The true nature of terrorism

THE FOUR terrorist attacks that struck Istanbul within the space of five days claimed the lives of Christians, Muslims and Jews. The perpetrators of these evil acts intended to drive the followers of the three great monotheistic religions apart. Instead they have united them in pain, grief and loss.
But the killers of Istanbul could yet succeed in shattering the fragile bonds of trust between Muslims, Jews and Christians if we fail to grasp the true nature of the international terrorism that has overshadowed the new millennium. Those who claimed responsibility for the Turkish atrocities claimed to he acting in the name of God and the "Islamic nation". Given the long history of antagonism between Muslims and Christians, it is tempting to accept the terrorists' claims at face value. Their constant invocations of God and their violent zeal conform to a certain Muslim stereotype imbedded in the western mind. Their belief that Islam cannot coexist with Christianity and Judaism, too, has a powerful simplicity.
But it would be tragic if Christians and Jews accepted, however unconsciously, that the men of violence represented the authentic spirit of Islam. For what is at stake here is not the vaunted clash of Islamic and Christian civilisations -as the extremists would have us believe — but rather a confrontation between the lovers of death and the wider human family. The terrorists are ostentatious in their piety, but their allegiance is not to the God of Abraham, but to the gods of death and destruction. As a Vatican official commented after the Istanbul bombings, there is no political logic to the terrorist attacks in Africa, Asia, Amer
ica and Europe. The only unifying factor is the murder of the innocent human beings belonging to all the major religions. The sole strategy here is, as L'Ossen'atore Romano pointed out, "a strategy of death".
The Pope has appealed to men and women of goodwill to unite in the face of this grave evil. But what concrete steps can we take to confront this disregard for human life and perversion of religion? Unless we are directly involved in the deliberations of governments it may seem that there is very little we can do. But there are two ways in which each of us can participate in the struggle.
As John Paul II has repeated, on countless occasions, the most effective means to spread peace is prayer. This does not imply a pietistic withdrawal from the world, but rather courageous participation in the spiritual combat between good and evil. Prayer, as the Orthodox tradition teaches, is a powerful means of spiritual warfare against the forces of death and destruction.
The second way of confronting terror is to form meaningful ties with the Muslims living in our midst. The Islamic population of Britain is growing rapidly and yet the dialogue between Christians and Muslims in this country is in its very early stages. There are warm relations at a national level between Christian leaders and Islamic representatives, but grassroots contacts are haphazard. It is now essential that every parish in England and Wales considers how it can build relations with local Muslims. This will not be an easy undertaking. But it is urgent that Catholics and Muslims develop a real knowledge of one another.
Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, the English president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, announced last week that the, Vatican is preparing a new document on the spiritual dimension of interfaith dialogue. We hope that this text will galvanise British Catholics to forge strong and enduring bonds with their Muslim neighbours.
In the coming dialogue between Catholics and Muslims, Pope John Paul II should serve as a model and reference point. He has won the respect of the majority of Muslims not by downplaying the differences between Christianity and Islam, but by living the Christian faith bravely and consistently. He has not shied from addressing the most difficult issues in Catholic-Muslim relation, such as the persecution of Christians and restrictions on religious freedom in majority Muslim countries. As he said during his momentous pilgrimage to Kazakhstan in September 2001, the Church condemns terrorists who "profane the name of God", but she also has a profound respect for "the authentic Islam: the [slain that prays and stands by those in need". In the same way, we must simultaneously condemn evil and stand beside those faithful people in whose name the terrorists claim to act.