IS

What can we do about IS?

The GlobalNet21 debate in the Wellington room of the House of Commons attracted a large audience and plenty of online comments. The title was “Does bombing an ideology ever work?” Richard Bacon MP was unable to be present. It must be said that the debate did not really answer the question.

Michael Stephens is the Research Fellow for Middle East studies and Head of Royal United Services Institute, Qatar. He commented that the policy now is to contain IS rather than destroy it. U.K. budget cuts mean that we no longer have the people on the ground to anticipate attacks like that on Mosul. He gave 4 root causes of the conflict.

1.       A second generation of Muslims in the West who see a gap with their parents’ perceptions and wish to escape marginalisation,

2.       A crisis in Islam both between Sunni and Shi’a and within the divided parts of Islam and no central authority,

3.       Nobody knows where Western intervention will lead to and there are double standards about where we intervene,

4.       Globalisation and technology.

Michael suggested that strategic patience was sometimes needed and we were reaping the results of a huge error in 2003. Governments chose to drive Sunni and Shi’a apart and played on the fault lines of the Arab spring.

Ellie Geranmayeh from the European Council for Foreign Relations is a visiting fellow for the Middle East and North Africa Programme in October 2013, and joined as a policy fellow in May 2014, working on European foreign policy in relation to Iran. She commented that the EU was not united and recent developments in Germany had not helped. Criminals were stepping into power vacuums and skilfully using technology to spread their murderous message.

In answer to my question about control of the internet, Michael commented that control of forums in Saudi Arabia was very severe. The hidden role of multinationals and oil companies was also mentioned. The Israeli elections in March may bring some change in the region. It was clear that our domestic policies do affect foreign policy.

What we can do is to encourage dialogue and add to the discourse to address the fear that many feel. This was a wide ranging and informative debate and I can only give a flavour of it. Too often the West has misunderstood developments e.g. do Arabs want democracy as opposed to human rights? The Wahabi policies of the Saudis remain a puzzle with tight security on the one hand and support of change on the other.

The Westminster debate on  “How far should concern with religious freedom shape foreign policy?” in the library at RUSI picked up many of these themes and was ably chaired by Professor Linda Woodhead.

Andrew Copson is Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association and he underlined the importance of human rights in the debate. Brian J. Grim, the founder and president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, spoke about how business can engage. Intercultural understanding, religious freedom, free speech and free association and freedom of the press are all tied up. He pointed to success in Brazil and Japan and gave examples from India, Australia and Brazil where companies which have a religious basis have a large impact socially.

 Erin Wilson, Director of Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain at the University of Groningen said that what we do at home affects what we promise abroad. There must be a connection between the two policies.

 Professor Debra Mason is Director, Center on Religion & the Professions at the University of Missouri and she began by pointing to the challenges of  the use of language in the media. For example Al Qaeda claim that democracy is a religion that the West wishes to impose on the Arab world.

Nicholas Coombs, career Diplomat, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, spoke of the difficulties of finding the right people to deal with on the ground and how often foreign policy was reactive.

Erin pointed to the correlation in people’s minds since 9/11 that “immigrant=Muslim=terrorist” and how this thinking needs to be changed.

I was left feeling that things were not getting better and the thought that we all need to engage with humility. The tone of how we address issues is important.

The Christian Muslim forum organised a day on “The family:challenges and benefits” at St Augustine’s Kilburn and the Islamic Centre of England. Fr Colin Amos  (the vicar of St Augustine’s) began by defining family. 1. Grandparents. 2. Geography. 3. History. 4. Chosen family through baptism and god-parenting. 5. Faith family which is an unchosen gift.

He asked to what extent challenges are born of our historic and biological differences? The challenges we face are 1. Abuse and  most of it is within the family. 2. Business/work/faith/life balance. 3. Parenting and children with absent father or mother. 4. Communication, not eating together. 5. Financial pressures and materialism. 6. Suicide.

Shaykh Saeed Bahmanpour (Islamic Centre of England) gave the Islamic perspective. He spoke of interdependence, love and kindness and the need for tranquillity. He outlined the challenge of lust rather than love, cohabitation rather than marriage,. Muslims did not see this as progress. He said that children needed to be educated about male/female differences. His main idea was “one for all and all for one” in the family.

Revd Maggie Hindley (Co-director of the  London Interfaith centre) brought a United Reformed church perspective and spoke on the role of women. She saw the family as a springboard for mission and the fight for justice and she spoke of the open family spreading loving kindness in the community.

After an excellent lunch at the Islamic centre Bishop Paul Hendricks  (Co-Chair, Christian Muslim Forum) spoke about the benefits. He said that our purpose is to learn to love. He said that in the family everyone is important all share in the meal. All should be accepted. Love is hard work and “home is a holy place”. He commented on individualism and who the elderly can be shipped off to a home. He stressed that this is God’s world and God is in the mess of families.

Dr Mohammed Ali Shomali (Director, Islamic Centre of England ) spoke how people married and still behaved as though they were single. It is important to get rid of the ego and the idol within ourselves.  It is difficult to be lonely. He stressed the importance of keeping young people at home even when at university until they married. In discussion the influence of TV and the internet was mentioned and that mosques were often out of touch with the youth. The loss of Sunday as a day for the family was also seen as a major challenge.

It was a pity that the discussion groups were divided into men and women as I feel that mothers are the centre of the family and the men needed to hear directly what the women has to say.

What has all this to do with IS? A great deal because we cannot face the threat of radicalisation without better communication within the family and in the community.



John Woodhouse

Westminster cathedral interfaith group

Vincent Nicholls

The visit of Archbishop Vincent Nichols to South Hampstead synagogue

One of the advantages of studying for a M.A. in Christianity and interreligious relations at Heythrop is finding out about interesting lectures and events. On Sunday 4^th December Archbishop Vincent Nichols and retired Archbishop Kevin Macdonald answered questions about Israel and peace from Rabbi Shlomo Levin at South Hampstead synagogue. The Archbishop began by saying that this was the only second time he had spoken in a synagogue and he was grateful for the warm welcome from a packed synagogue. The questions were hard hitting but were answered frankly and clearly and there was much good humour. The Archbishop referred several times to his recent visit to the Holy Land and spoke of the 84 Palestinian families who had recently lost their homes near Bethlehem.

The Rabbi referred to the Protestant churches who gave great support to Israel and was answered by the comment that the Catholic church was more dynamic about Israel than Protestant churches with the Pope affirming the right of Israelis to the land of Israel. Archbishop Kevin spoke of the importance in interfaith dialogue of laying all concerns on the table. The Rabbi highlighted the contrast between the Christian claim that Jesus is essential to salvation and the historic attempts to convert those of other faiths and the desire of the Catholic church to enter into dialogue. He contrasted the Pope’s positive actions and also negative comments like the Williamson affair and the prayer on Good Friday. Archbishop Vincent replied that the Catholic church does change and does make mistakes. He pointed to the success of interfaith dialogue in Birmingham changing the local council’s view with the example of a Nativity scene now reinstated in the public square.

In reply to a question about decline in the face of secularism, he said that we should talk to each other more and be more ready to engage in public debate which is open to the voices of religion. We need to find the language and the images which will convey our message clearly and spoke of the gap within ourselves - “mind the gap” as we here on the Underground! We should be aware of our insufficiency rather than our selfsufficiency. He quoted the case of a church where the local radio station rang the priest to ask if he would like his church advertised on the radio. The priest said “Why would I do that? I have 2000 attending every Sunday. Would you like me to advertise your radio station at Mass?”

The Chief Rabbi had recently given the first Pope Benedict XVI lecture at which he mentioned his forthcoming meeting with the Pope and how much he shared with the Pope in his analysis of Western culture.

 In reply to a question about the search for spirituality among younger Jews, the work of monasteries was mentioned and the profound silence during some of the Papal visit services which has been reintroduced at Mass in many places. It was a pity that the valuable work being done by laity in churches to promote silent meditation was not mentioned.

Archbishop Vincent said that the country would be poorer without an established Church and that we had a radical right to follow and express faith. There were also questions about marriage between Catholics and those of other faiths with the emphasis now being on the Catholic partner to promise to do their best to bring up children in the faith and about education with mention of the recent Coloma case. Some felt that Israel had been singled out for criticism at the recent Lambeth Palace conference with claims that the number of Christians in Israel itself is increasing. Archbishop Kevin said that representations were made to the embassies of Arab countries about the treatment of Christians and Israel was not being singled out at all.

On a more light hearted note I recorded 2 of the rabbi’s sayings. “You are not paranoid unless you recognise that people are picking on you” and a Jewish atheist “I’m an atheist, thank God!”

The evening concluded with refreshments and an opportunity to meet those of other faiths. I was very glad that I had gone to the meeting!

John Woodhouse

Westminster cathedral interfaith group which now meets on the third Wednesday of the month from 4pm to 5pm in the Hinsley Room, Morpeth Terrace – all are welcome.

Sharing Perspectives

The second “Sharing Perspectives: Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land” course at St George’s College, Jerusalem led by the Rt Revd Richard Cheetham, Bishop of Kingston and Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra 18-27 March 2015

The course was supported by the Christian Muslim Forum and was attended by 10 Christians  and 8 Muslims from the U.K. and one from the U.S.with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of one another’s theology and perspectives.

Bishop Richard began by setting the course within a global context and stressing that the way we live together is vital. By the end of the 10 days we had certainly done that and gained a new group of friends! This was a special opportunity to ask the right questions and begin to see the Holy Land through each other’s eyes. This article can only attempt to bring out some themes from a wealth of experience.  We met with Palestinians and Israelis notably Rabbi David Rosen.

Shohel Ahmed from East London writes: “For me one theme which stood out was Hospitality. Beginning with the college itself, and the staff at the college, we were greeted with large smiles, firm handshakes and good food. Walking around the markets, it was usually a ‘welcome’ and offering of tea in most stalls and shops. In the mosques it was ‘salamwalaikum’, and a sense of serenity which comes from familiarity. In Dr Mustafa’s house, and in parallel most houses, it was ‘Ahlan wa sahlan’ with excellent food, company and hospitality from young and old alike.

Wherever we went, I felt that the Palestinians were most happy to have us and host us, and share their wonderful country with us. For me that was striking and apparent from the outset.”

David Kesterton from Luton on his first visit to the Holy Land focused on Place.”What does it mean to share holy spaces? We saw a number of strained and forced efforts. Perhaps we need a version of the Pact of Umar for the 21^st century?

Christian devotion earths the ministry of Jesus, his birth, ministry, passion, death and resurrection, ascension.  The specificity of this “earthing” has resulted in places of pilgrimage and intense devotion. This course has helped me to recognise this fact. Whether these sacred spots on the earth have a genuine claim to “be the place” or are merely in the right general area doesn’t matter and the ultimate point is that it happened somewhere rather than nowhere.

Long before the days of Mission Action Planning in the Church of England, when I was a team vicar in the 1990’s– we thought about strategy and one of the five foci was “Place”. What was the distinctive sense of place about each of the areas in our team ministry? What were the stories that made them unique? It was never possible or desirable to adopt a one size fits all approach to mission. Somehow visiting the holy places on the course reminded me of the importance again of place in the context of parish life.

One of the areas the course did not find time to address in a structured way – was how we deal with the theological differences at the heart of the two faiths. The contrasting approaches to prayer and the nature of the obligations which are inherent in the faiths brings the same question to the surface –“What does it mean to talk about Freedom in Christ and how do we share this central theme of our faith with our Muslim neighbours”.



Overall it was a great privilege to attend this course and it has deepened my understanding of Islam and my awareness of the historical roots of the ministry of Jesus.” David  commented “I found myself walking down the Mt of Olives with a Muslim colleague asking me about the Christian the understanding of salvation. Is everyone going to heaven? I began explaining the theories of atonement and found myself saying “There are a variety of views”.  I think this is a phrase that will come more than once and I wondered if this sounded “too woolly” for my Muslim friend.”

Another theme which was always present was Prayer.

It was valuable to visit the mosques as well as the churches. Throughout the time together we were very conscious of our Muslim friends going  very early in the morning and at every opportunity to the Al Aqsa mosque to pray. This is the third most important site for them and prayers there are multiplied 10,000 times. It was an enormous privilege to go into the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock together. They are both astonishing building of great beauty and steeped in devotion.

For the Christians the liturgies in St George’s cathedral and the college helped to bond us together and there was a memorable Eucharist by the sea outside the Church of the Beatitudes attended by the whole group. Going early on Sunday morning to the Holy Sepulchre we were able to experience Coptic, Armenian and Ethiopian Orthodox liturgies. At the final station on the Via Dolorosa just outside the Holy Sepulchre outside the Coptic Orthodox church there are large banners showing the martyrdom of 21 Copts in Libya – a chilling reminder of the on-going persecution of Christians.

David Kesterton commented “Our group attended the Sunday Eucharist at St Georges Cathedral – with the sermon delivered in Arabic and English. The only word in the Arabic sermon I recognised was “Facebook”! It was odd that the Muslim sitting next to me followed more of the sermon than I did. “

Visiting Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capernaum  and the Sea of Galilee put things into a different context. At Nazareth we heard passages from the Quran about Mary. At the sea itself our Muslim friends washed and prayed at the sea shore while others paddled or spent time in contemplation. For all of us this was a very special place.

Finally a theme which shone through was Hope. There was a message of hope in our encounters with Archbishop Suheil Dawani, the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem and his wife . We heard of the work of hospitals and clinics and of local interfaith work where Christians have a vital role. Religion can be part of the solution not the problem. The visit of Pope Francis had sent a powerful message of peace. The Archbishop stressed the importance of embracing the Middle East. The West must not neglect the Christian presence in the Holy Land who are living stones and many are suffering poverty because there are no jobs. But the 15 year old Muslim and Christian students expressed solidarity. Being Muslim or Christian did not matter. They had great hope for the future and wanted to make Palestine the best country in the world!

We learnt a lot and we grappled with difficult and sensitive issues. The message of this time together is that we can share so much and live well together. We need to build on what is already in existence and promote more local joint projects. The Palestine/Israel issue needs to sensitively addressed in our interfaith forums. It has tended to be overshadowed by IS but until this is resolved there cannot be peace in the region.

The course will be repeated 10-17 March 2016 at the college which is an excellent place to stay. www.sgcjerusalem.org

John Woodhouse

Westminster Cathedral Interfaith Group

Evil

The problem of evil and suffering

On Ash Wednesday Jeremy Rodell addressed the Westminster cathedral interfaith group on the subject of evil from a humanist viewpoint.

He began with a quote from Stephen Fry and went on to a long quote from “Faith and Unbelief” by Stephen Bullivant. “Even God gets murdered.” Bullivant outlines the following

 1. Forgiveness but the question is forgiving what?

2. Augustinian understanding is that evil is a consequence of free will. However this does not apply to natural disasters unless you resort to original sin.

3. The natural order cannot be changed. But that would be incompatible with miracles or any other kind of divine intervention.

4. We don’t know the answer but we do know that Jesus suffered.

Jeremy said that for the humanist there is no “problem of evil” in the sense of a misfit between a benign deity and the fact that there is suffering in the world. We have to accept that this is the way things are. He listed the following aspects.

1.       Suffering can come from the bad actions of people.

2.       Personal illness.

3.       Natural disaster.

4.       Accident.

5.       Bad luck.

We cannot escape the fact that we will all die. We can reduce the causes and mitigate the effects. He said that saying “I thank God for saving me” from a disaster seems illogical if it has killed others.

He did equate evil with bad human action as we all have the capacity to behave selfishly or in a kind and loving way. There are moral absolutes, based on our shared humanity. In discussion inequality of education was mentioned and the need for a standard of morality to be taught. Stephen Pinker has written about the world has become less violent but there may be an upswing in violence as a result of IS.

John Woodhouse

2014 events

Some recent interfaith events

The Westminster interfaith group heard an account of Gandhi’s involvement in interfaith from William Rhind of the Gandhi foundation. He gave us some quotes from Gandhi.

“Religions are different roads converging to the same point. Denial of God will not liberate me from his operation. The only way to find God is to see him in his creation and to be one with it. God is light not darkness. God is love not hate. God is truth not untruth. The only devils in the world are those running about in our own hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought.

Without needing to be a Christian, I can testify to what Jesus means in my life.” Gandhi saw Jesus as the ‘finest flower of Judaism’.

Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi addressed a meeting in Brixton of Faiths together in Lambeth and spoke on the issue of violence. He said that humiliation leads to extremism. Most fringe groups are not in mosques and there needs to be a united stand against ISIS to find a non-violent solution to violence. Muslim men are well integrated into society in the United Kingdom . However some see themselves as victims. Centralisation of Muslims prevents radicalisation.

What we can do is to invite our neighbours, interact with children, improve our public relations and promote our activities on local radio and in local papers.

The British Humanist association promoted “Looking for common ground: how can Muslims and humanists live and work together in 21^st century London?” at Conway Hall. This was the first dialogue of its kind and Alom Shaha did an excellent job asking questions of 4 different speakers. It was pointed out from the floor that the “conservative” Muslim was not represented.

Yasmin Rehman spoke against pigeonholing by government. She finds it offensive to be described as British Asian Muslim. All the speakers stressed the great diversity within Islam. Yasmin spoke against the violence against women and children and stressed that all needed protection from English law not sharia law.

Huda Jawad spoke from the Shia perspective. She said that people should be empowered to ask Muslims the right questions. Manadou Bocoum spoke about the differences of African Islam and the problem of multiple identities. Muslims should be brave and speak honestly and he felt that the understanding of the Qu’ran should be higher than the Qu’ran itself.

Sara Khan spoke passionately about her fight for justice. “Can you be a Muslim feminist?”  She is amazed that she has been described as Islamophobic. “Your identity influences your interpretation  of the text”. She mentioned the difficulty of reconciling modernity and Islam but there did seem to be common ground with humanists.

Questions from the floor included the question of faith schools and homophobia from Muslims. It was hoped that this was the first of many similar encounters.

I sang at “Whichever way Love turns” the 850th  anniversary of Ibn’ Arabi in music and sound  concert/event at Brunei gallery SOAS. We all received a warm welcome from  Amin Hussain and Thalia-Mari Papadopolou. There was a varied programme  including Flamenco guitar, singers, poetry , the whirling dervishes of West London, Muslim Zikr chant from the Mevlevi Threshold society,  Sikh, Jewish (my good friend Stefan and Arjan) and a marvellous Orthodox St  Nektarios choir member singing Agios O Theos with drone on  harp.

 I sang Ubi caritas (God is love) and Sanctus from the  Requiem mass which is probably our oldest chant linking back  to the synagogue and Jesus may have sung it. Ubi caritas is particularly suitable as it means “Where charity and love is, there is God”.

The whole concert had a beautiful atmosphere of calm and contemplation. It was sponsored by the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi society www.ibnarabisociety.org, the Beshara Trust www.beshara.org and St Ethelburga’s www.stethelburgas.org.

One of the highlights of 2014 was speaking to over 300 at the Ramadan tent near University of London Senate House. I told the audience that I could not improve on the words of Pope Francis “Interreligious dialogue is a necessary condition for peace in the world, and so it is a duty for Christians as well as other religious communities.” (Evangelii Gaudium 250) and I presented a copy of the document to the organisers.

John Woodhouse

Westminster cathedral interfaith group

Israel

Reliigons for Peace organised a fascinating lecture by Professor Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok who was Professor of Judaism at the University of Wales  and is now a research Fellow at Heythrop. There was a large audience in the Westminster Cathedral hall and Bishop John Arnold chaired the meeting.

The Professor argued for a two state solution for Israel on Jewish biblical grounds. He began by outlining the history of Zionism as a political movement. Zionists wanted a “country from which we cannot be expelled”. He pointed to Jewish anti-Zionism in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Both Orthodox and Reformed Jews rejected Zionism.

The Orthodox saw Zionists as usurping God’s will that there would eventually be Messianic redemption in Zion. The Reformed Jews wanted emancipation and liberation in the societies in which they already lived.

Gradually the Zionist idea which had originally been supported by a few became the mainstream orthodox view. The Biblical concept of “The land is ours” led to the view that all the land belonged to the Jews.

Professor Dan went on to give his own view based on Jewish scripture.  He based this on Exodus and the Kingdom of God. The message of liberation is that now we Jews are free, we must engage with all the oppressed. Who are the oppressed in Israel? The Palestinians.

The Kingdom of God concept points to divine justice for all. Crucial to this is the concept of the right to return. Jews have it but Palestinians do not and they want it. The question of settlements must be addressed.

The Professor answered the many searching questions with humour and wisdom. He remains hopeful that a solution to a seemingly intractable problem can and must be found.

John Woodhouse

2915

The Westminster Cathedral interfaith group meets every third Wednesday of the month in the Hinsley Room, Morpeth Terrace from 4 to 5 p.m.

We got off to a splendid start in June 2007 with a talk by Alfred Agius, then Westminster diocesan Interfaith advisor. His successor Jon Dal Din has regularly attended our meetings.  

We began by studying Catholic documents on relations with other faiths and spending time in silent meditation. 

We have regular outings to venues important for our intentions.  For instance, a group of 14 enjoyed a tour of the British Library exhibition “Sacred”, where we also had a conducted visit of the Jain exhibition, with an excellent Jain guide.

From January to March 2009 we studied Christianity and Islam.  This course had been designed to give an appreciation of the inner dimensions of Islam and the way that it shapes the lives of Muslims, so as to have a better understanding of Muslims in the West.  This is paramount if we want a meaningful dialogue with our Muslim fellow citizens; we need to understand something of their world view, beliefs, and history and theology of Christian-Muslim relations.

The course consisted of ten two-hour sessions, including a visit to a mosque.  It was given by Dr Chris Hewer, the St Ethelburga Fellow in Christian-Muslim Relations, who has been involved in the study of Islam and in Christian-Muslim relations since 1986.  Bishop John Arnold who was then responsible for interfaith relations for the diocese visited the group and met Dr Hewer.  We also spent 3 sessions looking at the document sent by Muslim scholars to the churches about Love of God and neighbour.

Brian Appleyard of the Buddhist society gave us an interesting overview of Buddhism.

I was involved  in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference session with Muslims and in the Westminster Faith Exchange which looked at 6 different faiths’ attitudes to body and health.



I have continued to attend interfaith forums especially and make useful contacts notably the enthusiastic Rachel Heilbron of the Three Faiths forum.



The group has had several visits to Initiatives for Change, 24 Greencoat Place, to enjoy Chinese New Year meals and see the film “The Imam and the Pastor”.



We have welcomed Muslim, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist and humanist speakers.

Rabbi Mark Solomon and Sister Margaret Shepherd of the Sisters of Sion                   spoke about relations between Jews and Christians.



We take part in the annual Westminster interfaith peace walk and used the booklet “Conversations for the soul” for ongoing dialogue with Muslims and Buddhists.



We have visited the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple in Neasden and the Jain temple in Potters Bar. The Bishops’ conference document “Meeting God in friend and stranger” which we studied in detail is a most useful and essential guide in our troubled world.



We also studied “Sharing Eden” a booklet on Faiths and the environment produced by Christian, Jewish and Muslim writers.



In 2014 we had talks on the Commonwealth contribution to World War 1 by Hugo Clarke of the Curzon Institute, the first Imam to the armed forces, Raheed Salaam a Muslim who works with youth and William Rhind of the Gandhi Foundation on Gandhi and interfaith, as well as a well-attended talk by  a Zoroastrian.



Future meetings are  Dec 17 Alan Rainer on unity of faiths

Jan 21, 2015 Revd Jim Walters chaplain to London School of Economics on their pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Feb 18, 2015 Stefan Byron on yoga

March 18,2015 Jeremy Rodell humanist on the problem of evil

No meeting in April

May 20^th 2015 Sally Reith of Shared Interest on investing in a fairer world

June 17, 2015 Joan Salter on being saved from the Holocaust





John Woodhouse Organiser of the group which is open to all

woodhousesopten@btinternet.com  0790 8888 586 by text