Distinctly Welcoming

The Barnabas Fund, Taqiyya and Islam

Ben White has just written an excellent review of Patrick Sookdheo's latest book, "Global Jihad". You can see the review on the Fulcrum site here. I've posted before on my quesions about some of the content and tone of Barnabas Fund publications and Ben does an excellent and fair job of assessing potential weaknesses that the Church in the West needs to be aware of. Patrick commands considerable influence and it is good to discuss and debate the use of some of his sources.

Ben assesses Patrick's use of the doctrine of taqiyya (deliberate dissimulation) as a reason for mistrusting any pronouncements and intentions of Muslims. He rightly highlights that it was a doctrine that arose in the shia community consequent upon their persecution by sunni Muslims. I would add, also, from some of my own recent research, that taquiyya was always a last resort when life was under threat; the far better way, in all the early Islamic authorities, was an honest and robust proclamation of Islamic intent.

Another point to add is the suggestion that Patrick may sometimes conflate classical Islamic doctrines of power and the more recent ideas within the al-Qaeda movement. Mainstream analysis of the political theology of the likes of Bin Laden suggest a Marxist/Western overlay of Islam that is influenced as much by secularism as by any traditional notions of Islamic power.

So check out Ben White's review....

Playing Goodies and Baddies

  It's amazing to me how persistent the worldview is that puts sharp lines between the goodies and the baddies. We do it all the time. The baddies are...secularists, Muslims etc etc. We take our cues from certain words and images just like the old cowboy films where you could spot who to cheer for because he (always a he) had a light blue suit or hat. The baddie would, funnily enough, always wear black. And even when we think we're beyond such polarisations, we find ourselves judging those that do the judging (this time the baddies are conservative evangelicals, big business etc etc).

This has come home to me again in the horrors around Gaza. I'm so aware that this is an emotive issue, and the last few weeks have witnessed the most appalling acts of terror and unbridled aggression. But the coverage and so many of our responses are in danger of making new baddies (Israel - Jews) and new goodies (Hamas) with all the dangers that that entails.

Real truth is uncomfortable because it implicates everyone. I think that's the stock of the Christian gospel: it challenges 360 degrees. I loved that recent new take on the Western "No Country for Old Men". There's a scene at the end that is a steal from the classic Gary Cooper Western "High Noon". The jaded, cynical, about to retire, sheriff Tommy Lee Jones is sat in front of a large clock as it ticks away. He's talking about the "biggest badass baddie" that has been in town (if you haven't seen "High Noon" Gary Cooper has to face up to the "baddie" arriving on the midday train, sat in his office waiting as it ticks loudly). You realise that for Tommy Lee Jones, the real baddie is actually death itself. No one is obviously sorted and clean, no one can rescue and redeem....Well that's the bleak conclusion to "No Country for Old Men".

But it's a bit nearer to the gospel as I see it: flawed, broken, in need of Jesus, we challenge sin, speak out about justice, but always face the truth of who we are, what the whole of creation is. In essence, it's the fundamental call to make Jesus Lord...not our agendas, not our politics, not even our religion.