November 2008 Archives

Look at this young kid's face.  This is a photograph taken of one of the terrorists by Sebastian D'Souza.  He is so young and was so twisted.  It reminds me of my friend Eboo Patel and his book "Acts of Faith" that I reviewed for Beliefnet.  This is an excerpt of my review:

Nothing is more chilling than Patel's fictional recounting of how easy it might have been to have been seduced by radical ideology when he was young and alienated as so many young people currently are--and not only young people in Islam, but in Christian separatist movements such as the one that influenced Eric Rudolf as well as Jewish and Hindu extremists. In a chapter titled "Youth Programs" Patel describes the history and evolution of extremists in his own faith and how persuasive these groups can be. In speaking about Osama Bin Laden, Patel makes the particularly salient point that Bin Laden is, if nothing else, a brilliant youth organizer.

How can we stop this violence and reach our young people before it is too late?  I am haunted by this boy's calm killing face...

Terrorist attacks on Mumbai have provoked Meenakshi Ravi to write this on Huffingtonpost:

Four years ago, the Hindu-dominated, right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was dismissed from government by an Indian electorate that saw through its glossy 'India Shining' campaign propaganda. The BJP's loss was the compound effect of many of its failings, but the most glaring offense was its alleged involvement in the violent Hindu-Muslim clashes that erupted in the western state of Gujarat. For over four months, the state burned and people were killed on the grounds of their religious faith. In official records you would find that 1,044 people died as a result of the communal violence. Read the reports compiled by NGOs and human rights groups and you'd find that the figure was closer to 2,000.

The Mumbai attacks heighten the threat to the Indian secular state which is already battling internal threats to minority groups. It is easy to sell situations like this to the man on the street as an attack that threatens his community. The terror in Mumbai has struck during a year in which six Indian states are going to the polls. These are crucial elections for both main parties in India since the one that makes a stronger showing is likely to be on firm footing to make gains in the General Elections scheduled for May 2009. The BJP will probably leverage this climate of fear and uncertainty to make electoral gains. For the ruling Indian National Congress, the communal card will come in handy as a tool to paper over serious lapses in intelligence and national security during its watch.

The BJP has managed to maintain a strong anti-terror image with its constituency by riding on religious rhetoric and convincing its supporters that the party will protect their interests and ensure their safety. This, despite its lamentable record of not just the horrors of Gujarat in 2002, but other incidents that go further back, such as the mishandling of the 1999 Kandahar hijacking incident, and most infamously, the BJP-led demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992.

The Congress never had a hope of making light work of these state elections. A nervous economy and terror-struck populace was going to need serious convincing if some states were to be retained/won. The Mumbai terror attacks have made the Congress' work many times more difficult as it has struck fear in the hearts of the people and has reminded them of the indefensible performance by the party and the government it leads in the task of protecting Indians from terrorism.

More on Indian politics...

Pope Benedict XVI has been making the news lately. On the occasion of Barack Obama's election victory, he sent a personal congratulatory message and emphasized working with the new president on issues of "peace, solidarity and justice."  When the Vatican spokesman was asked by a reporter for more specifics discussed in the letter, the spokesperson reiterated, "peace, solidarity and justice."

The Pope also reminded Catholics in a recent statement that all human life, born and unborn, is sacred and must be protected. The Pope noted that every year about four million newborn children die around the world less than 26 days after birth because of poverty, lack of health care, and armed conflict. The Holy Father described this as a matter of "urgent" concern.

This consistent ethic of life principle has a long history in Catholic social thought, but it's often eclipsed when it comes to contemporary debates over faith in politics.  Abortion, for example, is sometimes viewed in isolation from the social, cultural and economic context in which women and families live.  As Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles told Washington Post writer E.J. Dionne, Jr. in this column. "We are not a one-issue Church," Zavala insisted.

Catholic voters agree. A new post-election poll conducted by Public Religion Research and sponsored by Faith in Public Life, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Sojourners found that 72 percent of Catholics say people of faith should "focus on all issues that are central to their faith even if it makes them less effective in politics."   Strong majorities of Catholics (71%) and evangelicals (62%) also believe people of faith should advocate for policies that "protect the interests of all and promote the common good."

On the urgent moral issue of abortion, poll findings offer hope that we can move beyond culture-war divisions to support public policies that prevent abortions. Eighty-one percent of Catholics and 86 percent of white evangelicals, according to the survey, believe elected leaders should work together to find ways to reduce abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies, expanding adoption opportunities, and increasing economic support for women who want to carry their pregnancies to term.

The role of religion in public life today has dramatically changed. Just four years ago, the far right had a monopoly on the faith and values' debate. A Christian engagement with public life too often ignored the long tradition of the social gospel:  Jesus' central message of justice and liberation for the poor and oppressed, and the Magnificat's reversal of worldly power.  War, health care and the economy were not widely viewed as moral issues that have a profound impact on human dignity. Today, organizations like Catholics in Alliance, Pax Christi, NETWORK, Faith in Public Life and Sojourners have helped put the common good back at the center of political discourse.

This resurgent common-good faith movement has deepened the moral agenda by reclaiming a prophetic voice on issues such as poverty,  compassionate and root-cause solutions to abortion, genocide and climate change. The movement looks forward to realizing solutions to these issues, and advocating for and holding the new Administration and Congress accountable to these solutions and ideals, as a prophetic faith community must.