July, 2004 (Vol. 19, No. 9)

The defeat of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in India signals the loss of political power of Hindu nationalism as well as renewed Christian hopes of relaxed restrictions against evangelization.

The victory of the secularist Congress Party and the marginalization of the BJP primarily means the loss of political influence of Hindu nationalism, reports India Abroad newspaper (June 22). During the election the BJP downplayed its ties to Hindu Nationalism, as represented by such hard-line groups as the National Volunteer Corps (known as the RSS). The BJP suffered in areas where the RSS was especially strong, such as in the state of Gujarat, where Hindu-Muslim violence had been intense.

The RSS now accuses the BJP of “pussyfooting” on Hindu nationalist issues and thus losing the election. Praful Bidwai writes that the BJP is at a fork in the road, having to choose between a more pragmatic identity that accepts the reality of religious and ideological pluralism or a “communal” or Hindu approach that would lead to marginalization.

The Christian press, at least in the U.S., was quick to note the political change in India, particularly as it relates to the promise of renewed missionary activity. The first ever non-Hindu Indian Prime Minister, Manmouhan Singh, an Oxford-educated Sikh and economist, will bring about a “wind of change,” especially in regard to restrictions against evangelistic activity, according to the evangelical Missions Network News.

Christian News (June 14) cites the news service as reporting that the Christian organization, Bibles For The World, plans to open 3,000 Christian schools around India’s capital of New Delhi. An official from the organization is quoted as saying that schools are “one way” of reaching out to the community and that churches and hospitals are expected to follow.

(India Abroad, http://www.rediff.com; Christian News, 684 Luther Lane, New Haven, MO 63068-2213)

Despite divisions among themselves, Iraq’s Shi’a will shape Iraq’s future, and Iraq will be the first Arab country to become openly Shi’a, according to an article by Vali Nasr in the Summer issue of the Washington Quarterly, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Shi’as number around 130 million people globally, most of them living in the area between Lebanon and Pakistan, and making up the majority of the population in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan. But their influence is not commensurate with their number, and the Iranian revolution was not able to threaten Sunni dominance in a lasting way. Saudi Arabia has been very active in a strategy of containment against Shi’ism through networks of Wahhabi ulama; for years, Western powers remained sympathetic, since they saw Shi’a militancy as a more serious threat than Sunni activists.

The fall of Saddam Hussein has opened the door to a sea change in Iraq, where Shi’a are experiencing a cultural revival and are growing increasingly prominent. This will affect the relations between the Shi’a and Sunnis not only in Iraq, but in the entire region. The Shi’a will also be demanding their rights and greater place in society, including in Saudi Arabia, where militancy is on the rise among members of the Shi’a minority, remarks Vali Nasr, who is a professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian politics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

This means that the Shi’a revival will be one of the factors threatening Saudi stability; at the same time, the Kingdom can no longer support those fighting for Sunni predominance without supporting forces that directly challenge the USA in Iraq. The Sunni-Shi’a balance appears as the key to future regional stability. It will be central to the political outcome “not only in Iraq but also in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia,” Nasr concludes.

(Washington Quarterly, CSIS, 1800 K Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20006; http://www.twq.com)

— By Jean-Francois Mayer, RW Contributing Editor and founder of the website Religioscope (http://www.religioscope.com)

Christian universities are multiplying worldwide and represent a new stage in the development of Christianity in the Third World, writes Joel Carpenter in the Lutheran magazine The Cresset (Trinity, 2004).

He writes that in the three years he has been researching the rise of the new Christian universities in Latin America, Africa and Asia, their numbers have only increased. For instance in 2001, Carpenter noted six new evangelical universities in Central America. But in a visit to Costa Rica in March, he found out there are now a half-dozen such universities in San Jose alone. “Every month I learn of more such endeavors, from Malawi to Haiti to Irian Papua.”

Carpenter points out that these endeavors are far from modest. Handong Global University in South Korea plans to become an “evangelical MIT,” assembling a strong Korean faculty on a gleaming new campus with about 3000 high-achieving students. The university is also replicating itself in two other Asian sites, Uzbekistan and Manchuria.

These schools, as well as global Christianity itself, may grow most rapidly among those whom sociologist David Martin calls the “aspiring poor,” as a university education and a job become worthy Christian aspirations. Already, these universities are taking on issues of social action and responsibility. Carpenter concludes that the founding of these universities may mark a new stage in the development of nonwestern Christianity.

“With revival fires no longer flaring and in need of some tending, institutions or `fireplaces’ are being built. There is a rising generation to equip, and a surrounding society in which to minister for the longer term.”

(The Cresset, Huegli Hall, Valparaiso University, 1409 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383)

Buddhism is “enjoying an unprecedented boom in Germany,” reports the German newspaper Deutsche Welle (June 9).

The number of Buddhist groups is rising along with Eastern religious teachings being popularized by best-selling books and even in the secular media. Although the German government does not keep statistics on Buddhism, the German Buddhist Union estimates that there are 100,000 Buddhists of German origin and an additional 120,000 immigrants–mainly Vietnamese and Thai–practicing the religion.

“What is clear, however, is that the number of Buddhist communities in the country is steadily rising: from 15 groups at the beginning of the 1970s to over 600 today,” reports the newspaper. German celebrities, such as actor Ralf Bauer, singer Nina Hagen and soccer player Mehmet Scholl, have embraced Buddhism. Hamburg-based German indologist Hans Gruber says that “Buddhism is becoming increasingly attractive as an alternative to materialism.

It is the subtle unease about a culture, about a progressive economic and lifestyle system that has conclusive answers to everything, but can’t do anything about inner turmoil.”

Books and movies on world religions and their ancient texts are drawing individuals and groups into study and dialogue between different faiths, reports the e-newsletter Religion Bookline (June 1).

Feeding much of this interest are productions such as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ, as well as semi-scholarly and popular books by Karen Armstrong, Dan Brown (author of the best-selling Da Vinci Code) and Bruce Feiler, author of books on the Old Testament and Abraham.

Feiler finds that discussion and study groups have been formed among these readers and moviegoers. He himself has organized 5,000 “Abraham salons” in the last year, drawing people to discussion about the biblical figure and his relevance to interfaith cooperation and tolerance. The book series, “The Great Religions: Essential Questions,” published by the French publisher Assouline, has gained wide appeal because it is conversational in style, growing out of questions that people ask of each faith rather than taking a dogmatic approach, according to Feiler.

A growing apologetic movement in Mormonism is helping to create a more “progressive” wing of the church that increasingly seeks intellectual respectability, according to the independent Mormon magazine Sunstone(May). Groups seeking to intellectually defend Mormon teachings, such as the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), have gained mainstream acceptance in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Their effort to debate critics (usually evangelical Christians) and reassure the faithful that Mormonism is intellectually respectable competes with a traditional “anti-contention” school that shuns arguments with non-Mormons or the attempt to prove the faith by rational argument.

Duffy finds that the Mormons’ democratic culture is rife with both professional and amateur apologists, often “zealous but undertrained researchers who self-publish their works.” Professional orthodox theologians often try to maintain some distance from the amateur apologists as they try to gain academic credibility for Mormon teachings. But Duffy thinks the new shift toward apologetics and intellectual argument will not so much have impact in the non-Mormon world as much as within the LDS fold itself.

Even evangelical critics note that these apologetic-oriented Mormons are carving out a new “progressive” wing in the church even if it differs from the revisionist Mormon approach that seeks to redefine the faith. They tend to be more accepting of mainstream Christian churches and are willing to change their interpretations of the faith in the face of new evidence and challenges [See May RW for more on the apologists’ influence in the debate on Mormon origins]. Duffy concludes that the anti-intellectual tendency encouraged by the anti-contention camp is on the wane.

(Sunstone, 343 N. Third West, Salt Lake City, UT 84103-1215)

Religion will likely be an issue in the upcoming U.S. presidential campaign, but it still remains to be seen if candidate Senator John Kerry and his fellow Democrats can address such concerns in a persuasive way, particularly gaining the support of Catholic voters. Writing in Commonweal magazine (June 4), Amy Sullivan notes that Kerry and other liberal Catholic politicians show both promise and problems in reaching American Catholics.

The attempt to target and pressure liberal Catholic politicians for their pro-choice stands–such as in refusing them communion in their dioceses and parishes– may have reached a limit. Surveys show that the willingness of ordinary Catholics–due to the sex abuse crisis– to obey and trust their leaders “is as low as it has ever been” according to surveys. ”

At the same time, pro-choice Catholics in both the House and the Senate have reached their tipping point. Fed up with being targeted as heretics by groups like the American Life League, tired of being told that they’re not good Catholics because they support abortion rights, these politicians have begun to fight back.” Such Democrats as Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill) have responded with impassioned speeches about their Catholicism. This year, a group known as Catholic Democrats in the House have made the claim that their stance on social issues is more in keeping with Catholic social teaching than their Republican counterparts.

These efforts will not convince strongly pro-life Catholics, but they may help sway `persuadable Catholic voters. ‘But Sullivan adds that “Before he can start persuading anybody, however, Kerry needs to significantly rework his stock answer when questioned about his faith…Kerry’s fellow Democrats have so misused the phrase `separation of church and state’ over the years that many religious Americans consider its invocation a code for `I’m not really religious and I don’t want to talk about it, so let’s just assert that it has no place in politics and move on to another topic.’

It is indeed essential to protect the separation of church and state, but Kerry will have to find a way to talk about it while also taking ownership of his Catholicism.” She suggests taking a page from Southern Baptist Bill Clinton, who was able to speak to Catholics about the impact of Catholic social teachings on his political views.

Yet a recent poll suggests that inactive as well as active Catholics may be wary of supporting Catholic candidates who are pro-choice and support embryonic stem-cell research. A Zogby International Poll of 1,388 Catholics shows John Kerry only receiving 20 percent of Catholic voters’ support on issues where he disagrees with church teachings, particularly abortion and stem cell research. Likewise, if a candidate said he would appoint only supporters of Roe v. Wade to judicial positions, 65 percent of Catholics polled would not support him. The National Catholic Register (June 6-12) cites the survey as finding only 16 percent being more likely to support such a candidate.

The poll found that both churchgoing Catholics (71 percent) and Catholics who attend church infrequently (57 percent) held these opinions. It was found that 53 percent of Catholic voters would be less likely to support a candidate who advocates embryonic stem-cell research, whereas only 23 percent said they would be more likely to support such a candidate.

(Commonweal, 475 Riverside Dr., Rm. 405, New York, NY 10115)