Losing a war not of our choosing Published in Church Times, No. 7490, September 29 2006: p.12 THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States has generated renewed debate about whether the West or al-Qaeda is winning the subsequent "war on terror". But Christians have a more important question to ask themselves: is the Church winning? That might sound bizarre. It is not religions, after all, but nation states and terrorist networks that are locked in conflict. Nevertheless, the Church has suffered severe collateral damage. The religious expressions of George W. Bush and Tony Blair have ensured that their wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with disastrous Middle-Eastern foreign policies, have been widely viewed as Christian initiatives. This view is held even by sceptical Westerners, who have heaped scorn on Christianity as a result. Far more seriously, members of vulnerable Christian minorities in majority-Muslim countries across Asia and Africa have suffered violent backlashes, often paying with their lives. I have spoken to Christian asylum-seekers who fled pogroms in Nigeria, and a Pakistani priest who saw half a dozen of his parishioners murdered, all in the weeks after the US and UK attack on Afghanistan in October 2001. These acts of retaliation occurred because the West's brutal "war on terror" has become synonymous with Christianity in the minds of many Muslims. By our ambivalence, reticence, and even outright support for some of these wars, the Church has allowed the name of the Prince of Peace to be associated with violence and injustice. THE UNITY of the Church is a demonstration of God's action in the world; but this witness, too, has suffered. While the Pope prayed for peace in Iraq, other Christian Churches prayed for a US/UK victory. In April 2003, US forces bombed the Mansur Christian residential district of Baghdad, killing many civilians. The journalist Robert Fisk scornfully noted the irony that "Messrs Bush and Blair, Christians", were killing other Christians. Christ's prayer for the unity of all believers has been drowned out by the fury of argument in the West. The contrast with mainstream British Islam is marked and salutary. Our Muslim neighbours have organised talks and events across the country to acquaint British people with Islam, denouncing those who strike terror in its name, and explaining their faith with clarity. They have tapped into unprecedented curiosity about their religion, have confronted hostility, and have dispelled ignorance. These "Islamic awareness" events, as I have seen myself, have led to an increasing number of converts, and often make their Christian "mission" counterparts seem aggressive, crass, and outdated. AS WAR threatened in Europe in 1939, Bishop George Bell wrote a remarkable essay considering what might be "the Church's function in war-time". He argued simply that "It is the function of the Church at all costs to remain the Church." By this, he meant not to take one side or another, but simply to "preach the gospel of Christ", and testify prophetically to the universal fellowship of believers. In emotionally charged climates of fear and nationalist fervour, that may not be an easy position to adhere to, he admitted. "The Church may have a difficult task in war-time. But it has an extraordinary opportunity." The "war on terror" should be just such an opportunity for Christians to proclaim the gospel confidently and intelligently, whether that be in national debates, or over tea-breaks with work colleagues. What Paul called the "gospel of peace" is good news to a warring world, and we should not be hiding our light under a bushel. War is contrary to God's good plans for humanity. It is a manifestation and a consequence of sin, for which we all bear responsibility. Christ's followers are to be peacemakers - not warriors. We should learn from our Muslim friends. For a nation sensitised to politics and foreign policy, a well-run talk entitled "Is the war on terror Christian?" should engage with many people who would never dream of attending an Alpha supper. A leader of a church that tried something similar recently told me that about 50 non-Christians attended. British Christians have been involved in many exciting international projects that challenge the spirit of the "war on terror" and show Christ-like peacemaking in action. Groups such as Christian Peacemaker Teams, with whom Professor Norman Kember worked, or the Reconciliation Walk, which takes Christians to the Middle East to apologise for the Crusades, have often had startling results. Invited speakers from such groups could energise an event. The possibilities for authentic Christian witness in the "war on terror" are limited only by our imagination. Five years after 9/11, the state of the world merely serves to underline the importance of the Church's message of peace. The Church is in danger of missing its calling. --