Peace in the Face of War

need to ‘strengthen the moderate Muslims’ and deal only with them, who do
we have in mind? Those Muslims who share our Western ideals. As a Christian
and a priest, I would take great offence if I was called a ‘moderate’ believer.
I am not. I am serious about my faith and my tradition. When I say the creed
on Sundays, I mean it. And I share the concern of my Muslim brothers and
sisters over the growing secularism and apostasy of Western society. True
Islam, like true Christianity, is anything but moderate. Unfortunately, when
we describe as ‘moderates’ those true Muslims who shun violence and abhor
terrorism and are tolerant of ‘the other’, whether Christian or Jew, we only
strengthen the position of those who do not and are not, and we encourage
the view that it is they who are being true to their faith. I spend most of my
time in the Middle East, and most of my colleagues are Muslims. Some of
the people I trust most are Muslims – including those who translate for me
now at church services. Not one of them is a moderate. They are ardently
opposed to all forms of violence, but they are also extremely serious about
their faith and their commitment to serving God. I have to say that I have
more in common with them than I do with many of my so-called Christian
colleagues.
If we genuinely want to resolve the very real problems between the West
and the Islamic world, we need to begin by using the right language. In the
first place, we have to abandon this talk of ‘moderation’. We need truly to
respect Islam, which means having regard for those Muslims who are serious
about their faith. In my experience, most Muslims are tolerant and ready to
work with others, but they want other people to respect them, and even to
be willing to learn from them. Indeed, it may well be that the West – and
even the church – has a lot to learn from Islam. Perhaps we should begin by
looking at ourselves and asking how we can become more serious about our
beliefs. We should also disabuse ourselves of the idea that the best people to
engage with Muslims are the liberal Christians. We need people in this field
who are orthodox in their faith and committed. That is what Muslims expect
all Christians to be.
Front-line peacemaking can be immensely stressful. This is not the kind
of work where you can ask people to wait until another day. Often, your
response has to be immediate, when a mosque or a church is blown up, a
hostage is taken or a member of your staff is killed. On several occasions I
have sat with my colleagues in Baghdad and cried at the news of a disaster or
death we had tried to prevent. It has been an incredibly painful experience.
However, there have also been times of immense joy. This is the nature of
our work, put very simply. It is complex and intense and, for the present,
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