New Iraq lacking religious toleration

Breeze Perspectives

Despite all the Iraqi democratization rhetoric President George W. Bush has been spouting recently, it seems that at least one tenet of democracy, the freedom of religion, has been on the wane in that country. This week saw the frightening news of Archbishop Basil George Carmoussa’s kidnapping.

Though the unfortunate religious leader was eventually released, this event, seen in the light of other anti-Christian attacks and threats in Iraq, paints a grim picture for the once free and accepted Iraqi church.
There are an estimated 650,000 Christians in Iraq. Even before Iraqi hostilities began, Christians in that country had vocally protested against a U.S. invasion of Iraq, foreseeing possible threats by Islamic militants. Before the fall of Saddam’s regime, Iraqi Christians had enjoyed a relatively large degree of religious freedom.

Many Iraqi Christians were even allowed prominent roles in the country’s government, with Tariq Aziz, former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, perhaps being the most notable. Though he can be condemned on many accounts, Saddam was welcoming towards Iraq’s Christian community, allowing them to finally prosper after a history of persecution dating back all the way to Ghengis Khan.

Any thoughtful person could have foreseen this series of events. To topple a country’s government without any plan to replace it with a solid and functioning one is a recipe for violence and political turmoil. In the Islamic world, the solution for these two evils has often been the same for centuries — oppressive theocratic governments built on Islamic law.

It was for this very reason that the Vatican, and George Bush’s own United Methodist Church, openly opposed the Iraq invasion. Both communions were deeply concerned about the possible negative outcomes an Iraq invasion could have for Christians in that country. President Bush, who apparently feels no obligation to obey the leaders of his own denomination, cavalierly ignored these warnings.
The results are now becoming clear. Religious freedom has been seriously hindered in Iraq, with its small and long persecuted Christian minority paying the price. This will be a considerable setback to any hopes for democratic freedom in Iraq’s future. Even if successful elections are carried out on Jan. 30, trends indicate that it is unlikely that anything but a strict Islamic state will result. Islamism and religious toleration rarely flourish together.

Following a controversial election that centered a great deal on Bush’s supposed Christian zeal, the question must be asked — how are the president’s democratization goals benefiting his fellow believers, and helping to insure their continued religious liberty? In Iraq, at least, it seems very little indeed.

Andrew Chudy is a senior IDLS major.