Today, I shall reflect on some issues related to religion, war and terrorism, prompted by the terrible terrorist attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in the midst of an overcrowded evacuation time on August 26, 2021, for which ISIL-KP has claimed responsibility. 182 people were killed and as many, or more, injured and maimed for life. America carried out revenge attacks afterward. Also, I write today’s article as the American occupation of Afghanistan has ended, after no less than twenty years, with over 170,000 left dead and many injured and displaced. The war was hardly justified, certainly not beyond the first few years. All this makes you and I, all of us, ask questions about the way we human beings deal with each other, live together in peace and war. Sadly, religion is often used to back up our violent actions. But did we really ask God, and did we get his permission?
God is love, unlimited and eternal, from beginning to end. All religions teach us so. Yet, God’s commandments and rules are also strict and teach us to abide by them—for our own good. We are told to praise and love God. At the same time, we must love our fellow human beings and do unto others what we want others to do unto us.
In an article after the terrible terrorist attack in Orlando, USA, on June 15, 2016 which killed over fifty people, Haris Anwar wrote in an article in ‘New Voices’ the day after: “All acts of violence are reprehensible. However, an atrocity committed by someone who purports to represent Islam is especially disturbing. The primary question that arises is whether such a barbaric act is justified in Islam. The answer is a resounding ‘no’.” The attack took place during the holy month of Ramadan, making it even worse, Anwar says.
In Christianity, there is condemnation of violence, indeed terrorist attacks, which kill, injure and scare people from certain actions, expressions and opinions. That doesn’t hinder though, that certain extremist groups, referring to Christianity, sometimes carry out such acts. For example, people who are strongly against women being allowed to take abortion, have carried out attacks on hospitals that allow abortion procedures to take place, in spite of it being legal. Peaceful, civil protests should be allowed, but not incitement to violence, direct violence and certainly not terrorism. In Muslim communities, there are also believers who take the law in their own hands as a way of protest.
Sometimes, there are government laws that allow violence to be used, notably corporal punishment, or even capital punishment. Earlier, schools allowed corporal punishment, but that has now been abolished in most countries. Spanking of children sometimes take place in the home, although in many countries that is considered child abuse and is illegal; so is also spousal and other forms of domestic violence. To end such practices, advocacy and debate, in addition to laws, will eventually lead to attitudinal change and reduction of the malpractices (as, for example, has happened in African countries that used to practice female genital mutilation).
I draw attention to broader issues of violence, including corporal punishment, because they can justify or form other attitudes to violence, or make it seem less serious. Furthermore, as a pacifist, I would also like to draw attention to the fact the fact that most people accept that the military can use violence to solve conflicts, when negotiation and persuasion should have been prioritised. Brute force, destruction of infrastructure and facilities, and killing of soldiers, but also civilians, are part of wars. If we had been more critical to the use of force in society in general, military thinking would have been different. We would have been able to give more attention to development of peaceful societies, and peaceful ways of solving conflicts when they arise.
I find it difficult to accept that the Abrahamic religions allow war, even justify war, and sometimes even accept the use of war and violence to achieve religious goals and the expansion of a religion. Christianity is full of terrible wars fought in the name of the religion. Today, Islamic groups sometimes justify wars and violence, and sometimes even stand in support of terrorist attacks as a means to achieve goals. This is in contradiction to the true spirit of our religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Religious leaders should always preach peace, forgiveness, mercy, and remind us that God is love—not encourage the use of violence to win over opponents and achieve goals.
We should learn that there are many things we cannot be certain about, including in the ways we interpret the holy books. Indeed, if the Christian leaders had followed more of this during history, there would have been fewer wars and less violence; there would have been more peace, equality and prosperity. Isn’t it about time that we consider these issues once more, so we might find better solutions and ways of living and working together, sharing and caring?
In today’s only superpower, the US, where a higher percentage than elsewhere in the West attend church and speak publicly about faith, people seem to accept the country’s engagement in wars abroad, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sadly, religion is used to justify and support military operations and huge budget allocations at the expense of poor men and women at home and abroad. The US is a secular state, but religion still plays an important role. In the recent couple of generations, religion’s role in Western European states has become less important and less visible. Yet, it is still there and plays an important role.
Rich countries, the US and western Europe in particular, often claim moral superiority and leadership, and religion lies under many aspects of their philosophy and the countries’ superstructure. Yet, the West is the leader of the unequal, liberal capitalist world we live in, and the west carries the major responsibility for structural violence in the world. Here, too, religion is often used to justify what is wrong. Let us follow God’s commandments of love, mercy, forgiveness—of praising him and doing unto each other what we want others to do unto us. Let us fight war, terrorism and structural violence, and injustice in everyday situations, but only by using peaceful means.