Cartoons spawn call for interfaith respect
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman Online, February 27, 2006
PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL – Provoked by the cartoon controversy in which drawings allegedly showing disrespect for the prophet Mohammed triggered violent reactions in Muslim dominated areas, the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches issued on Thursday a “Minute on Mutual Respect, Responsibility and Dialogue With People of Other Faiths.”
The WCC said that in some areas of the world, religion and politics have been mixed in an unhelpful and dangerous manner. But in some cases, said the WCC, that which passes for genuine religious belief is not what it appears to be.
“The real tension in our world is not between religions and beliefs, but between aggressive, intolerant and manipulative secular and religious ideologies. Such ideologies are used to legitimize the use of violence, the exclusion of minorities and political domination,” the WCC said. Its statement did not specify the WCC’s criteria for judging whether a worldview constitutes a genuine religion or a “religious ideology,” nor did it address the existence of statements that encourage violence in the sacred writings of some presumably genuine religions, i.e., Islam’s Koran.
On the issue of the cartoons, the WCC statement represented a compromise between delegates who were eager to condemn them and others who insisted on freedom of expression. The resulting statement expressed both disdain for the cartoons and rejection of the violent response that they provoked.
The WCC called on those who exercise freedom of expression to do so “responsibly.” The organization asserted that the cartoonists were irresponsible. “By the publication of the cartoons, freedom of speech has been used to cause pain by ridiculing peoples’ religion, values and dignity. Doing so, the foundation of this right is being devalued,” said the WCC.
The WCC declared that the church representatives gathered in Porto Alegre “reaffirm their commitment to respectful dialogue and co-operation between people of different faiths and other convictions. Through dialogue we learn about the faith of the other and better understand their underlying pain and frustration. We see ourselves through the eyes of the other.”
Missing from the WCC statement was any indication that the council might be moving toward opening its membership to persons and groups representing non-Christian faiths. Platform addresses by Rev. Aram I, moderator of the WCC, Rev. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Rev. Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Southern Africa, as well as informal “Mutiaro” and “Ecumenical Conversations,” whose invited participants included atheists, indigenous spiritualists, Muslims and Buddhists, all indicated a propensity toward syncretism by WCC leaders who planned the event, but no formal recognition of this developing mindset among leaders materialized in the adoption of any action by the General Assembly.