lion&lamb
lion&lamb is the magazine of Evangelical Contribution On Northern Ireland
otherwise known as ECONI.
Canon Lewis wrote the following article for issue 37 of lion&lamb:
FAITH AND PRACTICE
FOR 1500 YEARS, through the missionary work of St Patrick, Christianity has been the religion of the great majority of people on the island of Ireland. A consequence is that today we do not have an appreciation of the existence of other religions such as Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. Sadly, we know a great deal about the heritage of hatred and animosity between Roman Catholics and Protestants, but little about the people of other faiths, and how we should relate to them.
Northern Ireland society is changing. The largest ethnic group, with some 10,000 members, is the Chinese community. Since the 1960s, because of the media focus on the bombings and killings in Northern Ireland, the Chinese and other ethnic minority groups have been almost ‘invisible’. However, the decline of violence since the early 1990s has resulted in an emerging higher profile for the Chinese and other minority ethnic and religious groups here.
New people have been attracted to Northern Ireland from other races and faiths. In the course of my work, I visit hospitals and nursing homes regularly, where one of the greatest changes in the last five years is the presence of male and female nurses from the Philippines, India, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. With the enlargement of the European Union, people from many more countries will come to work and settle here. Northern Ireland is becoming increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-faith.
We should welcome the newcomer. For centuries people have emigrated from Ireland to the American colonies, Australia, New Zealand, and many countries around the globe. There they have settled, been accepted, and made their new homes and reared their families. We should not begrudge similar opportunities to those who choose to come to live and work in Northern Ireland.
Yet, immigration has resulted in increased hostility and verbal and physical attacks on people because of their race or religion. This has accelerated since 9/11 particularly, with attacks on the Muslim community. For example, last year the small Muslim community of 200 in Craigavon was refused planning permission to build a mosque. Eventually, permission was given but, by that time, eight Muslim families were intimidated and had to leave their homes. The Muslims decided not to build out of fear for the safety of their families and businesses. A few weeks ago, the homes of Nigerian men and a Bangladeshi family were attacked in South Belfast. All this is part of an ongoing pattern of violence against members of the ethnic minorities.
In our democratic society, there are legal safeguards for the protection of people who are being victimised in this way. Obviously, those measures are inadequate. Dr Jamal Iweda, President of the Belfast Islamic Council, says, “It is a small minority who do these things. The authorities and leaders should do more to tackle the problem”. He said, awareness of the issue should be raised among clergy, politicians, journalists, media people, teachers and community workers. “There should be a strategy to tackle racism”. Here, Dr Iweda is calling for more concerted action on a broad front by statutory and voluntary bodies who can make a difference.
The Churches have a duty to do a number of things:
to extend welcome to the stranger and newcomer
to recognise every human being as created in the likeness of God, regardless of race, class or creed
to foster tolerance and promote understanding between people who are different.
In this regard, we need to bear in mind that Jesus transformed the lives of people by showing them beyond question that they were deeply loved by God. As Christians today, we are in the business of showing God’s love to all people without distinction. That means Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists, etc, as well as our fellow Christians!
The truth of God’s indestructible love for each person – which is at the heart of the Christian faith – is our guide in charting a way forward in our emerging multi-ethnic and multi-faith society in Northern Ireland. As we serve Jesus and seek to reflect God’s love we should have no fear. We remember that Jesus constantly included in God’s embrace people who were different – the Roman Centurion, the woman from Tyre, the ten lepers, the demon-possessed man, the soldiers who nailed him to the cross. It is interesting that those who assumed Jesus was the same as them – the Jewish leaders – were the ones who were most hostile to him. They were unable to accommodate the immense reach of God’s love which Jesus showed.
Applied to Northern Ireland today, the Christian churches should be to the forefront in challenging racial and religious hatred in all its forms, and in seeking to protect vulnerable people. We should be the voice of the voiceless, the defender of the weak, the advocate of the marginalized. We should also be trying to understand our neighbours who are different.
In my own Parish in South Belfast, we have had good relations for some years with the neighbouring Islamic mosque. Earlier this year, that contact was formalised in a meeting between St Thomas’ Select Vestry and the Belfast Islamic Council, when we shared information about the core doctrines and practices of Islam and of the Anglican tradition in Christianity. The time together was very much about meeting, getting to know each other, finding out about each other’s religious beliefs and practices, sharing food together, and enjoying one another’s company. It was a most worthwhile event. Since then there has been ongoing contact.
In general terms, it is clear that there can and should be Christian-Muslim co-operation and common action on practical issues like combating anti-social behaviour and crime, environmental preservation, and care of the needy. Here in Belfast, the Islamic community is also very open to, and welcomes, religious exchange and dialogue, and the opportunity to meet members of the Christian Churches. They say that this is consistent with the Islamic teaching on the right attitude to others: “None of you is a believer as long as he does not wish his brother what he wishes himself” (Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13). There is much scope today for contact, engagement and dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Northern Ireland. This openness should be welcomed by the Christian Churches.
Society in Northern Ireland is changing, and will change further in the future as mobility between countries becomes easier, as national boundaries reduce in significance, and as ‘the global village’ increasingly becomes the reality. Such changes are forcing us to alter our mindset of how we view people of other countries and religions. Amid those changes, our Christian faith is our sure guide: we will seek to love God ...and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
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NOTE lion&lamb is the magazine produced by ECONI twice a year. As ECONI say on their web-site, it is packed with insightful articles, topical comment, biblical reflections and reviews and includes news of the latest ECONI initiatives, events and publications. lion&lamb aims to promote reflection, discussion, comment and debate on issues facing the community in Northern Ireland.