Panel № 5 Religious

Religious Roots of Political Ideologies

Last Updated on , 30 November -0001 00:00

These are very ambitious objectives. That is clear at once when you look at the conflicts of our time, which all have religious implications: Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, the Caucasus, etc..

The objectives can only be achieved if we do not remain at the surface of dialogue („be friendly to each other“), but if we dare to go in the substances and depths of religious thinking in our time, which is, of course, based on religious thinking in early times.

And the cradle of religious thinking of the Occident and in large parts of the Orient is a region which we today call the Middle East.

Therefore I put the focus on six historical and religious-political conflict positions which we can find in many conflicts in Eurasia: Six comprehensive ideological positions, which can explain a lot. In world history, they appeared one after another. And they are historically powerful until today.

1.    The idea of global power, global rule.
Already in 2350 B.C. the ruler of Assyria and Babylon called himself „the king of the four regions of the world“. This idea of global rule went on to Kyros II. of Persia (559 B.C.), Alexander the Great, the Roman empire, etc.. The efforts to get the Western model of democracy globally accepted, if necessary with the help of the military, is that following this tradition, too?

2.    The political messianism.
This concept can be found already in the writings of the Jewish prophet Isaiah in 539 B.C.. Messianic thoughts are basic in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and they still have political relevance. The longing for a political  salvator, who brings the people out of their misery, comes again in many societies.

3.    The idea of a perfect society.
Probably this idea comes from Platon. In the first century B.C. also Jewish writers did reflect about the “Rule of God”. Later Muslim writers like Al Farahi, and Christians in the Middle Age (“societas perfecta”) took up the idea. And today, can we still find the idea of a perfect society in a theocrathy like in Iran or in the concept of communism with the “classless society”? 

4.    The understanding of peace, where precondition is a military victory.
“If you want peace prepare war” was a guideline of Roman policy. Until now there are people in the military and in politics, who follow that idea. In consequence there comes the demand for “unconditional surrender“ of the enemy. Even religions are not free from this thinking. Where religious leaders claim that “non-believers” should be exterminated, you have very much the same.

5.    The idea of martyrdom.
The voluntary giving of one\'s life for the honour of God and in defence of the right belief is part of Jewish and Christian tradition. In Koran, Sure No 3, there are promised wonderful rewards in heaven for the martyrs. Suicide bombings,  but also the celebration of  “war heroes”, are reminders of this quasi religious thinking and of its political instrumentalization.

6.    The religious elevation of home, the homeland.
The living world where you are born or where you are sent to, becomes
a spiritual or even a holy place. You find this as the “promised land” in the story of Abraham, that is common to Jews, Christians and Muslims. You can find it again in the concept of “watan” in the Osman Empire. Nationalism in the past 150 years showed us the danger of such ideological positions.

Dear friends, these ideas of global rule, messianism, perfect society, victory, martyrdom and nationalism should be one of the subjects of interreligious dialogue. Indeed these ideas have partly religious roots, but today they have often changed into political ideologies. And religions are in danger to be misused as a justification for political power objectives. Therefore it is our responsibility and it must be our interest as Christians, Muslims and Jews to bring light into this background. We should try to do it together.

Therefore I think, we can look at the term “tradition and modernisation” in our panel  in a new light. I come from one of the churches of Reformation, the Lutheran Church. This church considers itself as a church of freedom and of enlightenment. Coming from this tradition, my suggestion is to use an enlightenment-guided approach to analyse religious roots of political ideologies and to disclose the truths in this way behind the curtains. I welcome, other approaches from other traditions.

The philosopher Immanuel Kant said already 1784 in his famous paper “An answer to the question: What is enlightenment?”:
“Enlightenment is man\'s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one\'s understanding without the guiding of another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. SAPERE AUDE! \'Have courage to use your own understanding!\'
That is the motto of enlightenment.”

Dear friends let us, continue our dialogue on this road. Then we can contribute, in our specific way, to peace and justice in the world.  

Thank very much you for your patience.