FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN THE HOLY LAND

Last Sunday’s incidents on the Temple esplanade and the Muslim Quarter in Jerusalem are an indication that violence is once more escalating in the Holy Land.

Many hope that they are still sporadic incidents that will have no major consequences on the peace process, but overall prospects for peace look bleak.  The shouldering of responsibilities for such incidents is placed now on one side and now on the other, according to what interpretation is given to the facts, and in the Holy Land it is really a difficult task to get facts straight.  One thing is certain, however, namely that the overall responsibility for such acts of violence falls upon the shoulders of religious fanatics.

Indeed, there is a genuine desire to stop violence and go on with day to day life in peace on the part of the majority of the inhabitants in the Holy Land.  But there are religious extremists who are bent on destroying these aspirations.  Religious fanaticism or fundamentalism has unfortunately increased in these last years, and is creating social havoc in many countries in the Middle East.

The Holy Land has been largely spared from this scourge, but there are preoccupying signs.  The road to peace on a political and economic level is a long one, but with secular governments it could become a reality.  When religious fanatics try to invade the political arena the prospects for peace become remote.

Let’s be clear however.  No true religion is fanatical in its nature.  The three religions that are embraced by the majority of the inhabitants in the Holy Land, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are not fanatical.  Indeed they are three religions that have much in common, and are certainly striving to promote a message of peace and reconciliation.

Note, however, that we are speaking of “true” religion.  Unfortunately religion can be thwarted for ideological, political or economic gain.  At that point it ceases to be a religion and becomes a tyranny.  Society in the free-market economy of the West suffers from the tyranny of “technocracy”.  In some developing countries society is suffering from the tyranny of “theocracy”.

The Holy Land has always been a meeting place of religions and cultures.  It is inevitable that there would be a clash of religions and cultures in such an environment.  Living in the Holy Land as a Christian religious, I am aware of this great danger of presenting a thwarted view of genuine Christianity when cultic and denominational divisions arrive at extreme consequences and generate violence.

The same principle applies to other religions as well, and in the Holy Land these other religions are embraced by a staggering majority of inhabitants.  With the difference that, many of these persons, are not fanatics, and can live their religious ideals in peace in a secular society in which religion does not interfere with political ideology, if not to denounce social injustice.

It is the minority of extreme radicals who pose a real danger to the balance in the social framework of society.  These people cannot understand the need to respect others, to respect their religious traditions, their religious rights and holy places.  In such a sensitive place like the Holy Land, any lack of mutual respect can generate violence.

Maybe the peace process that everybody would like to see concluded has one flaw, namely, that of forgetting that genuine peace cannot be built only upon territorial integrity, security, and economic growth, but that it also needs to address the “spiritual” yearnings of those who are called partners for peace.

Secular governments do guarantee religious freedom, even in the Holy Land, and such freedom is, in fact, visible and tangible.  But freedom also needs mutual respect to become effective.  And it also needs a society that keeps the balance between the extreme positions of secularism without any religious dimension and religious fanaticism that breeds intolerance, hatred and violence.