Gordon Linney
The recent killings in France of journalists and others remind us that what we call free speech isn’t free at all; like all good things it comes at a price but it is important it because it is the lifeblood of many other freedoms including the freedom to practice religion. At the same time it has to be used responsibly; we must have regard as to how our words are heard and understood by others.
In a recent interview with this newspaper a French Muslim mother described how she tried to convince her son who had fled to Syria that violence was not the way. She quoted the Koran to him: “Do not kill a human being, for Allah has declared human life sacred” but he refused to listen. His response? “One must not draw the prophet. It is forbidden.”
If the drawing of such images is a sensitive matter for the wider Muslim community then perhaps society should take account of that fact and so weaken the preachers of hatred and violence.
It is sometimes said that religion has caused wars for centuries and that is only partly true. It is the misuse of religion – from a Christian point of view for example the denial of the teachings of Jesus – rather than religion itself that is the problem. Neither Stalin nor Hitler needed any kind of religious motivation to pursue their brutal campaigns.
There are some who have closed minds when it comes to recognising or respecting religious experience of any kind; indeed some are openly hostile. It would be to the benefit of society if there was a greater respect for that sacred space called spirituality which is important to the vast majority of people including many who are not religious in any formal sense.
Having said that, when any religion betrays the values it commends to others it deserves to be condemned and ridiculed. Jesus called some of the “religious” of his day hypocrites, a word suggesting that they wore masks to hide the darker side of their lives. Pope Francis recently did something similar when he delivered what one commentator described as “a blistering attack” on the Roman curia, ticking off a catalogue of “spiritual diseases” to which he believes Vatican officials are susceptible. But there will always be the temptation to “do it my way”.
In tomorrow’s Old Testament reading Jonah is told by God to go and tell the people of Nineveh to repent. At first he refuses but eventually does so. When the people respond positively God forgives them but Jonah is furious. He wants them punished but God insists that his mercy is available to everyone; everyone deserves a second chance.
In the Gospel reading Jesus sets out to build a community built on that principle. He skips the temple and other places of power and looks among those who are willing to take a leap of faith. Those with the least to lose (money, reputation, possessions) are the first to respond. The invitation is less than tempting – “Follow me ...” – but Simon, Andrew, James and John leave their nets and follow Jesus without looking back, called to be peacemakers and healers which brings us back to Paris and its grief.
The Taiwanese theologian Choan-Seng Song wrote: “God moves on from the tower of Babel to Pentecost, from Israel to Babylon. God moves in Europe, in Africa, in the Americas, in Asia. As God moves, God suffers with people, sheds tears with them, hopes with them, and creates the communion of love here and there. Until the time when the communion of love is firmly established in the world of strife and conflict, of pain and suffering, we have no alternative but to move on with God toward that vision of a community of compassion and love.” In that understanding dare we suggest that God spoke in Paris: Je suis Charlie, Je suis Ahmed (the Muslim police officer who lost his life), Je suis juif (I am a Jew).