effect on men’s hearts. The first and the most famous among them is Christ’s derelict prayer amidst his agony and the sadness of betrayal by his followers: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing". (Luke 23: 33-34) This prayer has reverberated through many a human heart, bringing comfort to the despised and the forsaken.
Jesus asks God to forgive "them" – that includes the persons who are responsible to send him to the cross and the disciple who betrayed him, the disciples who slept in Gethsemane instead of keeping watch, the religious leaders who found Jesus an obstacle to the stability of the establishment, the political rulers who wanted to get rid of a troublemaker, the fickle crowd who changed their loyalties so quickly, even most of his own disciples who had run away from the scene to avoid trouble. Jesus suggests that they were doing this because they were ignorant – may be of the true nature of his person and the character of his ministry.
"Forgiveness and reconciliation are the marks of Christian life. New beginnings in personal and community life are impossible without forgiveness." (Rev. Dr. Stanley Samartha). Perhaps, the practice of forgiveness and the possibilities of reconciliation are greater in personal than in community relations

Plight of Dalits

DELIVERANCE OF DALITS
P.N.BENJAMIN

The birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar celebrated throughout the country two days ago (14 April), once again signified the need for a continued struggle against caste oppression in Indian society today. The enormous pain and frustrations suffered by the Dalit population in our country must make every sensitive citizen to hang his head in shame. Dalit children are being segregated from the children of other caste backgrounds in schools. Dalits are fined by village elders for violating caste norms if they enter temples. And Dalits are denied burial grounds. The Dalit can be killed, his mother and sisters raped and murdered. But the state, society and intellectuals and NGOs who fight for Dalit rights hardly struggle to uproot the causes that breed it.
Long ago, Tolstoy acidly observed: "The abolition of slavery has gone on for a long time. Rome abolished slavery. America abolished and we did, but only the words were abolished, not the thing." We in India have performed a similar feat of verbalism vis a vis the Dalit victims. The colonial masters called this social proletariat ‘depressed classes’ and Gandhiji called them ‘Harijans’, a Sanskritic, sophistic substitute to upgrade at least in name this subhumanised category. Their status substantially remained the same and "Harijan" became a blend of the pejorative and the sanctimonious, without the higher castes integrating them, with egalitarian passion, into a casteless Hindu fold. The tragedy is that during the last six decades despite the good intentions of the founding fathers of independent India we have created newer and subtler forms of untouchability. And India is as far away from being a civilised casteless society as ever.Dr Ambedkar, himself a Dalit, fought this malignant degradation and tried his best to set his brethren free as equal members of the Indian society. He battled and wrote into the Constitution purposeful provisions to prevent caste victimisation and promote the Dalits’ socio-economic status. Dr Ambedkar was a human catalyst of social action against injustice to the suppressed sector of the Indian people – the Dalits. He was a dynamic figure who devoted himself to the cause of justice, freedom and dignity to the lowliest, the lost and the last in the socio-economic hierarchy. He rightly believed that political democracy without social and economic democracy is a double deception.Ambedkar’s legacy has not succeeded in breaking the status quo. He had felt that organisation, education and agitation would enable the Dalits to reverse caste prejudices. As it has turned out, Dalit political groups are totally disorganised. Education has only led to the emergence of an elite class, which has slowly distanced itself from agitational Dalit politics. Dalit movements have either been absorbed into mainstream parties or have degenerated into negative militancy.Activists bereft of any ideology are unwilling to disturb the existing caste equations. Almost all Dalit political leaders have showered only lip sympathy to the blood, sweat and tears of the Dalits, in order to get their votes, but with no intention of doing anything to ameliorate their conditions. These leaders and the elite among Dalits swallow the few jobs in the government and admissions to professional courses. Dalit politicians and leaders holding very high political posts have in practice proved to be "Uncle Toms" because of the compulsions of Indian polity. These self-seeking status quoits have only aided in pushing the outcasts out of our society, out of the mainstream.
What Dr Ambedkar said long ago about the Dalit leaders being ‘selfish’ and quarrelsome on ‘petty matters’ is still true. Dalit activists 30 or 40 years ago may have been expected to launch agitations to create public awareness against atrocities against them in various parts of the country. The deification of Dr Ambedkar by building Ambedkar Bhavans and statues in every village appears to have taken precedence over any fight for equal rights. The real protection of the Dalits and other underprivileged sections in the community lies in their being organised and led in active mass movement committed to awaken them in defence of their interests. Guts at the political level and a willingness of the Dalit leaders to dirty their hands while organising the wretched of the Indian earth offer the only valid answer to the plight of Dalits in this country.Given the developing trend, the Dalits should stand up and fight for their rights. It would be futile to expect others to give them support with real change of heart. This can only be achieved by following intelligently Ambedkar’s exhortation: Educate, organise and agitate. A long, tortuous road lies ahead of the Dalits of India. And it is not an easy road either.
P.N.BENJAMIN
E-mail: benjaminpn@hotmail.com
15 April 2007

Bomb blasts cases

BOMB BLASTS CASES-2000
Were Hindu fanatics behind the Church blasts in 2000? CHURCH BLASTS CASES (Full story) 31 convicted for church blasts
javascript:clippopup(944600);javascript:clippopup(944600); TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 03, 2004 12:50:28 AM ] BANGALORE: A TADA court in Hyderabad has convicted 31 persons in the church blast cases that caused ripples in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa in June-July 2000. The charge of conspiracy levelled against the 31, belonging to the Deendar Anjuman, was proved and they were sentenced to a four-year term. They were released because they had already spent over four years in jail. They will, however, be handed over to the Karnataka police for trial in Bangalore. "They had hatched a conspiracy to plant bombs in churches all over south India to create social unrest. They had triggered blasts in Wadi, Gulbarga and J.J. Nagar in Bangalore," the police officers who investigated the cases said on Thursday. The accused will be brought here this month. Their trial will take place in a special court constituted by the state government, the police said. The accused were caught after an explosion occurred in a van being used by them as a getaway vehicle. HISTORY BBC Thursday, 8 June, 2000, 16:37 GMT 17:37 UK Bombs rock Indian churches Separate bomb explosions have damaged three churches in two southern Indian states. Four people have been injured in the blasts which took place in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Two people were hurt when two bombs went off near a church in Gulbarga, Karnataka. Two other churches were partially damaged in explosions in two towns on the Andhra Pradesh coast, injuring two people. Bomb discovered Police discovered one of two explosives which detonated near St Anne's Church in Gulbarga but were unable to prevent it from going off. Christian groups have expressed their outrage over the attack which, they said, were part of a sustained campaign to intimidate them. An investigation has been ordered and extra security is in place to protect churches and Christian establishments in Karnataka. Earlier, a bomb exploded in the American Baptist Church at Ongole in Andhra Pradesh, 350km south of the state capital, Hyderabad The bomb, which was kept under the last row of benches in the church, shattered the windowpanes and damaged the benches. Two church workers, Sugunamma and Solomon, were injured. They were taken to the district hospital for treatment. A second bomb went off in Tadepalligudem, 450km north-east of Hyderabad. No one was reported to have been hurt. The bomb, which was placed at the pulpit, damaged the building from inside and shattered the window panes. Minority fears Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu visited both places and condemned the attacks. He directed police to provide extra protection to prevent any more attacks and also to conduct a probe into the incident. These latest explosions have caused fears among the minority Christian community about their safety. Last month, a blast in a crowded Christian religious congregation in Machlipatnam left 30 people injured. A week later, police recovered two bombs from two churches at Medak and Viqarabad town near Hyderabad. Christian organisations said they suspected that the attacks might have been carried out by Hindu fundamentalist groups. Police, however, said that a feud between two groups of Christians in a village was responsible for the Machlipatnam blast. That was denied by the chief of Andhra Pradesh's Christian body. Thursday, 17 August, 2000, 15:01 GMT 16:01 UK Arrest over Indian church attacks An Indian air force officer has been arrested over a series of church bombings earlier this year. Syed Hasan Ur Zama, a junior air force officer, was arrested near Delhi by police from the southern state of Karnataka. He is suspected to be behind a series of bomb blasts at churches that took place in Karnataka and two other southern states in June and July. "Information gathered from the accused in the bomb blast cases....has revealed a deep-rooted conspiracy to blast places of worship to create enmity among various religious groups in the country," a police statement said. He is also suspected of passing on sensitive information to contacts in Pakistan including "the location of various vital installations, defence establishments, railway bridges". Blasts Last June, a series of blasts took place in churches in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa. A month later, crude bombs rocked two more churches in Karnataka. Sixteen people have so far been arrested over the attacks. In the past, Indian Church leaders have blamed the attacks on hardline Hindu organisations - an accusation denied by the groups. A hate campaign A fresh round of attacks on Christians lead the police to new theories in Karnataka, while in Tamil Nadu the police see no pattern in the violence. PARVATHI MENON in Bangalore T.S. SUBRAMANIAN in Chennai POPULAR anger and revulsion against the relentless attacks on Christian places of worship, and the pressure - even from its allies - on the Bharatiya Janata Party to rein in the violent groups, have not stopped the violence. Reports of attacks on priests , nuns, churches and church-goers in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and more recently in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, continue to appear in the mainstream and alternative media. In most of these cases there is direc t proof of the involvement of organisations of the Hindu Right in the attacks. In the two years since open attacks on the Christian community began, the violence has ranged from gross forms of physical and mental intimidation to murder. Nuns have been ab used, spat at and physically attacked, priests have been beaten, churches have been burnt, groups of students engaged in social work have been brutally beaten. Most recently, some activists assaulted a nun, Sister Sissy, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat and loote d a godown where bags of wheat meant for distribution to the drought-hit people in Limbdi taluk of Surendranagar district were stored. T.L. PRABHAKAR Karnataka Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge at the site of the blast in a van in Bangalore on July 10. While physical attacks of this nature continue, the sudden spurt of bomb blasts in and around churches is a new element in the ongoing violence. There was a series of blasts that took place on the morning of June 8 in three places simultaneously - Wadi in Gulbarga district of Karnataka, Vasco in Goa, and East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. A month later, another incident took place in Hubli. On July 8 at around 3-45 a.m., a group of four men hurled a bomb at the St. John's Lutheran Church on the Hubli-Gad ag Road, which caused extensive damage to its doors and windows. Before people could come out of their homes, the men escaped in a van. Earlier the same group had driven up to the St. Peter's Church on Gadag road but fled upon seeing the watchman. And then on the night of July 9 yet another blast occurred in Bangalore in the premises of the St. Peter's and Paul's Church. Around 3,000 Christians had attended the Feast of Corpus Christi. The celebrations went on till 10 p.m. and all had left when th e blast occurred at 10-15. In all these cases the bombs exploded in the premises of the churches when there were no people present. The damage to church property has been extensive, and although there have been no injuries to people, the incidents have created anger and fear among st Christian congregations. In Hubli, crowds protesting against the violence took to the streets, threw stones on buses and later torched two buses. They forced the closure of shops and took out a procession through the city. A bandh was called by variou s Christian organisations in Hubli-Dharwad on July 10 and 11. In Bangalore too, agitated crowds were restrained by Christian community leaders. The emergence of a bomb culture has provided the Hindu Right and its leaders the opportunity to deflect the mounting criticism of their involvement in anti-Christian attacks. When the first incidents of church bombings took place last month, the leaders were quick to pin the blame, with zero evidence at the time, on Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Acharya Giriraj Kishore, the vice-president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), said that he would take Christian leaders to court if they conti nued to hold the VHP and the Sangh Parivar responsible for the attacks. A meeting arranged by the National Minorities Commission between Christian organisations and militant Parivar groups for July 11 was called off following the bombing incidents. The first breakthrough made by the Karnataka police in the investigation of the latest bomb blast at a church in Bangalore reveals the involvement of a fanatical sect that shares anti-Christian sentiments. The Karnataka police were quick to establish ini tial leads into the blast. An hour before the bomb attack in the church, an explosion ripped through a van in the city killing two of the passengers and seriously injuring the driver. Police investigations revealed that the kind of explosives - nitroglyc erine (in the form of gelatin sticks) and ammonium nitrate - used in the church blast were present in the van. The house of the driver of the van, S.M. Ibrahim, in Varthur, Bangalore, was searched and incriminating information found in his computer. A co py of a pamphlet found in the van which contained a warning to Christian missionaries to "Stop Conversions or Quit India" with the "Om" symbol prominently displayed was also found on his computer. Books and pamphlets found in his house revealed that Ibra him is a member of a small cult organisation called the Deendar Channabasaveshwara Siddique Firqa. He had let out a part of his house to members of the sect. C. Dinakar, Director-General of Police, Karnataka, told Frontline that while the police h ad no evidence yet of the involvement of the ISI, it had been established that the particular sect had connections in Pakistan. "We know for example that the leader of the sect, Syed Zia-ul Hasan, is settled in the city of Mardan near Peshawar." Little is yet known about the antecedents and ideology of the Siddique sect. According to Obidulla Sherief, who is the editor of the Urdu newspaper Daily Pasban and is chairman of the minority cell in the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC I), the sect, a breakaway from the Ahmadia group (which is banned in Pakistan), was founded in 1932 in Hyderabad is the south. "Their founder, Siddique, declared himself an avatar of Channabasaveshwara, the founder of Veerashaivism," Sherief said. The se ct, which preaches a form of syncretic Islam, has been excommunicated by orthodox Muslim religious leaders. The group's headquarters is in Hyderabad (India), although it has branches in Hubli and Raichur. It recently held a conference in Tumkur. The basi s for its anti-Christian sentiments, sources of funding, and other linkages are yet unclear. Little is known of the Pakistan connection or its motives in targeting Christians, if it is indeed responsible for the blasts. "There has been tremendous restraint shown by the Christian community despite these attacks," Sajan George, national convener of the Global Council of Indian Christians told Frontline. "But tolerance levels are coming down and we want some positiv e action by the government to stop the hate campaign." Andhra Pradesh has also seen a spate of bomb blasts in churches and prayer meetings, and the police are now looking for linkages with the Bangalore incident. The Inter-Church Committee, an umbrella organisation representing as many as 25 Christian church organisations, called for a rally and public meeting on July 9 to observe a day of communal harmony in response to the series of attacks in the State. T.L. PRABHAKAR At the St. Peter's Church in Bangalore where a bomb exploded on the night of July 9. SPOKESPERSONS of the Christian community in Tamil Nadu whom Frontline spoke to say that their state too is no longer isolated from attacks on them, especially after the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party to power at the Centre in 1998. According to them, 14 incidents of violence against Christians between March 1997 and July 6, 2000 have taken place in the State. These include attacks on churches, incidents of fires in prayer halls, preachers being prevented from distributing literature, and so on. The latest incident took place on July 6 when over-zealous bureaucrats demolished a small shrine in the compound of the Directorate of Medical Services in Teynampet, Chennai, an action for which Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi later apologised. A publication compiled by the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCFHR), the Catholic Bishops Council in India , the National Council of Churches in India and the Evangelical Fellowship of India lists 184 incidents of attacks on Christians in India between March 1997 and July 2000. Of these 14 took place in Tamil Nadu. These include cases of arson in churches, the destruction of the Bethany Fellowship Church in Erode in February 1998, the murder of Belarmine, a Christian worker, in September 1999 in Kanyakumari district, the desecration of icons in several churches, intimidation of Christian believers, and so on. According to Dr. Ebe Sunder Raj, joint convener, United Christian Forum for Human Rights, there was "a definite conspiracy" behind the attacks. The Tamil Nadu police, however, say that of these incidents a majority relate to fires breaking out in make-shift, thatched roof structures that serve as "Assemblies of God" churches belonging to the Pentecostal sect. A police officer who investigated th e incidents told Frontline that six of these incidents took place between October 31 and November 7 when the Deepavali season was at its peak. "Rockets and crackers fired at that time fell on these prayer halls with thatched roofs resulting in fir es" he told Frontline. THE attacks on Christians in Tamil Nadu were strongly criticised at a public meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on July 6 in Chennai. Speakers from the CPI(M), the Tamil Maanila Congress, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress (I) attributed the attacks to a "planned conspiracy" of the outfits of the Hindu Right. They pointed out that the number of such incidents had gone up dramatically after the BJP first came to power a t the Centre. "A Prime Minister who is in the grip of bigoted outfits cannot be trusted to provide protection to the minorities," TMC president G.K. Moopanar observed. Leaders belonging to the Indian Union Muslim League, the Indian National League, the D alit Panthers of India and the Rashtriya Janata Dal sharply criticised Karunanidhi for his party's alliance with the BJP. There are new organisations and groups that have come into being in the recent past, as the evidence that the police have unearthed on the Bangalore blast suggests. These can hardly any longer be dismissed as fringe groups. Take the Deendar Siddique sect . Its formal or informal linkages, if any, with other hate groups that have been active in the recent past in attacks on minorities have yet to be established by the police. But it is clear that such organisations have become active in an environment of intolerance and bigotry that the Hindu Right is squarely responsible for creating. Two churches hit with bomb attacks in India 10 July 2000 (Newsroom) -- Bomb blasts damaged two churches in India's southern Karnataka state over the weekend as Christians across the nation staged marches and rallies to protest sectarian violence. Early on Saturday a low-intensity bomb exploded at the doors of a Protestant church in Hubli, about 270 miles north of the state capital, Bangalore. Police said the blast occurred between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Hubli's Keshavapura area, which has a 15,000-strong Christian population. The explosion damaged the church's steel gates and its belfry, but no injuries were reported, police said. On Sunday an explosion left a small crater and shattered windows in the St. Peter and Paul Church in Bangalore. The attack in Hubli came exactly one month after a bomb blast shook a Roman Catholic church in Wadi in the north Karnataka town of Gulbarga. Three other bomb attacks on churches occurred on June 8, in the coastal town of Goa and the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Police say that the attack on Saturday is similar to the June 8 blasts, which are still under investigation. The federal government blames sympathizers of the Pakistan intelligence agency ISI (Inter Service Intellegence) and claims the neighboring nation is out to destabilize India and drive a wedge between Christians and Hindus. Church leaders allege, however, that right-wing Hindu groups are behind a series of attacks against India's 23 million Christians, and may be responsible for the latest church bombings. Christians believe many of the Hindu groups are closely connected to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the federal government's ruling coalition. A number of marginalized social groups have been victims of radical Hindus who go unpunished by the regime, said Sajan George, national convenor of the Global Council of Indian Christians. "It becomes clear from these attacks that whether it is Christians, Muslims, or Dalits, the attacks never end; they are part of the continuing spiral built into the sectarian ideology, out to justify acts of blatant violence and denial of fundamental rights to life, equality before the law, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression," George said after the Hubli church bombing. In the BJP-ruled northern state of Uttar Pradesh a Roman Catholic priest was murdered last month as he slept in the town of Mathura, near the Taj Mahal. One of the key witnesses to the murder, a cook called Ekka, died mysteriously under police custody. Bangalore was one of several state capitals where Christians marched on Saturday in remembrance of victims of religious persecution and in protest of continuing violence. At a rally in Hyderabad on Sunday the president of the All India Christian Council, Joseph D'Souza, read a list of demands to which a crowd of some 100,000 expressed agreement by raising their hands. The demands included state protection for church property and arrest and prosecution of all who openly engage in hate campaigns against Christians. The Deccan Herald of Bangalore reported Monday that city police had been directed by the Congress Party-led Karnataka government to step up security near churches and other places of worship
THIS IS A CASE STUDY & THE FULL STORY OF CHRISTIAN HATE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HINDUS IN 2000

Alex on Jesus

ALEX ON JESUS.S WORLD
It is indeed very true, that "Our world is in pain, and our existenceis in danger. We are seeking a diagnosis of the sickness of thehumanity as well as an effective remedy. Our visit to Jesus' worldgives us a better perspective to our own world because there is somuch in common between these two worlds." The Prince of Peace abhorred violence and became an exemplar ofunconditional forgiveness. And, yet we have our so-called Christianleaders who profess born-again Christianity but find it impossible tocurb their righteous indignation without unleashing bombs, and mightyarsenals to subdue their "enemies".Is'nt it in the name of Christianity that the Christianfundamentalists are cheering on for the fighting or fomenting of armedconflicts in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan etc? We seem to have learntvery little from the deadly outcomes of the Crusades of the past. Itwill take perhaps, more like Gandhi, Mandela, Dalai Lama to exemplifyunconditional forgiveness than any of the Christian preachers that wehave seen or heard so far.As long as Christianity remains merely as a tool in the hands ofwestern imperial powers to extend and maintain their hegemony over thepoor nations of the world, our faith will always remain suspect in theeyes of non-Christians. We see massive lying and cheating among ourso-called Judeo-Christian political leaders here in the US andelsewhere and yet they unashamedly call for greater transparency, lesscorruption and nepotism, and more democracy for minorities etc.,particularly in the developing nations!The sickness of humanity persists in my view, because those that havebeen given much by way of our faith through the tenets of Jesus areunable to live by their faith. Our leaders both political andreligious do not seem to have much trust in the strength and vitalityof unconditional forgiveness to solve any of our massive problems thatface us on this shrinking planet. Even our own orthodox factions areunable to walk the talk!The remedy for this world's evils is to find more people (especiallyour political and religious leaders) to practice our faith than merelytalk about it. It is worse still when they use warped logic to justifytheir war-mongering instincts by calling them as "just wars" or pursuetheir struggles for supremacy through the courts as our Church hasbeen doing.It seems to me nothing short of a people's rebellion against ourleaders (both political and religious) is likely to improve mattersfor mankind. That calls for sacrifice along the lines what Jesuswarned us. How many of us are ready for making personal sacrifices? Wemay assuage our pangs of dismay by writing columns or comments of thiskind. Is that enough?Regards, Alex

Hans Ucko

When you get to the edge of the abyss, step back
The Muslim world – the victim of terrorism
by Hans Ucko
Christians and Muslims share a history of good memories and bitter conflict. The Christian-Muslim dialogue is one way of recalling together times of communities living in peace with each other but it also offers space for listening to stories and experiences replete with painful memories of controversy and rift conditioning the present. While we in gratitude to God should remember the good memories, we should also not be afraid to address instances of conflict in our common history and in our present living together. We want to open new doors in dialogue because we believe that this is the only way that we can truly find ways towards respect for each other, together stand up for human dignity and work for peace. We want to deepen our dialogue so that we enter into the heart of the matter, the ultimate concern in each of our religious traditions.
These days we are given the space to address a very complex and difficult question. Is the Muslim world today a victim of terrorism and what do we as Christians have to say about it? I think this question more than many others needs to be part of the dialogue between Christians and Muslims. But it is a topic fraught with sensitivities. That is why I have given my presentation the title: WHEN YOU GET TO THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS, STEP BACK. We are at the edge of the abyss today, the abyss of mistrust, hardening positions, a time when stereotypes are hardly gainsaid, when we are not walking the second mile with our neighbour, something which is increasingly necessary if we are not to fall down into the abyss. At the edge of the abyss, step back and look for another perspective. Do not look down into the abyss. We might become dizzy and fall down and perish. Instead, we need another perspective, which focuses our eyes on a goal at the other side of the abyss, where we
can help each other to be faithful and hopeful.
In a way it would be easy to answer the question whether the Muslim world is a victim of terrorism. It is enough to say: watch the news! In Iraq Sunni suicide bombers and Shiite death squad terrorize the population. Holy shrines are crumbling over people in prayer and the streets are filled with blood and body parts. People are found in mass graves with signs of execution. The breakdown and disintegration of an entire country hangs heavy in the air.
The terror in Iraq is already beyond our grasp. It is too much and yet it is as if there is still more to come, as if we had not seen anything yet, as if we were still waiting for it all to fall apart, where voices of moderation are no longer heard. For the time being, in this time of great anguish, people try to take solace in and listen intently to the lone voice of that serene man, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who provides a canvas on which the Iraqi Shia community as well as anyone else in Iraq could paint another future than the one which is their daily experience.
How can we step back from the abyss that now seems to stare us in the eyes, the fratricide killing and conflict between Shiites and Sunnis? Who is stoking the fire? What can be done?
By the title for this conference the organizers have indicated that this meeting is not only to address whether the Muslim world is a victim of intra-Muslim terrorism. From the text accompanying the invitation it becomes clear that another aspect needs to be addressed as well. Is the Muslim world, Muslims, Islam itself the victim of terrorism? Has the "war on terror", proclaimed by the Bush administration in 2001 led to a war on Muslims and Islam, in which the entire Muslim world has become a victim?
Since the events of 9/11, there seems to be a drive to divide the world between 'those who are with us' and 'those who are against us'. The world has been divided. A climate of fear and suspicion has enveloped the world. If those who wish to prevent the realisation of this nightmare do not concretely oppose this pernicious philosophy, it may become a self-fulfilling prophecy with all that it might entail. At the edge of an abyss, step back!We lived for decades with the threat of a devastating clash between the West and the Communist bloc. After the implosion of the Soviet bloc we have been witnessing how another enemy of the West is being constructed. It is as if we were not able to live without a real or imaginable enemy. The philosophy of a clash of civilizations has been elaborated as the Weltanschauung of our time, the comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world. This is to succeed the balance of terror between the West and the USSR during the Cold War. The Bush administration’s "enduring" war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, has all served to reinforce the widespread perception that Islam in itself is in some special way linked to terrorist violence. Islam is seen as having a predilection for violence and is defined as inherently violent and one of the primary sources of contemporary violence in the world. It is in this context that we refer to the universally known and quoted writings by Samuel P. Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order". But the depiction of Islam as an inherently violent religion does not end here. There is an alarming amount of anti-Islamic literature published after 9/11. The very titles of many of these works make you realise how much the clash of civilizations is alive as a leit-motif, "American Jihad: The Terrorists Among Us" (Steven Emerson, 2002) or Daniel Pipes, Militant Islam Reaches America (2002). Similar works brand American Muslims critical of Israeli policies as potential terrorist threats. Others incite suspicion against American Muslims claiming that they are taking part in a secret conspiracy to promote terrorism in America.
Some Christian and political leaders are heard or read labelling Islam as inherently violent. Their comments go beyond what is called Islamic fundamentalism. Islam is targeted explicitly or implicitly. The civilization threatening our civilization is said to be not only Islamic fundamentalism but Islam itself. It is portrayed as the enemy that has to be defeated. Scholars, thinkers and academics, clergy stand up and declare that Islam is the enemy of the West. Islam is seen as the continuation of the eternal enemy of the West. Islam is understood as "Islamo-fascism", which is "yet another mutation of the totalitarian disease we defeated first in the shape of Nazism and fascism and then in the shape of Communism; it is global in scope…"[i] Another writer, Sam Harris continues: "Mainstream Islam itself represents an extremist rejection of intellectual honesty, gender equality, secular politics and genuine pluralism".[ii] He continues in another article: "It is time we admitted that we are not at war with "terrorism"; we are at war with precisely the vision of life that is prescribed to all Muslims in the Koran."[iii]
The denigration of Islam in the West has had consequences. If I were to ask in the West about the feelings they would have when I say: "He is a real Christian" or he is a real Muslim", I am sure most of the people I asked would get positive associations regarding the real Christian: He is someone who is good, generous, open and kind. "The real Muslim" would however bring forth associations of fear, envisaging a terrorist image. It has almost become a saying: "Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims."
The 'war on terror' has had devastating consequences. Maybe one reason in spite of the concreteness of terror itself is that the enemy ‘terror’ nevertheless is too vague. It is a war against an enemy without a face; a war on terror fails to realise that terror is a tactic and not an enemy. We do not really see the face of the enemy "terror" we are supposed to fight. The war on terror risks leading us into the use of too blunt weapons and too wide definitions of who the enemy is.
The proclaimed war on terror has an addressee in Islamic fundamentalism but the ball does not end there. As if by association Islam itself is made a target. The clash between the protagonists of the Cold War was different from the altercations between the West and Islam. Although Communism posed a threat to the West, it was an economic or at best a political ideology without deep roots in people's souls and consciousness. Islam, like Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism is a religion, which has profound roots in the consciousness of hundreds of millions of adherents.
The thin line between the war on terror and how this touches upon Islam itself has made millions of Muslims apprehensive as to the real intention of those who declared and defend the war on terror. Insecurity and defensiveness will surface interchangeably as the only way to protect oneself. You dig your heels in and your eyes go from one side to the other, prepared for yet another attack. And the longer it goes on, the more one’s defence-system hardens. Unlike secular ideologies, religions tend to get stronger as result of persecution. The best way to deal with religious fundamentalism is not to wage a war against it, but to remove or moderate its influence through rational arguments, preferably borrowed from the same religious discourse from which they emerge. This is what happened in the West during the Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment, and this is what needs to be done in Islam, by Muslims themselves. That is why the effort of the US to export democracy so far has not succeeded. It needs to grow out of the people, the democracy they need in order for all in a particular context to live with freedom and equal opportunities.
At a time when there are rumours of another war, this time against Iran, on equally dubious grounds that led to the invasion of Iraq, the time has come for all people of goodwill to raise their voices louder against such an insane venture. When you get to the edge of the abyss, step back!
The whole history of 800 years of coexistence between Islam and Hinduism and Buddhism in India; the coexistence of Muslims, Christians and Jews in Spain; the coexistence of Muslims and followers of other faiths in Iran, Turkey, Egypt, etc show that it is possible for people from different religions or civilizations to live peacefully together. Based on old experiences of that which was good for us all, may these times give us new ideas.
It certainly looks as if the Muslim world is a victim of terrorism. Where do we go from here? While realising that Islam has become a particular victim of terrorism in many ways, it is equally important to see this fact within the reality of the whole world as a victim of terrorism. It is, say those who know it, the weapon of the poor, which then should prompt us to address the situation of the poor in the world and do so together. The fact that terrorism is a weapon of the poor, does not take the pain away from those who, without suspicion, find their dear ones maimed and butchered, homes destroyed, and livelihood capsized. But, as we know, there is no lull: terrorism continues to be a useful tactic, particularly in the form of suicide attacks, which "suggest to the target society that their enemy is not a rational actor with a particular set of political ideals, but a compulsive and volatile force, ready to pay the ultimate price to achieve victory. In this manner, the apparent fanaticism of the attacker brings its own rewards to the terrorist group. Similarly and somewhat counter-intuitively, the apparent desperation of the attacker can raise the moral standing of the group, as the suicidal aspect connotes not the cowardice or cynicism of a conventional terrorist attack, but rather points to the frustration of last resort. These factors are force multipliers."[iv] One task for interreligious dialogue and cooperation must be to find ways out of this spiral of violence together.
It is difficult to read the mind of the perpetrator of terror as well as of the victim of terror. I have to probe deeper. We are at the abyss as victims of terrorism. When you get to the edge of the abyss, step back! There is a risk that we only look upon ourselves as victims. There is a risk that we are being reduced to and reduce ourselves to one identity, the one of the victim. My identity is defined over against the other. When people are elevating their identity as a banner or looking for ways of either inventing or reinventing ethnicity, enemies are essential.
In our time we are living through many vehement assertions of identity and are constantly exposed to the formation of group identities over against a common enemy. A particular politics of identity based on a sense of victimization, reducing identity to a single affiliation, facilitates the creation of ''identities that kill'', says Amin Maalouf.[v] We see it often. The resentment of the West in many parts of the Arab world, the frustration against the US for its foreign policy in relation to some Arab states and Israel feeds enormous resentment. Migrants and Gastarbeiter, even those for several generations in Europe, feel marginalised. It furthers a self-image and identity, which is only defined as underdog or victim. The reaction is self-marginalisation and in the end, when there is no longer any hope or future visible, or no light in the tunnel, an explosion of violence. When my self-image is one of a victim, the whole field of vision is narrowed down and the horizon is lost. One does not find one’s way out. The response to perceived victimhood is likely to go over board, be too much or be misdirected, the end result is that the gates of the prison of mind remain closed. It suits the oppressor if s/he can keep me so preoccupied with my situation that I cannot raise my eyes and see my salvation. "The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed", as Steve Bantu Biko rightly said it.
There is thus a risk in living with a self-image that is fed not by dialogue but by one channel alone, one's own frustrations. Stereotypes abound, labelling becomes the easiest way out. That is why my final point is to advocate more dialogue between people, between Christians and Muslims so that we can come close enough to each other that we can shed stereotypes. It is with this in mind that I, while in Tehran, would like to underline that the present lack of relationship between Jews and Iran is something that needs to be addressed the sooner the better. Stereotypes abound leading to nowhere but to the abyss.
Christians and the West constitute equally difficult concepts, likely to lead to a dangerous amalgamation. We must therefore arrive at driving a wedge between the too easy identification between Christians and the West. While it is true that the West is for ever linked to a Christian heritage, it is not its only heritage. While it is true that Christians in the West will have to shoulder the history of Christianity in the West and in relation to other parts of the world, the West and Christians today are not identical entities. Christians today, in the West, have to struggle to find new ground for being Christian in a post-modern world, in a world where the heritage of being Christian weighs heavily on the possibilities to reassess what it means to be Christian.
We need a dialogue between us, a dialogue that is strong enough to cope with ups and downs. It must be merciful enough that it enables us to function with each other as in the story of the Good Samaritan, not as an act of pity but as an at of solidarity, an act of sister- and brotherhood. It is a normal thing to do. It says in the Gospel of Luke: "But a Samaritan while travelling came near the man who was wounded; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him" (Lk10:33, 34). This task is now the task of Christians whenever they see that their Muslim neighbour has become a victim of terrorism. This would apply to when Islam is defamed through cartoons, when Muslim immigrants are denied dignity in society and when there is no one willing to listen to grievances of Muslim men and women, whether in the West or in Muslims countries. Muslims should not become victims of terrorism. The only victim of terrorism should be terrorism.