And the west is not on a crusade?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1867405,00.html

Hi kevin,

I am anti-Bush, anti-Iraq/Afghan wars. The stupid thing to do is to help muslims. Muslims kill muslims. Some westerners feel pity for them and try to help them. But, the outcome is jihad on those who helped. What a shame! We help them in earthqueakes, tsunamis. But, we get Bali blasts, 7/7 terrors in return. We should not only get out of Iraq & Afghanistan but also cut-off all relations with Islamic countries. As for oil, we have alternative resources. We got brains, they got oil. We should make use of brain-power and find alternative source for oil

"But does he have a point, or is this a good example of why the Anglican Communion around the globe is in trouble?"

GrahamY: I think it's just part of the general theme of why Anglicanism (and the other traditional Christian demoninations in general) is in trouble. It seems to me (as an outsider) that modern Anglicanism almost wants to commit suicide. I'm not saying they should or shouldn't be in favour of the Crusades or be making comparisons like those mentioned or not, but I wonder if they're even in favour of themselves. They seem as if what they want to do is go and slump in a corner and have a good sigh over a lukewarm cup of tea. This religion business is getting to be a bit too much for them.

I think he has a point. There is a thread of vengefulness, xenophobia and violence in Christianity’s scriptures and traditions, as there is a more prominent and more authentic thread of peace, love, compassion and forgiveness. Recognising the elements of darkness and complexity of our own religious tradition, and the need to interpret them correctly, is important as we deal with modern Christian fundamentalism and the secular word’s hostility to Christianity. It is particularly important as we try to understand Islam and its interaction with Western cultures, because Islam’s scriptures and traditions seem similarly to range from the sublime through the benign to the homicidal. They can be proof-texted by fundamentalists to support violence, and misrepresented by opponents as irredeemably violent – just like Christianity.

I also think he’s right, or almost right, to say that the same religious passion and spiritual single mindedness lies at the heart of a London bomber and a Christian crusader. At their worst, religions (or secular ideologies such as Marxism) can lay the foundations for terror and murder. They give people permission to hate, and an excuse for laying aside normal ethical scruples about harming others. They minimise self-doubt and self-criticism – for who would dare question God’s will, or the policies of the vanguard of the proletariat – and comfort perpetrators with the assurance that the acts they perform are inevitable or predestined or part of some grander design for good.

The early Jesus movement was a protest and reaction against these and other features of religious practice in 1st century eastern Mediterranean, and took several decades to morph into a distinct religion. Christianity has struggled with these internal tensions ever since.

The things we find most inspiring, meaningful and important, and which stir in us the most passion, are the things that can go most terribly wrong when they are corrupted. Religious feeling is definitely one of those things. This does not mean that religion is bad or that we should shun extremes of passion for cautious mediocrity, but we should be mindful of the risks and dangers religious expression can hold.

Rhian,

That is a very thoughtful and flattering interpretation seeking a truth in an article that was just wrong. You must have thoroughly enjoyed interpreting books and poems at high school. I was reminded of the high school thing a few years ago when the singer associated with the name Live was being interviewed. He was asked about the meaning of the lyrics in "Dolphin's Cry". The interviewer said that most people thought it was about wildlife conservation and dolphins suffering but other people thought it was just about appreciating nature and asked him what he had intended. He candidly commented that he was just thinking about people having sex on the beach but he is open to that interpretation. Your comments remind me of the interpretations of "Dolphin's Cry".

For the record, the Pope recently did a speech that brought out the point you are making. In that case it wasn't just an Anglican with no confidence in anything kicking his own religion thoughtlessly. It was clearly the message he intended. Religions can be complicated but love should be the focus. A startling number of denominations/interpretations of scriptures have arisen since Martin Luther decided that the Bible is self explanatory and doesn't need authoritative guidance from a Church. This points toward the complexity of this (as with any) religion including the possibility of justification of violence.

Mjpb,I don’t just make this stuff up.

Talking of the dark side of the Christian scriptures, I had in mind, for example, the annihilation of all humanity and life except Noah and his passengers in the flood, the suffering inflicted on Egyptian civilians to force Pharaoh then to release the Israelites, God’s periodic homicidal rages in the 40 years’ desert sojourn, the genocidal ethnic cleansing of the native inhabitants of Palestine by the invading Israelites, the anti-Jewish polemics in the gospels of Luke and John (and their use to justify two millennia of anti-Semitism), God permitting Job to be tormented for the sake of a bet, the application of the death penalty for the crime of disobeying one’s parents, the repudiation of non-Jewish wives and children by the returning Babylonian exiles (and that nice bit about smashing infants against rocks in psalm 137), and Jesus saying “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” I’ll supply references if requested.

On the relationship between idealism, religion and evil, read Roy Baumeister’s excellent book
“Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty” http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Inside-Human-Violence-Cruelty/dp/0805071652 .

I can’t find the exact quote, but CS Lewis (hardly a moral relativist) said in Mere Christianity something like evil is not the opposite of good, or even the absence of good, but the perversion of the good.