Archbishop of Canterbury writes about Pakistan in The Times

7th March 2011: In the history of some countries there comes a period when political and factional murder becomes almost routine — Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, Germany and its neighbours in the early 1930s. It has invariably been the precursor of a breakdown of legal and political order and of long-term suffering for a whole population. And last week, with the killing of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Minister for Minorities, Pakistan has taken a further step down this catastrophic road.

To those who actually support such atrocities, there is little to say. They inhabit a world of fantasy, shot through with paranoid anxiety. As the shocked responses from so many Muslims in this country and elsewhere make plain, their actions are as undermining of Koranic ethics as they are of rational politics.

But to those who recognise something truly dreadful going on in their midst — to the majority in Pakistan who have elected a government that, whatever its dramatic shortcomings, is pledged to resist extremism — we have surely to say, “Do not imagine that this can be ‘managed’ or tolerated”.

The government of Pakistan and the great majority of its population are, in effect, being blackmailed. The widespread and deep desire for Pakistan to be what it was meant to be, for justice to be guaranteed for all, and for some of the most easily abused laws on the statute book to be reviewed is being paralysed by the threat of murder. The case of Asia Bibi, so prominent in the debates of recent months, and the connected murder of the Governor of the Punjab, make it crystal clear that there is a faction in Pakistan wholly uninterested in justice and due process of law, concerned only with promoting an inhuman pseudo-religious tyranny.

Pakistan was created by Jinnah as a consciously Muslim state in which nonetheless the non-Muslim enjoyed an absolute right of citizenship and the civic securities and liberties that go with it. In common with the best historical examples of Muslim governance, there was a realistic and generous recognition that plural and diverse convictions would not go away and that therefore a just Muslim state, no more and no less than a just Christian or secular state, had to provide for the rights of its minorities.

If the state’s willingness to guarantee absolute security for minorities of every kind is a test of political maturity and durability, whatever the confessional background, Pakistan’s founding vision was a mature one. The disdain shown for that vision by Bhatti’s killers is an offence against Islam as much as against Christianity in Pakistan.

What needs to change? There needs to be a rational debate in Pakistan, and more widely, about the blasphemy laws that are at the root of so much of this. And this is likely to happen only if the international Islamic intelligentsia can form a coherent judgment on the level of abuse that characterises the practice of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Most Muslim thinkers are embarrassed by supposedly “Islamic” laws in various contexts that conceal murderous oppression and bullying. Their voices are widely noted; they need to be heard more clearly in Pakistan, where part of the problem is the weakening of properly traditional Islam by the populist illiteracies of modern extremism.

And there needs to be some credible proof of the Government of Pakistan’s political will not only to resist blackmail, but also to assess realistically the levels of risk under which minority communities and the individuals who support them live.

Shahbaz Bhatti knew what his chances of survival were — as the moving recorded testimony he left makes plain. He was not protected by the Government he so bravely served. How many minority Christian communities, law-abiding, peaceful and frequently profoundly disadvantaged, are similarly not protected by their government? What increased guarantees of security are being offered?

The protection of minorities of any and every kind is one acid test of moral legitimacy for a government; and such protection is built into Pakistan’s modern identity as an Islamic state with civic recognition for non-Muslims. Many are anxious about Pakistan’s future for strategic reasons. But those of us who love Pakistan and its people are anxious for its soul as well as its political stability. It is heartbreaking to see those we count as friends living with the threat of being coerced and menaced into silence and, ultimately, into a betrayal of themselves. This must not be allowed to happen. They need to know of the support of Christians and others outside Pakistan for their historic and distinctive vision.

Shahbaz Bhatti died, for all practical purposes, as a martyr — let me be clear — not simply for his Christian faith, but for a vision shared between Pakistani Christians and Muslims. When he and I talked at Lambeth Palace last year, he was fully aware of the risks he ran. He did not allow himself to be diverted for a moment from his commitment to justice for all.

That a person of such courage and steadfastness of purpose was nourished in the political culture of Pakistan is itself a witness to the capacity of that culture to keep its vision alive and compelling. And that is one of the few real marks of hope in a situation of deepening tragedy that urgently needs both prayer and action.

Press Release from Luton Council of Faiths

1st February 2011: Luton Council of Faiths (LCoF), in a statement it issued today, has appealed to people in Luton to reject any divisive and provocative politics of EDL. The Luton  Council of Faiths, which works with all the faiths in the town, has also appealed to all sections of the Luton communities, not to be provoked by the EDL in to reacting to its proposed march and rally in Luton on 5th February.

The LCoF statement added that while we wholeheartedly and strongly support the right of every individual and group to free speech and the right to protest, we strongly condemn the politics of hatred and prejudice.

We therefore, remind all, of our responsibilities and obligations, alongside our rights and freedoms, and call upon the vast majority of Lutonians, not to allow any one from any community, religion or race to:

-       hold peace-loving people of  Luton, to ransom

-       detract us from building understanding across faiths and cultures

-       tempt us to react in any way that violates not just the law but our beliefs

We call upon all community and religious leaders to

-       provide care where possible and needed

-       open up places of worship as places of sanctuary and peace

-       lead prayers for peace in our town

The Luton Council of Faiths puts on record its immense appreciation of the Luton in Harmony” celebrations on  29^th Jan, 2011 which not only affirmed the collective nature and character of Luton, but the celebration has also epitomised  the mutual aspirations and good neighbourliness of all Lutonians.

---

Deeply Anxious Luton visited by the Bishop of St Albans

Thursday, 3rd February 2011: The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, has described the mood in Luton ahead of the English Defence League demonstration on 5^th February as “deeply anxious”.

Speaking after a series of meetings on February 1st with local faith leaders from Christian denominations and Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and the Jewish faith, he said:

“Only a week ago Luton celebrated the positive aspects of the town in a peaceful day of carnival called ‘Luton in Harmony’. It was attended by many church and other faith leaders. It is tragic that the positive images promoted by that day, which many Lutonians regard as well-founded, could be tarnished by a demonstration which highlights differences and which has the potential to create divisions between people.

“Some of the people I met are deeply anxious. Yet at the same time others spoke of their determination not to allow a small number of people to destroy the excellent community relations that have been building in recent years. Indeed, some community leaders have pointed out that the threat of the demonstration has brought people of different faiths and races even closer together. They are encouraging their own communities to remain calm and not to engage. It is sad that communities which are committed to living peacefully and contributing positively, emphasising similarities not differences, are living in fear of Saturday.

 

“I am told that some local businesses are being forced to close for the day and police are being drafted in from far and wide. The cost of allowing such an event weighs heavily on the whole community in Luton.

“The contrast between last weekend’s Luton in Harmony and what we fear will result next weekend could not be greater. Peace requires a real commitment to relationship and dialogue - not the politics of the demonstration and counter-demonstration.”

The meetings follow the participation of the Bishop of Bedford and other senior church figures in Luton in the successful celebration of Luton in Harmony’s first birthday on Saturday 29^th January. Luton in Harmony is a civic celebration of all that is positive in Luton.

The Bishop and the other faith leaders look ahead to an event of an altogether different character next weekend when the demonstration due to take place on February 5th is believed by Bishop Alan and many community leaders to carry a substantial risk of causing division and disruption to good inter-communal relations.

Bishop Alan supports the efforts of the community in Luton, through initiatives such as Luton in Harmony, to demonstrate the real co-operation that exists between the people of Luton and to build on it. His visit was intended to demonstrate the same co-operation, especially to the other faith leaders in the community who may feel unsettled by the demonstration.

Bishop Alan does not believe that the demonstration in Luton will contribute positively to harmony in Luton in the short or long term.

---

Archbishop's Holocaust Memorial Day Statement 2011: Untold Stories

Wednesday 26th January 2011: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has issued a statement to mark tomorrow’s national Holocaust Memorial Day.

In his message, Dr. Williams discusses the need for retelling the tales of the Holocaust and the ‘Untold Stories’ of those who have suffered similar tragedies:

“If the stories are not told over and again, we lose the memory of those who suffered and we risk losing something that protects our humanity…I commend for our remembrance the untold stories of Jewish people living in Britain during the medieval era, those of the Holocaust and the stories from the genocidal tragedies of many other contexts in our deeply damaged world today.”

The full text of the message can be found below:

On this national Holocaust Memorial Day we are asked to remember the ‘Untold Stories’ from other genocides that have occurred since the Holocaust. The poems of Paul Celan attempt to express the inexpressible: to tell the ‘Untold Story’ that chronicles each detail of human degradation and loss during the Holocaust. Although other poets have spoken for those killed in Armenia, Cambodia and Darfur, many stories from these and other genocidal events remain untold. They do not lessen or relativise the unique horror of the Holocaust, but rather serve to remind us of the loss of humanity that remains present in our midst to this day.

Testimony, poetry and autobiography allow us to attend to the distinct stories of individuals rather than trying to comprehend the statistics of different genocides of recent history. Writers like Paul Celan and Etty Hillesum create the most vivid remembrance because their voices are so distinct and their suffering can be felt in every detail of their work.

Sometimes objects and mementos themselves can carry a story and the recently launched Jewish Museum in Camden displays hand-crafted sacred objects alongside small items carried by Jewish children on the kinder transport as they escaped from Germany. The crafted objects, such as a roll of scripture in a silver fish case, reveal something of the soul of the craftsman. The children’s toys likewise still carry the marks of the soul of their owner. But there at least are the memorials of survivors. It is impossible ever to forget the sight at Auschwitz of children’s toys taken from those killed in the camp. Who can speak of what they signify of pain and degradation?

The Jewish Museum presents an overview of Jewish life in Britain starting with immigrations first recorded in 1066. There is no Paul Celan or Etty Hillesum telling the story of medieval Jews in Britain. However, the timeline on the wall preserves an important memorial of events now almost completely lost to public awareness - who can now tell the full story of the blood libel case surrounding William of Norwich in the 12th century or of King Edward’s expulsion of all Jews from England? If the stories are not told over and again, we lose the memory of those who suffered and we risk losing something that protects our humanity.

On this 2011 Holocaust Memorial Day I commend for our remembrance the untold stories of Jewish people living in Britain during the medieval era, those of the Holocaust and the stories from the genocidal tragedies of many other contexts in our deeply damaged world today.