Many Americans have expressed shock at news that some U.S. soldiers have been seeking to use their positions of power in Iraq and Afghanistan to preach Christianity. But this does not come as news to Muslims, who have been long aware of these proselytizing efforts at the end of a gun.
The Pentagon's General Order 1 prohibits American troops from attempting to convert people in foreign countries. Nonetheless, this activity has been rampant since the United States military first entered Afghanistan and Iraq. In this month's Harper's Magazine, Jeff Sharlet's article "Jesus killed Mohammed: The Crusade for a Christian Military" provides troubling insight into the efforts of fundamentalist Christian churches to turn our armed forces into a modern-day Knights Templar, fighting infidels on behalf of the Church.
As a person of faith myself, I understand the urge to share spiritual witness. Both Christianity and Islam believe they have a message from God for all humanity, and as a result, believers in both traditions naturally seek to engage others and share their faith. And I have no problem entering into discussions and debate with others on matters of religion. Indeed, it is a healthy part of human discourse. For only through openly examining ideas and beliefs can we as human beings discover what feels spiritually true to us. And when our heart finds something it feels to be true, the urge to share that truth with others is natural and part of the human condition.
But faith proffered at the end of a gun is not the same as spirited discourse between equals. American soldiers are in a position of power - lethal power - over the men, women and children in whose countries they are acting. When an armed man seeks to share his beliefs with you, it is not about spreading enlightenment, but about domination and control. To go into other countries with a rifle in one hand and a Bible in the other, can only create fear, resentment and backlash.
Even worse, the image of the soldier-preacher fits directly into Al-Qaeda's meme that Americans are engaged in a new Crusade to destroy Islam. And to the extent that these fundamentalist churches are allowed to exert influence in our military, our enemies are proven right. Both Muslim extremists and their Christian counterparts seek to ignite a war of civilizations, a zero-sum game in which their ideology will ultimately destroy their adversaries completely.
But I don't believe most Americans share that vision of Christianity, just like most Muslims don't seek to dominate and destroy other religions. And it is now up to people of good will, whatever their beliefs, to work together to prevent this clash of civilizations that the militants among us desire.
The irony of these American churches' efforts to spread Christianity in the Muslim world is that Christianity has been part of the fabric of these nations for centuries. As I discuss in my new novel, Mother of the Believers, the Muslim conquest of the Middle East was supported by Christian groups like the Egyptian Copts, who had been oppressed by the Byzantine Church for doctrinal differences. The Muslim leaders guaranteed religious freedom for "the People of the Book," and as a result they were able to attract the support of Middle Eastern Christians who were being terrorized by their fellow believers. Indeed, when the Crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099, they massacred its Christian population, who were seen as traitors for living in friendship with their Muslim neighbors.
In Iraq, an ancient Christian community has been in place for the past 2,000 years. And Iraqi Christians like former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz rose to positions of power in Saddam's secular regime. With the destruction of Iraq's secular dictatorship by American forces, Muslim extremists have filled the power vacuum, and now Iraq's Christian community is undergoing terrible persecution. About a third of Iraq's 800,000 Christians are believed to have fled overseas since 2003.
That's right - there were almost a million Christians already in Iraq under Saddam, part of a community that has lived in peace with its Muslim neighbors for over a thousand years. American Christians who supported the Iraq war as an End-Times battle to spread Christianity have ironically created an environment where Christianity is now disappearing from Iraq.
The lesson of these tragic events is that faith is best shared through dialogue built on respect for those who differ from us. It can never be imposed through power, and if it is, it is not faith at all, but mind control. And efforts to control the hearts and minds of others will always fail.
The Holy Qur'an says very clearly in Surah 2:256: "Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error."
If what you believe is true, you don't need to use power or manipulation to convince others. So let us lay down our guns and embrace each other as brothers and sisters. The truth will win out in the end. It always does.
Kamran Pasha is a Hollywood filmmaker and the author of Mother of the Believers, a novel on the birth of Islam as told by Prophet Muhammad's wife Aisha (Atria Books; April 2009). For more information please visit: http://www.kamranpasha.com
Follow Kamran Pasha on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kamranpasha
The soldier in Afghanistan that caused this frenzy was counseled by the chaplain for attempting to violate military policy. The bibles were confiscated and never distributed. Additionally, the bibles were donated by a church in the U.S. and were completely unsolicited.
I am a proud member of the U.S. military and those I serve with are true heroes. Please make sure that you have all the facts before making accusations and assumptions.
LT Adam Clampitt, United States Navy
US Forces - Afghanistan
Wouldn't a more likely explanation be that, in the absence of law and order, it's just one more religious/ethnic group that has been targeted by those who had been waiting for years to assert themselves over Iraq's minority populations? American soldiers, as far as I am aware, have not been proselytizing Sunni Islam, and yet certain elements of Iraq's Shia majority have targeted Sunni Muslims on a large scale.
I really doubt that a few misguided soldiers with Bibles are the reason that Christian Iraqis have been targeted, as well.
The US Air Force Academy has practically become "Rocky Mountain Bible College".
It is not possible to turn hearts and minds to peaceful pursuits without demonstrating an understanding and acceptance of others' points of view.
Pushing the bible at gunpoint simply reinforces enmity.
After all, leaving one's own history unexamined can lead to spiritual decay.
In each of our religious traditions there are moments of tribalism and moments of universalism. The question that Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and all religions face is which path we will follow today. I for one embrace an Islam of pluralism, empathy and compassion. I encourage my brothers and sisters of other faiths to promote those values within their own communities as well.
Are christians so insecure that if wrong doing is discovered within their community, instead of figuring it out, discussing it, and rectifying it, you need to point fingers to divert attention?
That just seems pathetic.
We're living in the present. Nothing that modern christian evangelicals are doing now is a result of what happened hundreds of years ago.
This is a choice of right or wrong being made by people here and now.
Nothing more.
This led to Versailles following WW1, which then led to WW2, which then led to the Cold War. Americans did all these things because Europeans seductively whispered, "You're a SUPERPOWER! You're so big! You're so strong!"
And you know Americans are suckers for that kind of talk, and the Europeans do know how to use seductive language. Now that Europeans have been freed (from the messes they themselves created), they don't like that big American lunk anymore, and think he's overbearing. (When he's not fighting wars for their benefit, he's suddenly seen as overbearing, you see)
Besides, the Europeans need to keep the Islamic jihadists in escrow for awhile, just in case they need somebody to harass their Russian blood-enemies in places like Chechnya and their soft Central Asian underbelly. The Islamists are the more recent hot-blooded boytoys, so they have their place in Europeans' carnal hearts. I hear Brzezinski gushing loudly over the Chinese these days. You know what he's thinking, don't you?
The way they seem to have interpreted the book of revelations is that it's their duty to maintain very high tensions between Muslims & Christians, and Jews & Muslims.
This is because of what happens after The Rapture: the huge war between the Jews of Israel and Muslims - their longed for river of blood is Jewish, not Muslim.
And this is why evangelicals support Israel. Not because of altruism, or believing in a safe haven for Jewish folk. It's all about preparing for the Rapture.
A great documentary to give insight into evangelical thinking is 'The Doomsday Code' - presented by Baldric of Black Adder.
They are there as soldiers. Not as missionaries. Anyone from a "christian" country who carries a gun is instantly viewed with, at best, suspicion in that part of the world. And with good reason.
Please note the quotes around Christian. Regardless of if we are or not (we're not supposed to be) perception is 9/10th of reality.
These stories have been going around since just before the shocking Iraq invasion, and in my opinion one unit behaving like this is terrible.
It needs to vbe thoroughly investigated, and stamped out.
Even if you don't believe it to be a problem within our military, surely you must understand that if their is any truth to it, that it's more fodder for Muslim extremists who believe that the fight is one between the religions?
I firmly believe that there are some within the military that share Al Qaida's view that this is a holy war.
And I believe the people within the military who behave like this are no better than extremist Muslims like those of Al Qaida. Certainly their death toll is far higher than Al Qaida's achievements.
If you read blogs and comments on ';conservative' websites, you'll see that those people support the evangelical mission within the military. And you also must know that their contacts within the military are stronger than those who firmly believe in separation of church and state/military.
So it's no big leap to understand that not only was out justice department politicized and filled with "right" thinkers and born again christians, but so too has there been a push from the Bush Admin to do the same to the military.
Please correct me if I am wrong here, but it is my understanding that if a Muslim were to submit to the brainwashing techniques of these evil horrible modern day Crusaders, that their conversion would be no less than a death sentence. It is my understanding of Islam, and certainly Sharia Law that is practiced in many areas of the Muslim world, that anyone who is not a true believer of Islam would immediately be killed by the Imams?
Am I wrong here, or does this mean what I think it means, that those soldiers who are attempting to convert the good Muslim people of the world are, in essence, complicit in their death sentence?
Amen to that.
I just find it heartbreaking that those who are being sent to fight what is now obviously become a Holy War have no real concept of what they are fighting for. In the Christian faith too, people are told they must come to find Jesus/God on their own, not that Jesus or God will come to them.
OF course, as usual, those who fight in the name of Christianity know not what they speak
Thankfully the majority of people in the world don't believe that religious fairy tale hogwash!