IEP21 Forum

To me, a great issue that divides the world is the illusion that the only victory is the conquest of the other party. The egotism that infects each new generation of young men: that they should go for death and glory. Freud is not popular today, but his vision of the eternal struggle of EROS and THANATOS seems “right on” as I look at the “death embrace” of Israel and Palestine.

Sam Harris in The End of Faith has a point when he says that faith in individual life after death often breeds war and destruction in this life. Most Muslims and Christian Fundamentalists preach the certainty of individual life hereafter. Even looking forward to a Divine Return in which they will be saved and others be damned. Thus many justify looting this planet because we are not going to be here very long.

Many Christians don’t consider it hatred, as they tell Moslems and atheists, “You are going to hell because you don’t believe as I do.” A BAD beginning
for loving religious dialogue.

“It’s about oil, It’s about greed.” That’s the chant on the war in Iraq I heard chanted in California. It reminded me of a lesson I was taught in college. If you cannot understand what is going on, look for the economic motive. … There are those who love war because they make a profit. Around the world,
in Western, Muslim, African, Hindu, Buddhist, we find greed and the lust for power breeding a culture of death. Ads in the USA say,
WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS IN IRAQ …
PAID FOR BY THE MEN AND WOMEN OF LOCKHEED.
Look at the ad knowing, Lockheed is one of the 3 biggest defence contractors.

Yes, we need defence: but war should be a last resort! Yes, I support 20-year-olds who are following orders. But I cannot support a President who will not take recent committee advice that says, “GET OUT.”

Is there hope for the future? Yes, there is hope when leaders admit they were wrong. Yes, there is hope when Bill Gates and Warren Buffet give billions to the healing of the world. There is hope in democratic victory.

“I have a dream …” that we can stop talking of Moslem and Western Culture and start talking of ONE PLANET: That we can start living on this earth as one people: That we can celebrate the diversity of cultures as we celebrate the diversity of flowers. That Universal Compassion be taught by Imams, Preachers, Priests, Swamis, and Buddhist Masters. That all teachers be daily aware in prayer that the HOLY is greater than any one religion: that all religions are manifestations of a UNIVERSAL POWER that is not fully captured in any CREED or BOOK.

In awareness of the greater HOLY, the greater HOPE, may we build trust with one another. May trust, hope and compassion flow through our lives to transform our WORLD.

Richard Boeke
World Congress of Faiths

1) The West perceives Arab governments as being indifferent to the attacks by Muslim radicals on Western societies. Indeed in some Arab countries, like Pakistan, Madrassas play a major role in the education of the young, and they teach hostility to Western societies. Meanwhile, Arabs perceive the world powers of the West to have attacked two Arab countries with the most destructive of military weaponry, asserting democratic objectives. Arabs could not understand that America would invade another country, Iraq; they believed that this was contrary to American democratic values.

The Arab culture of patriarchy is antithetical to Western values, and in fact to the values of many Arab women. Wife-beating is common and is even material for daytime television serials. Honor killings are illegal and punishable under the law, but the culture still allows them. Meanwhile, the sexual exploitation of women for commercial purposes in the West is offensive to Muslims.

Education in Jordan provides an example of the dominance by men over curricula and teaching methods. While teaching is considered an appropriate occupation for women, courses and classes are not pitched to the needs of girls and women.

2) Muslims are generous, friendly and out-going. They show hospitality to visitors from the West.

Both cultures respect religion, and the West is encouraged to remember the protection afforded Jews and Christians as “people of the book” in the centuries of Muslim dominance of the Mediterranean world.

There could be cross-cultural convergence in the simple recognition that war helps no one and all parties can find agreement in the desire to bring stability and peace to the people of the Middle East.

Betsy Warren, Northbrook, Illinois, USA.
Participant in Common Ground (adult interfaith and intercultural study center)

Note from the Host:
The following letter was submitted by Professor Abdullah Ahsan of the International Movement for a Just World, one of the co-sponsors of the Dialogue of Civilizations project. We welcome responses. Email: iep21@seachanges.net

The November 7, 2006 mid-term election verdict in the United States is a welcome development. Foreign policy issues, particularly the war in Iraq, have dominated the mind of the electorate and the international response has already demonstrated that this will help improve America’s global image.

The election results are more of disapproval of Bush Administration’s so-called war on terror and pre-emptive actions in Iraq and Afghanistan than approval of the Democratic Party’s position on those issues. In this connection what comes to mind is the contribution of civil society groups such as GoldStarFamiliesforPeace.org, Antiwar.com, BringThemHomeNow.org and particularly individuals such as activist Cindy Sheehan and academicians such as Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky and many others.

To be realistic, however, one must note that this election will not bring any fundamental change in US foreign policy. The “Love-for-Israel” foreign policy of the US administration is going to continue at least for a while. But again, one good sign is that increasingly more and more apprehensive Americans are now voicing their concerns about the influence of Israeli lobby groups in Washington. Public response to the recent Mearsheimer-Walt paper on the subject is evidence of this concern. One also becomes optimistic when one observes the response to Ehud Olmert’s post-election public praise for the war in Iraq. Commenting on Olmert’s meeting with President Bush, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz (November 14) said, “Politicians from the Democratic Party said that they wanted to speak to Olmert about his comments on Iraq before responding publicly, but expressed disapproval over the remarks.” We are not sure what the Democrats conveyed to Olmert but a public statement of their disapproval of Israeli interference in American politics is a positive sign.

The main disturbing aspect in Israeli-US relationship is the increasing role of Evangelicals. David Kirkpatrick has rightly pointed in his article in The New York Times of November 14 that, “For Evangelicals, Supporting Israel is ‘God’s Foreign Policy’.” He adds, “Many conservative Christians say they believe that the president’s support for Israel fulfills a biblical injunction to protect the Jewish state.” Here one should highlight the fact that when President Truman signed the document to recognize the “state of Israel” in 1948 he scratched the term “the Jewish state” and wrote by hand “the state of Israel”. Also, one should recall that the founding fathers of the United States of America categorically rejected the role of religion in politics because of similar use of religious myths in politics in medieval times. Rational minds of the 21st century must be able to distinguish between noble religious teachings on human dignity and the use of religious myths for political purposes. The faster the people of the United States differentiate “religion” from the “exploitation of religion”, the better it will be not only for the people of the US, but also for the rest of the world.

Professor Abdullah Al-Ahsan
Committee Member
International Movement for a Just World
Malaysia