An
International Multifaith Conference
Some time ago the World Council of Churches
(WCC) and the Vatican held a joint conference to find a common code for
religious conversions. First, a word of
identification. I believe we all know that the Vatican is the Rome-based
headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). You may not be familiar with WCC. It is a
group of nearly 350 denominations that include Reformed, Anglican, Orthodox,
Evangelical churches and only God and WCC know who else. 27 persons attended
the conference, including adherents of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and
Animism as represented by the Yoruba tradition. So, a small group as far as
world conferences go, with the Christian organizers having a mere scant
majority.
As I understand it, they made two major
decisions. The first, is freedom of religion, officially already a recognized a
non-negotiable throughout the world, though the practice falls far short of the
official. The second, to go easy on converting others. As the report put it,
“All should heal themselves from the obsession of converting others.”
Freedom
of Religion?
Non-Christian Persecution of
Christians
As to the first, insisting on freedom of
religion is great. It is virtually a global mantra. But then what do you do in
a world where Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims in particular deny Christians their
freedom in scores of countries? Buddhism
and Hinduism are traditional tolerant religions that in the past gave
Christians and Muslims freedom to practice their religion. But recently they have become increasingly
intolerant of especially Christians and Muslims. One of these days I will devote a few posts
to illustrate the truth of this last sentence. In general, wherever these
traditionally tolerant religions find themselves threatened by either
Christians or Muslims, they become intolerant and oppressive; they even begin
to persecute, destroy and kill.
As to persecution of Christians by Muslims,
do you even need to be made aware of that?
It’s all over the map, not only in the Muslim-dominant countries,
regions and societies, but even in the West, though sometimes there indirectly
through their willing lackeys, some of whom are very powerful, but politically
correct people who glad hand Muslims and
refuse to face the Muslim reality in their own Western countries. Geert Wilders
is perhaps the most (in)famous Westerner who tries to awake sleeping secular
Europeans to this reality. The fact that he often does this in a totally blunt
and politically incorrect manner does not mean he is totally wrong in his major
concern. In Canada we have our own Ezra Levant.
Christians Persecuting Christians
And then I have not even mentioned the
freedom that Christians in some countries deny other Christians!
This takes place in some Orthodox societies, where the dominant church resists
the incursion of Evangelical Christians—in Greece and Russia in particular. Now
there maybe some semi-legitimate reasons for such resistance, such as
Evangelical, often American, disrespect for local deep-rooted historical churches and their leaders.
Nevertheless, the principal of freedom of religion stands and may not be
undermined by perhaps disgusting or insulting behaviour on the part of outside
challengers. I can well imagine that
fundamentalist foreign missionaries can present a serious problem among these
Orthodox churches, but that must be solved within the range of religious
freedom, not by curtailing it.
A parallel situation obtains in Roman
Catholic Latin America, where all strands of Protestants have established
missions, churches and institutions, especially Charismatics. The members of these new churches mostly are
drawn from the RCC. So, no wonder the RCC resists them, sometimes in whatever
way they can.
We can even make the same point about secular
countries and quite a few of my posts speak of secular resistance to full-orbed
Christians. However, secularists were not invited to this conference. So, in
this post I will leave them alone.
A Grain
of Salt
So, here sit these religious leaders with all
their wisdom and pomposity, robes and mitres and hats and staffs and all. Very
impressive. All of them piously affirming and insisting on religious freedom
for all their people, while at home they support and possibly even engineer
intolerance and persecution of the very faiths with whom they have signed for tolerance in this conference.
I always take the declarations and
communiqués of such conferences with
less than a grain of salt, knowing that many of the signers do so
hypocritically. I have taken part in similar conferences between Christians and
Muslim in Nigeria and understand the dynamic. The participants use the same
language but interpret it in terms of their own religion and, often secretly,
exercise the right to hold the declaration they signed in reserve.
The next post will deal with the alleged
obsession.
