Article
Reflections
To bomb Iran back to the Stone age?
I was appalled by what President Trump said he planned to do next in Iran. Some weeks ago he had a great opportunity to support the thousands of Iranian's who took to the streets. Sadly, in spite of his initial encouragement, he didn't provide support! Instead he let down the ordinary people of Iran with dire consequences. Thousands were killed by the regime.
Now he says he plans to make their life, the lives of ordinary Iranian people, hell. Just the thing to turn those who love their country, and who were looking for help from the Americans, against the USA. Destroy the country, its hospitals, schools, welfare agencies, its bridges, and transport systems and what will be the result? It is quite predictable. Such actions will push those who love their country, the ordinary people, back into the hands of the very regime that they hoped the USA would help them remove.
Where is wisdom? Where is the diplomacy? Where are the peacemakers?
Who in the US administration is listening?
Please NOTE: I wrote the above on FB before the announcement of a two week ceasefire. I hope and pray that the ceasefire will be honoured by both sides, the USA and Iran. I also hope that Israel will halt its incursions and bombings in Lebanon. It is time for dialogue, for negotiation, time to find a peaceful way forward for all concerned.
Respect is a two way process
Many years ago I did an MA in Religious Studies and at that point I learnt to respect some of the other great world religions. So, given Islamic sensitivities on the matter, I was not at all impressed when several years ago a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.
In more recent days we have seen in the United States a Christian minister engaging in the burning of copies of the Koran, and more recently still the uploading to U-tube of an apparently second rate movie mocking the prophet, this again by a person claiming to be a Christian. This latter action as most will know led to a series of demonstrations in the Islamic world, and a number of deaths, including, most likely, the death of a US ambassador in northern Africa.
I am at heart a pacifist, I detest violence and in no way would want to condone the excesses of some of the Islamic protestors however I believe that these actions by people claiming to be Christian raise serious questions for those of us who call ourselves Christian.
As a Christian I want others to respect my faith. I do not want to see Christ mocked or maligned by others, or for that matter the Bible treated with disrespect. And I am appalled by the disrespect sometimes shown to Christianity – incidentally not by those of other faiths – but by those of no faith who are members of our Western culture.
Recently I heard President Obama speaking about freedom as a key western value – that may be so but I was disappointed that he did not go on to state that with freedom comes responsibility – responsibility to use freedom wisely. In the west it is clear to me that some have lost that part of the equation. Freedom divorced from responsibility and respect is not the kind of freedom I want or value. As a Christian I value it when people use their freedom wisely, responsibly. I value it when people respect that which is precious to me. As Christians my hunch is that we all want our faith to be respected.
By the same token, I am ashamed when others, claiming to be Christian, fail to show respect for that which is precious to those who are of a different faith. I am not arguing here that all faiths are of equal value, that is a different issue. I do not agree with those who suggest that all faiths should be tipped into the one religious pot and somehow blended together. What I am arguing is that we as Christians should begin from the point of respect when dealing with other faiths, that we as Christians should be to the fore amongst those who seek to understand why the beliefs held by others are precious to them as ours are to us.
We cannot expect others who are not of our faith to show respect to our faith if we in turn are disrespectful of their faith.
Did not Jesus say: “Do unto others what you would have others do unto you”.
© Norman E Brookes October 2012
In more recent days we have seen in the United States a Christian minister engaging in the burning of copies of the Koran, and more recently still the uploading to U-
I am at heart a pacifist, I detest violence and in no way would want to condone the excesses of some of the Islamic protestors however I believe that these actions by people claiming to be Christian raise serious questions for those of us who call ourselves Christian.
As a Christian I want others to respect my faith. I do not want to see Christ mocked or maligned by others, or for that matter the Bible treated with disrespect. And I am appalled by the disrespect sometimes shown to Christianity – incidentally not by those of other faiths – but by those of no faith who are members of our Western culture.
Recently I heard President Obama speaking about freedom as a key western value – that may be so but I was disappointed that he did not go on to state that with freedom comes responsibility – responsibility to use freedom wisely. In the west it is clear to me that some have lost that part of the equation. Freedom divorced from responsibility and respect is not the kind of freedom I want or value. As a Christian I value it when people use their freedom wisely, responsibly. I value it when people respect that which is precious to me. As Christians my hunch is that we all want our faith to be respected.
By the same token, I am ashamed when others, claiming to be Christian, fail to show respect for that which is precious to those who are of a different faith. I am not arguing here that all faiths are of equal value, that is a different issue. I do not agree with those who suggest that all faiths should be tipped into the one religious pot and somehow blended together. What I am arguing is that we as Christians should begin from the point of respect when dealing with other faiths, that we as Christians should be to the fore amongst those who seek to understand why the beliefs held by others are precious to them as ours are to us.
We cannot expect others who are not of our faith to show respect to our faith if we in turn are disrespectful of their faith.
Did not Jesus say: “Do unto others what you would have others do unto you”.
© Norman E Brookes October 2012