The wind of dialogue

“Over the last 400 years strong winds have blown on Christianity in Europe, weakening faith and institutions”, says JOSEPH SEFERTA , member of the archdiocesan Commission of Birmingham for inter-religious dialogue, writing in the November/December 2007 number of the British bimonthly journal “The Pastoral Review”. In a reflection on Christianity and Islam in Great Britain, Seferta points out that the “decline of Christianity” has caused a “religious gap” that “Islam is successfully filling”; “the conversions of thousands of former Christians” is a proof of this. There are almost 1,700,000 Muslims and some 1,300 mosques in Great Britain. ANALOGIES AND DIFFERENCES. “There are surprising analogies, but also substantial differences, between Christianity and Islam – points out Seferta -. Both share faith in God, in Holy Scripture, in prayer, in fasting and almsgiving, in the existence of angels and devils, in the last judgement and in life after death”; both admit “the importance of the prophets, including Jesus (Isa in Arabic), born miraculously from Mary”. Despite these similarities, points out the expert, “irreconcilable differences” between the two faiths exist: they consist, “fundamentally, in Islam’s rejection of the Trinity and non-recognition of the divinity of Christ”. According to Seferta, there is also a cultural divide: “whereas other religions and ethnic groups become integrated with some ease in British society and culture, most Muslims encounter difficulty in doing so; perhaps because of fear of losing their own identity and, in particular, the purity of their faith”. Non-Muslims, for their part, “are guilty of not mixing with their Muslim neighbours”. Yet better mutual knowledge “represents the only way of overcoming fear, ignorance and prejudice”. A further problem “is the high level of poverty and illiteracy among groups of immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh; a factor that may create anger and bitterness in young people and constitute a fertile terrain for fanatics and terrorists”. Despite the existence of “some racists, the vast majority of the British population are by nature tolerant and hospitable towards all minorities, Muslims included”. “We can say with some certainty – declares Seferta – that in this country Muslims enjoy freedom and privileges of which they could only dream in their countries of origin, where Christian minorities enjoy no rights”. RADICAL ISLAM. “Militants, extremists, fanatics, fundamentalists, jahidists, and radical Muslims represent a real threat for peace and security in Great Britain as in the rest of the world – observes the expert -. Though few radicals become suicide bombers, their ideology is the same, founded on hatred of Christianity, Judaism, and Western culture, and on the desire to convert Great Britain and the West to Islam”, as demonstrated by “the many imams who are well known as preachers of hate”. Deriving advantage “from our free society, democratic institutions and civil liberties to put their aims into practice”, radical Muslims “are gradually infiltrating politics, education and the media, thus consolidating their influence and their power”. At the same time, points out Seferta, “almost half of the mosques and 40% of the madrassas in our country are run by radicals belonging to the Deobandi sect [a Sunni Islamic revivalist group] that originated in northern India and gave birth to the movement of the Taliban in Afghanistan”. Seferta admits “he isn’t sure how well equipped the Christian Churches are” to meet these challenges. First, most Christians, including many representatives of the clergy, have no familiarity with Islam. Second, Christianity in Britain “has sadly lost its former moral and spiritual strength, and finds itself having to respond to a younger and far more vigorous religion that is threatening to replace it”. “We Christians – he acknowledges – have lost too many of our young people and are too hampered by political correctness really to make a difference in the public sphere”. THE WAY OF DIALOGUE. Only dialogue, says the expert, “can increase mutual understanding and trust as the essential prerequisite for cooperation and peaceful co-existence”, and already “there are examples of it at all levels in Great Britain”. As for terrorism and suicide bombers, “it’s a phenomenon with which the authorities must obviously come to grips, but in my opinion it’s especially a problem of Islam that must be solved by Muslims themselves”. In Seferta’s view, “the moderates must confront the radicals and convince them that the response is to be found not in hatred and violence, but in dialogue and cooperation, and that it is possible for them to be at the same time good Muslims and good British citizens”. “We Christians – he concludes – can play a positive role by trying to support moderate Muslims in their aspirations to return to a high religious level”.