By Rudy Barnes, Jr.
The
relationship between religion and freedom has always been strained, perhaps
because religions emphasize submission to God’s will, while freedom opposes
submission with free will. We love our
freedom, and the greatest commandment
calls us to share that freedom with others; yet the Bible and Qur’an include laws
against apostasy and blasphemy that deny the freedoms of religion and speech,
and those oppressive laws are enforced in Islamic nations today.
Mustafa
Akyol recently made a presentation in Malaysia on apostasy from Islam and was detained by religious police for his “unauthorized”
talk on religious freedom. He was
ultimately allowed to return to the U.S., but the experience deeply disturbed Akyol,
who has advocated the compatibility of the Qur’an with the freedoms of religion
and expression. After speaking truth to
power on that topic, Akyol was confronted by worldly powers that sought to refute
that truth.
Akyol’s
experience illustrates conflicting standards of legitimacy in religious and
secular law. Secular law is based on the
sovereignty of man over God in politics, but the sovereignty of God was the
norm until the Enlightenment debunked the divine right to rule with the libertarian
concepts of democracy, human rights and the secular rule of law. That was in the West. In the East, Islamic Law (Shariah) continues
to prevail over secular law and denies religious freedom.
The
West has its own problems with the freedom of religion, but it’s a matter of
too much rather than too little freedom.
Fundamentalist Christians assert that their free exercise of religion
allows them to discriminate against homosexuals as sinners, even though secular
law prohibits such discrimination. No
freedom is absolute, and the freedom of religion cannot justify denying others
the equal protection of secular law.
There
is no place in a libertarian democracy for religious law, but that does not negate
God’s moral supremacy over secular law. Even
so, asserting that supremacy can be costly.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was jailed for violating immoral separate but equal Jim Crow laws in the
South. His peaceful civil disobedience demonstrated
that going to jail can be worth the price to assert God’s moral supremacy over the
political supremacy of man’s secular law.
There
is a strong correlation between religion, freedom and justice in a stable democracy. Populist demagogues like President Trump in
America, Erdogan in Turkey, El Sissi in Egypt and Duterte in the Philippines have
fostered anger, division and chaos to stifle their opposition and promote their
power. Erdogan and El Sissi have used
apostasy and blasphemy laws to stifle their opposition, while Trump has appealed
to racial and religious bias to motivate his constituency.
Justice
in democracy requires laws and institutions that balance individual rights with
providing for the common good. President
Trump thrives on conflict and chaos, and has challenged the integrity of the
FBI and the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller III into Russian
meddling in the 2016 elections to discredit their investigations and undermine
their legitimacy, in order to create a political vacuum that Trump can fill.
In
both religion and politics, God’s will is to reconcile and redeem humanity, while
Satan’s will is to divide and conquer.
The problem is that Satan does a convincing imitation of God, and does
some of his best work in the church and in politics. Over the years populist demagogues and
religious charlatans have confirmed that ugly truth to promote their power.
The
freedoms of religion and speech are essential for a politics of reconciliation
that can save democracy from divisiveness and chaos. That reconciliation should be based on the
moral imperative of the greatest
commandment to love God and our neighbors—including our neighbors of other
races and religions—as we love ourselves.
It is a common word of faith for
Jews, Christians and Muslims that can reconcile us and prevent the demise of
our democracy.
Notes:
At a seminar on Religion and Rights: Strengthening Common
Ground on February 16, 2018, Rudelmar Bueno de Fario, ACT Alliance General
Secretary, spoke on the need to find common ground between faith and the human
rights that protect political freedoms: “Often, people of faith speak about
love, generosity, and compassion and not so much about legal frameworks,
entitlements, duty bearers and rights holders. But what does 'love' mean when
it is not related to justice? And what does justice mean when it is not related
to legal frameworks?” See https://reliefweb.int/report/world/religion-and-rights-seminar-strengthening-common-ground.
On the importance of religious
freedom to Jews, Christians and Muslims—even to atheists—see
Rev. Neal Jones, a Unitarian
Universalist pastor who heads the board of Americans United for Separation of
Church and State, has said: “In my lifetime, I don’t think I’ve experienced such
an overall assault on the freedom of religion and conscience as I have since
the election of Donald Trump. It seems
the ploy by the religious right these days is to use ‘freedom of religion’ as
an excuse to violate people’s civil rights.”
See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/02/21/for-the-first-time-a-woman-and-non-christian-will-lead-this-group-that-thinks-gove.
Mustafa Akyol recounted his unhappy
experience with religious police in Malaysia following his presentation on the
subject of apostasy from Islam: “I argued that Muslims must uphold freedom of
conscience, in line with the Quranic dictum ‘No compulsion in religion.’ I said that apostasy should not be punished
by death, as it is in Saudi Arabia, or with ‘rehabilitation,’ as it is in
Malaysia. The practice of Islam must be on the basis of freedom, not coercion,
and governments shouldn’t police religion or morality. It turns out all you have to do is speak of
the police and they will appear. …This
incident showed me once again that there is a major problem in Islam today: a
passion to impose religion, rather than merely proposing it, a mind-set that
most Christians left behind at the time of the Inquisition.” See
Mustafa Akyol has asked, Does religion make people moral? and then
pointed out that religious conservatives (Islamists) in Turkey have “come to
dominate virtually all institutions of the state, as well as the media and even
much of the business sector. In short,
they have become the new ruling elite. …The religious conservatives have
morally failed because they ended up doing everything they once condemned as
unjust and cruel.” They “have become
corrupted by power. But power corrupts
more easily when you have neither principles nor integrity.” See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/opinion/does-religion-make-people-moral.html.
Soner Cagaptay has confirmed that
Erdogan is rapidly moving Turkey from its secular past to an Islamist future
with the elimination of civil liberties and the arrest of those who “insult
Islam.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2018/02/16/in-long-secular-turkey-sharia-is-gradually-taking-over/?utm_term=.3fdae5fca6a4&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1.
Mustafa Akyol has affirmed the
relevance of the teachings of Jesus to Islam, noting that Jesus “called on his fellow
Jews to focus on their religion’s moral principles rather than obsessing with
the minute details of religious law. …He
also taught that outward expressions of piety can nurture a culture of
hypocrisy. Jesus even defined humanism
as a higher value than legalism, famously declaring, ‘The Sabbath was made for
man, not man for the Sabbath’” See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/opinion/what-jesus-can-teach-todays-muslims.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2FMustafa%20Akyol&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&module=Collection®ion=Marginalia&src=me&version=column&pgtype=article.
On February 18, 2018, Donald
Trump tweeted: If it was the GOAL of
Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then, with all
of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded
beyond their wildest dreams. They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get
smart America! The irony is that
Trump thrives on conflict and is aiding and abetting Putin by creating discord,
disruption and chaos in America. Quinta
Jurecic has confirmed that “Trump is presiding over a great destabilization in
American life, and his attacks on institutions are a key aspect of this.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/institutions-cant-save-america-from-trump/2018/02/16/3fb9e5e0-100f-11e8-8ea1-c1d91fcec3fe_story.html?und.
Max Boot has noted that “The
evidence of Russian meddling [in the 2016 election] became ‘incontrovertible,’
in the word of national security adviser H.R. McMaster, after special counsel
Robert S. Mueller III indicted 13 Russians and three Russian organizations on
Friday for taking part in this operation. …Yet in a disturbing weekend
tweetstorm, President Trump attacked the FBI, Democrats, even McMaster — anyone
but the Russians. He sought to minimize the impact of the Kremlin’s intrusion,
tweeting: ‘The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign
did nothing wrong - no collusion!’ Actually, there’s plenty of evidence of
collusion, including the infamous June 2016 meeting that Trump’s son,
son-in-law and campaign manager held with Russian representatives who promised
to ‘incriminate’ Hillary Clinton.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-ignoring-the-worst-attack-on-america-since-911/2018/02/18/5ad888f2-14f3-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb3.
Related
commentary on religion, freedom and legitimacy:
(12/8/14): Religion and Reason
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
(2/22/15): Religion and Human Rights
(3/15/15): The Kingdom of God, Politics and the Church
(3/29/15): God and Country: Resolving Conflicting Concepts of Sovereignty
(5/3/15): A Fundamental Problem with Religion
(5/10/15): Religion, Human Rights and National Security
(5/17/15): Moral Restraints on the Freedom of Speech
(6/14/15): Jesus Meets Muhammad Today
(6/21/15): Christians Meet Muslims Today
(7/5/15): Reconciliation as a Remedy for Racism and Religious Exclusivism
(7/12/15): Reconciliation in Race and Religion: The Need for Compatibility, not
Conformity http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/07/reconciliation-in-race-and-religion.html
(8/9/15): Balancing Individual Rights with Collective Responsibilities
(8/16/15): How Religious Fundamentalism and Secularism Shape Politics and Human
Rights http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/08/how-religious-fundamentalism-and.html
(8/23/15): Legitimacy as a Context and Paradigm to Resolve Religious Conflict
(9/13/15): Accommodating Religious Freedom under the Secular Rule of Law
(9/20/15) Politics and Religious Polarization
(12/12/15): The Power of Freedom over Fear
(1/2/16): God in Three Concepts
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(2/7/16): Jesus Meets Muhammad on Issues of Religion and Politics
(2/27/16): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Faith, Freedom and Politics
(3/12/16): Religion, Race and the Deterioration of Democracy in America
(3/26/16): Religion, Democracy, Diversity and
Demagoguery
(4/2/16): The Freedom of Religion and Providing for the Common Good
(4/30/16): The Relevance of Religion to Politics
(5/7/16): Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
(5/21/16): Religious Fundamentalism and a Politics of Reconciliation
(6/18/16): A Politics of Reconciliation with Liberty and Justice for All
(8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and
Cultural Divide
(8/20/16): The Freedoms of Religion and Speech: Essentials of Liberty and Law
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(9/24/16): The Evolution of Religion and Politics from Oppression to Freedom
(10/22/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation in a Polarized Democracy
(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad
(11/19/16): Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation Based on Shared Values
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/11/religion-and-politics-of-reconciliation_19.html
(12/17/16): Discipleship in a Democracy: A Test of Faith, Legitimacy and Politics
(2/4/17): When Confrontation Trumps Reconciliation in Politics and Religion
(2/25/17): The Need for a Revolution in Religion and Politics
(3/11/17): Accountability and the Stewardship of Democracy
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(4/1/17): Human Rights, Freedom and National Security
(5/13/17): Voices of Reason and Hope in the Cacophony over Religion, Human Rights
and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/05/voices-of-reason-and-hope-in-cacophony.html
(6/17/17): Religious Exclusivity: Does It Matter? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/religious-exclusivity-does-it-matter.html.
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting
Concepts of Legitimacy
(7/15/17) Religion and Progressive Politics
(7/29/17): Speaking God’s Truth to Man’s Power
(8/5/17): Does Religion Seek to Reconcile and Redeem or to Divide and Conquer?
(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious
Exclusivism
(9/9/17): The Evolution of the American Civil Religion and Habits of the Heart
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/09/the-evolution-of-american-civil.html.
(9/23/17): Tribalism and the American Civil Religion
(10/14/17): In the Midst of an Islamic Reformation http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/in-midst-of-islamic-reformation.html.
(10/21/17): The Symbiotic Relationship between Freedom and Religion
(11/11/17): A Politics of Reconciliation that Should
Begin in the Church
(11/18/17): Radical Religion and the Demise of Democracy
(12/2/17): How Religious Standards of Legitimacy Shape Politics, for Good or Bad
(12/16/17): Can Democracy Survive the Trump Era?
(1/6/18): The Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Diversity in Democracy
(1/20/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Morality and Religion in Politics
(1/27/18): Musings on Conflicting Concepts of Christian Morality in Politics
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