Sometimes the Persecuted are also the Persecutors

My last post prompted a few private email comments in addition to the response on the Comment space. I was trying to make two points in the last post: (a) there is much religious persecution that goes on in the world to which the western media, but also the western church, is mostly indifferent; and (b) the circumstances surrounding this persecution is often more complex than meets the eye, tied up in political, ethnic, and economic challenges as it often is.

Let me pass along some insights from someone far more informed on this matter. It complicates matters but I do think it rightly provides insight that is often overlooked in these discussions.

When Christians are persecuted in a place like Nigeria, there is much (understandable) outrage in the West, particularly among Christians. What doesn't seem to get quite equal playing time is the fact that Muslims in Nigeria are also persecuted by Christians there. The most recent, horrible attacks in the Jos area were in retaliation for equally horrible attacks on Muslims by Christians.

We often talk about "the persecuted church" but one disturbing realization is that virtually all religions persecute other religions. The Hindu majority in India persecutes the Muslim minority, which in turn persecutes the even smaller Christian minority. Orthodox Christians in eastern Europe vigorously persecute Protestants. The Jewish state discriminates against non-Jews (though, to be fair, Christians and Muslims in Israel have more rights than they would almost anywhere else in the Middle East; this whole "Israel Apartheid Week" is disgusting and very thinly-veiled anti-Semitism.) Iran's Muslim government persecutes not only Christians, but also Ba'hai, Zoroastrian, and others. Even Buddhists can get nasty sometimes, in places such as Thailand, where they fear missionary efforts of other religions. And where there is no official religion--like China--the atheists persecute the Christians and Muslims.
Shia Muslims persecute Sunni Muslims (Iraq) and both persecute Ahmadi Muslims. The list goes on and on. I think at some point we will be able to argue that atheists in Western countries discriminate against, if not persecute, people of any religion.

My point: the problem here is the misinterpretation of religion (any religion) to persecute others. Or, perhaps more accurately, it's the use of religion as a cover for other motives, as you recognize in your blog. I think Northern Ireland's troubles were a good example of this. I worry a bit, though, that when we talk about the persecuted church, we focus too narrowly on a part of the problem. Of course, we'd rather not talk about the persecuting church.

To be clear, I don't think it's a situation where all religions persecute equally. Muslims in "Christian" countries of the West have more rights than they do in Muslim lands. There are far less instances of Christians persecuting anybody than there are of Muslims doing so. But there are also good examples--like Indonesia--of Muslim countries that attempt to protect Christians.

I do wonder about how each religion's theology affects their tendency to persecute. I think that Christianity has largely developed to the point that converts are expected to come the "soft" way--that is, Christians hope to change the hearts of non-Christians by persuasion. While Christianity focuses on the heart, Islam seems to focus on outward manifestations (clothing, etc.) and is quite content to make people Muslim by changing their actions and appearance, with no regard to their heart. This understandably leads to coercion and violence. In that regard, I wonder if much modern Islam is not like medieval Christianity, where the focus too was on the outside rather than the inside.

It is thought-provoking and a bit unnerving to focus on the fact that the persecuted are sometimes also persecutors. This is not (as I think my friend rightly acknowledges) meant to consider all persecution has moral equivalence. Simplistic anti-religious rhetoric does that, with the mistaken syllogism that to persecute is bad, people persecute in the name of religion, and therefore religion is by definition bad.

But in countering such mistaken logic, those of us who are people of faith, do need to acknowledge that religious persecution is not all one-sided. As someone who confesses Christ, I need to acknowledge that those who make a similar confession to mine are sometimes guilty of similar horrific crimes. Sadly, knowing something of the depravity of my own heart, I am less surprised by this than I would like to admit. I know from my own theological categories that the line between good and evil does not run between ethnic groups, nor religious groups, but right through the human heart including mine. That is why the Christian gospel which speaks of being born again, having a new heart, provides a hope and answer to these challenges that other religions do not. I do not rest my hope in my own good works or in the behaviour of those confess the same faith as I do. It is only the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ that offers salvation. When that salvation is applied in a believer's heart by faith, one ought to expect a change of behaviour, but we recognize that the "old man" still has a place in that heart and exercises his influence until we die. Yes, good people do bad things. (And sometimes we should question whether they in fact are good people, when they live totally inconsistently with their profession, but that is a complexity we can tackle another day.)

Not easy issues but ones that we are better honestly addressing than entering into public discourse pretending that all the good rests only on one side of the equation. Still, the pictures are horrific and ought to prompt us to a greater sensitivity and prayer regarding these issues.