Religious People of the World: Unite!

Egyptian Muslims acting as human shields for Christians celebrating Midnight Mass in Alexandria last year.

The news that US Ambassador Chris Stevens has died from smoke inhalation following a rocket attack in Benghazi is worrying and portentous. The most destructive long term consequence of the attack, whoever was truly responsible for planning and carrying it out, is its likely impact on the way ordinary Muslims and Christians see each other. This is occurring in a context where Western Christians are already viewed as godless arrogant aggressors by many Muslims and where Muslims are increasingly labelled as potential terrorists by Christians. This once more opens up the terrifying vista of a world riven by deep cultural chasms, where religion is used as a pretext for murder and genocide...a world many had hoped would have been left behind after Obama's election.

To me as a Christian, one of the few hopeful signs in this tragic episode is the fact that the Coptic Christian church is condemning the disgusting film which is provoking Muslim outrage and also that some Copts are planning to demonstrate against it. In a way this helps to repay those Egyptian Muslims who last year, when Coptic churches were being bombed, decided to hold vigils outside churches where midnight mass was being celebrated; offering their lives as human shields for their Christian brothers and sisters. To my mind this was one of the most beautiful expressions of true religion, showing for a moment, its power in constructing a universal human solidarity which transcends the stupid artificial boundaries between believers.

I wish that we Maltese Christians, who are so close to the Christians of the Middle East and who also have significant traces of Islamic heritage in our culture, could take the lead in promoting such actions of solidarity with Muslims, paving the way for genuine peace and unity in God.