Faith Accompli

For all George Bush''s attempts to fight Saddam Hussein in the name of God, few among the faithful seem willing to buy the presidential line. Far from it, there is a conscious move among the believers not to project the US-led aggression against Iraq as a conflict between Christianity and Islam. Saddam''s transformation from secular leader to rabble-rousing jehadi is perhaps understandable given the circumstances. More surprising are Mr Bush''s evangelical speeches, which have come under fire from a range of European politicians. The German president, French prime minister and Belgian foreign minister, among others, are reported to have joined religious leaders in expressing concern about the overt employment of religion in Mr Bush''s addresses. Some commentators have gone as far as dubbing this "Christian fundamentalism'''', and a few have even compared them to the Islamic fundamentalism of Osama bin Laden. Yet, if, despite the protagonists donning opposing religious colours, Gulf War II has failed to fit Huntington''s ''Clash of Civilisations'' theory, it is thanks to the church speaking out against the war. Indeed, it is this rare forthrightness — and notable for that very reason — that has to a large extent prevented the war from acquiring the by-now familiar Christianity vs Islam dimensions. At the very outset, Pope John Paul II took a stand against the war, in sharp contrast to the Vatican''s silence against Nazi atrocities during World War II. The rationale back then was that neutrality was essential for the Vatican to safeguard its territory and interests. Earlier, the Vatican did not protest against the depredations of Mussolini; on the contrary it signed an agreement with the dictator to secure autonomous status for the Vatican. This time around, not just the Pope but the Anglican church too has been explicit in its opposition to the war. The Archbishop of Canterbury shared a platform with his Catholic counterpart in England to take a joint stand against the war and the Scottish Church has also denounced the war. In Germany, home of Protestantism, the government itself is opposed to the war as are the Nordic countries where the majority are Lutherans. Christianity''s oldest shrine, the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, believed to be the birthplace of Christ, has also struck a blow for peace by barring president Bush and Tony Blair from ever entering the place. These are indeed heartening developments, at least in so far as they prevent conflicts between states from turning into a clash between cultures and peoples.