NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — Power corrupts, and when it accrues to religious leaders the combination of power and religion can turn lethal, says Middle East scholar Charles Kimball.
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Kimball, presidential professor and director of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma, says in his latest book When Religion Becomes Lethal: The Explosive Mix of Politics and Religion in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, that anytime a single religion becomes the default faith of a nation, people who do not hold to that version of faith automatically become second-class citizens.
“That’s one of the things that makes me very nervous in this Christian America sentiment that is gaining ground,” Kimball said.
If the great “American experiment” is to continue into its third century, those in control must advocate for the rights of minority views not only to be expressed but to carry weight in public discourse and decision making, said Kimball, who in 1980 was among a few Americans who negotiated with the Ayatollah Khomeini for the release of Americans taken hostage in Iran.
An ordained Baptist minister with Jewish ancestors, Kimball’s career has been immersed in Middle Eastern studies and comparative religions. When Religion Becomes Lethal traces the historical development of the scriptures and peoples of Christianity, Judaism and Islam and shows how political and religious power intertwined in lethal ways in each. Kimball earlier published When Religion Becomes Evil, highlighting five warning signs for when religion is becoming dangerous.
His new book shows how closely related the three major world religions are to each other, all tracing their beginnings to Abraham.
Asked in a telephone interview why such closely related religions should be so antagonistic to each other, Kimball said, “Historically, those who are closest to you but different in some way are those most threatening.”
The most lethal religious situations are found where adherents claim ownership of “the one ultimate truth idea of God,” Kimball said. They justify lethal behavior saying, “I have the truth. You don’t.”
Charles Kimball
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Such behaviors are evident in America’s early history, in current Orthodox religious and political behaviors in Israel and in Islamic states where leaders manipulate religious fervor. Yet the greatest danger may be for adherents within a religious group who suffer at the hands of their own leaders. Osama bin Laden killed thousands of Americans, but his actions have resulted in tens of thousands of Muslim deaths, Kimball said.
He estimated 10 to 20 times as many Iraqis have died in sectarian violence as died from the American invasion and occupation of Iraq.
“Religious zealotry that leads to this extremist violence is at least as dangerous or more dangerous to the internal community that doesn’t get the picture,” Kimball said. “That’s one reason I don’t want to live in Pat Robertson’s version of a Christian America.”
Robertson is a prominent Christian broadcaster, founder of the 700 Club, owner of CBN and was a candidate for U.S. president in 1988.
The more democratic a government is to be, the more it must “accommodate a flexible system that allows for differences,” Kimball said.
“The U.S. has a point of view the world desperately needs if we will live out our own ideals,” he said. The 235-year old American experiment respects minorities, other opinions and different religions. For America to “model what we hope Muslims will model where there are small Christian groups” in their midst, it is important for those in the majority “to be at the forefront in insisting we protect the rights of minorities.”
Kimball said those in the majority “should be the first ones out there in insisting the Muslims have a right to build a mosque.”
Kimball’s newest book, published by Jossey-Bass, traces the development of the three major religions and offers creative actions for individuals to chart a personal, helpful course into the future.
When that happens, Kimball says, the power of fringe elements to incite worldwide rage with just the threat of negative actions will diminish. He noted Florida pastor Terry Jones who threatened to burn a Qur’an and within 24 -36 hours had commanded a personal response from the president and the pope.
Kimball doesn’t deny Jones’ right under American law to do what he did, but he resents “people who are deliberately playing to fear and ignorance.” That includes politicians and religious leaders who work hard “to generate and play off the fear of people in this country” around such issues as homosexuality and abortion. He included the recent Oklahoma vote to forbid Islamic Sharia law being used in court as a way “people’s fears can be whipped into a frenzy over a non-issue.”
Kimball said al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was an “important symbol” for a movement that has little credibility among nations. But bin Laden was not a “religious leader” and he affirmed President Obama for stating so.
Bin Laden was “someone who used Islam to incite people and justify murder,” Kimball said. As such he might have been the perfect example for a book on When Religion Turns Lethal.
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Norman Jameson is reporting and coordinating special projects for ABP on an interim basis. He is former editor of the North Carolina Biblical Recorder.
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