Children of Abraham
First shown on Channel 4 in April and May 2004
Christian fundamentalism on the move
The Channel 4 series, Children of Abraham, looks at whether the shared roots of the three monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, could be a basis for building a shared future. Stephen Marks argues that religion is neither the root cause of the conflict nor the main prospect for peace
Could the fact that all three monotheistic religions share common origins in the prophet Abraham make a difference to the conflicts they are locked into in the Middle East today? It’s a tempting idea, and anything that can moderate the ferocity of the hatreds that can divide Jews, Christians and Muslims must be welcomed. But is religion the cause of these hatreds or a label that serves as a convenient way of identifying tribes and groups that are in conflict for quite different reasons?
Politics of war
In Northern Ireland, Catholics and Protestants share more common beliefs as Christians than Christians share with Jews or Muslims. And church leaders, with a few notable exceptions, have worked together in joint appeals for peace for many years. But in the end, it was hard negotiating between politicians that brought a ceasefire and a peace process.
And in the Middle East, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is at bottom a political conflict between Zionism and Palestinian nationalism. Zionism started as a secular political movement which was often anti-religious and was regarded as heretical by the rabbis. Many religious Jews continue to reject Zionism to this day.
Family feuds
Indeed it could be argued that an overlapping set of shared beliefs can be an aggravating factor: the fact that the same texts are interpreted in opposite ways can be an additional cause of friction. In medieval times, Jews fared worse in Christendom than under Muslim rule, despite sharing a holy book with Christians in the Old Testament – or perhaps because of it.
Experience from the Indian Subcontinent reinforces the point. Hindus and Muslims are at opposite ends of the theological spectrum – Hindus worshipping a multitude of deities and venerating idols while Muslims cling firmly to an austere Abrahamic monotheism. But there are local shrines to this day where Hindus and Muslims venerate the graves of the same local holy men. Many Hindus will tell you that of course there is only one god, and all their deities reflect different aspects of the same divine unity.
The Sikh faith developed as a reform movement within Hinduism, rejecting idol-worship for belief in one God. But during the dreadful bloodshed of partition in 1947, some of the worst violence was between Sikhs and Muslims.
Identity crisis
In Children of Abraham, presenter Mark Dowd is right to point to insecurity as a basic cause of extremism, whether religious or secular. The misuse of religion as a tribal badge stems from a need for identity. The rapid pace of change in a globalising world leaves many people feeling insecure as old certainties are undermined. In particular, where repressive regimes have suppressed independent thinking, political organisation and free debate, religious organisations and ideologies are often the only available alternatives to centrally-imposed structures and ideologies.
When such regimes collapse or are overthrown, many people are left with no experience of defining themselves by any secular political belief system, and there will be few secular political leaders with widespread ‘voter recognition’. Religious affiliation, along with ethnicity, can provide an instant group identity.
It does seem that these broader social and political causes can produce religious extremism almost regardless of the formal theological creeds professed by the particular religions involved and whether or not there is a tradition of such extremism those religions.
One glaring example of this was in the recent civil war in Sri Lanka, where a group of ‘Buddhist terrorists’ emerged – despite the fact that Buddhism is just about the most non-violent religion in the world.
A starting point
Does this mean that stressing the common roots of the three Abrahamic faiths is a waste of time? Not necessarily. The worst bigots won’t be impressed but in a situation of long-established conflict, many people grow up in a state of profound ignorance about the ’enemy’, and will be genuinely surprised to discover their shared roots. In the right circumstances this can provide a starting point for strategies aimed at changing attitudes.
Themes relating to shared roots can also be useful as part of an ‘inoculation package’ to cement inter-faith relations in situations where community relations have not yet broken down. And where extremists use widely recognised religious symbols and narratives as a source of legitimacy, helping people to discover that these narratives are not anyone’s exclusive possession may serve to delegitimise the arguments of the extremists.
But in all these cases, an appeal to the shared Abrahamic heritage can only have a lasting impact when combined with effective action to tackle the real roots of conflict, whatever they may be. And perhaps most importantly, we should not allow an ‘Abrahamic’ narrative to obscure the common values and need for peace, justice and coexistence that Jews, Christians and Muslims share with the rest of the human race.
