09AR14-22

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Apologia Report 14:22

June 11, 2009

Subject: Are Christian missionaries "bribing" Hindus?

In this issue:

ISLAM - Bernard Lewis, author of a negative policy baseline?

+ insightful, candid teasers from Islamica magazine

PLURALISM - perhaps the most "simple yet significant and poetic expression" of popular religious pluralism?

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - broad-brush Hindu objections to Christian evangelism in India

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ISLAM

"What went wrong with Bernard Lewis?" by Firas Ahmad -- in reference to Lewis's "seminal" 1990 essay in Atlantic Monthly titled "The Roots of Muslim Rage" [1], Ahmad summarizes Lewis's "underlying argument, that Muslims are angry because their religion has failed them...." Ahmad notes: "A 2004 Time magazine profile of Lewis explained that no other scholar had more influence on the decision to wage war in Iraq." Ahmad concludes that the influence of Lewis "provides the intellectual justification for many failed US policies in the Middle East since 9/11. ...

"We would have all been better off had Lewis remained in his ivory tower. ...

"Given that Lewis was completely wrong in every policy recommendation his body of work formulated, it may be instructive for US policymakers to do that exact opposite of what he would argue. Ahmad spells this out and wraps up with the words: "What remains is the need to reconfigure how we understand the role of religion in Muslim politics. The vast majority of Muslims are not interested in a monolithic totalitarian religious state. At the same time, many want Islam to play a role in shaping the social, cultural and moral underpinnings of society. This is not something US policymakers should fear. Rather, it is something they should try and understand." Islamica, Feb '09 (behind schedule), p28. [4]

American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion, by Paul Barrett [2] -- the teasers which follow may be enough to encourage the full reading of Andrea Unseem's largely uncritical review as well as Barrett.

Unseem appreciates the "sympathetic candor" behind the criticism Barrett has for the American Muslim community. Those concerns include "an ambivalence about extremism and a shortage of visionary leadership." She remarks: "The message is subtle but clear: Muslims are part of the American story, and they should be seen as individuals, not stereotypes. ...

"While the tension among disparate Muslim groups competing for national influence is an important story, Barrett's chapter on the subject is not as gripping as three others that delve into American Muslim's complex relationship with extremist ideology. ...

"Muslims are squarely in the public eye now, and while the scrutiny might provoke false accusations from the suspicious-minded, it could also prompt a much-needed ideological house cleaning. ...

"American Muslims shouldn't be surprised if non-Muslims remain skeptical of the claim 'Islam means peace' when exceptions are made for Palestinians or other embattled Muslim populations."

Unseem relays Barrett's "frank and sober assessment of African-American Muslim leadership: Warith Deen Muhammad guided the former Nation of Islam community in a moderate, mainstream direction, but 'lacked the desire or will to lead an effective movement,' while Louis Farrakhan put his charisma 'in the service of hatred, before sliding into irrelevance.'

"The field is open to inspiring black Muslims who can combine the call for racial justice with the humane teachings of the Qur'an. What is needed is someone who does that while also abandoning the rhetoric and gestures of extremism that seem irresistible....

"Barrett offers ... just one example of what he calls 'the lack of bold Muslim leadership on the national level.' With the American Muslim community so divided along ethnicity and religious persuasion, he suggests what might be needed is 'a battery of talented people to guide and inspire disparate communities.' Is that coming anytime soon? Barrett says he's hopeful; it's up to American Muslims to prove him right." Islamica, Feb '09, pp126-127. [4]

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PLURALISM

"The Real Christ Has Stood Up: Popular Religious Pluralism and the Implications of Trinitarian Christianity" by Peter D. Anders -- in reference to "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison and "Imagine" by John Lennon, Anders observes: "It seems to me that together these two songs have come to provide our culture with a simple yet significant and poetic expression of what might be called 'popular religious pluralism.' ... When I say popular I don't mean superficial, I mean widely held. John Lennon may have apologized for his off-the-cuff statement - taken out of context in America at the time - that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, but that doesn't change the fact that in defining the beliefs of our contemporary Western culture, he may have been close to right. ...

"All the hope expressed in the world's religions is fulfilled together in the ultimate hope of religious pluralism. It is left only for the sincere adherents to the particular religious traditions of the world to accept this one tradition as ultimately true and normative. This is the only way in which it will work, the only way in which the religious pluralist vision and hope can be realized. To focus on only one of these particular religious traditions as true and to make that one tradition normative is to impede the progress of humanity toward that ultimate goal as expressed by both Harrison and Lennon. ...

"Are the positions of religious pluralism and orthodox trinitarian Christianity compatible or mutually exclusive? I will seek to answer this theological question with a brief outline of orthodox trinitarianism as that simple yet significant and poetic confession of what it means to be a Christian." Modern Reformation, May/Jun '09, pp20-23. <www.tinyurl.com/mpafrp>

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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

"Wall Street Journal Misconstrues India's Anti-Conversion Laws" -- this item from Hindu Press International (May 29 '09) reports "A Wall Street Journal article published April 10, 2009, 'The Freedom to Choose a New Faith,' ... describes the persecution faced under oppressive governments by people wishing to convert to a religious faith of their choice. But the article betrays a limited understanding of the circumstances.

"Truly compassionate humanitarian works are performed without conditions attached. But for over 100 years, Christian missionaries have been converting Hindus to Christianity by bribing them with medicine, education, food or clothing. Many promise medicine to poor villagers only on the condition that they convert to Christianity. Others may promise 10-20 kilos of rice to a mother who is struggling to feed her children, but only if she and her children convert to Christianity. After the tsunami struck Sri Lanka in 2004, it was reported that Christian missionary groups were providing relief ... to those who attended church services and bible readings. It was manipulative and predatory behaviors like these which prompted India's anti-conversion laws." [3]

For the WSJ piece, see <www.tinyurl.com/dxkdbx>

For the original source used by HPI, see <www.tinyurl.com/pbxshb>

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Sources, Digital:

1 - <www.tinyurl.com/5hssyd>

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Sources, Monographs:

2 - American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion, by Paul Barrett (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, December 2006, hardcover, 320 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/kv8spc>

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