Azza Karam, Secretary General of Religions for Peace, and Professor of Religion and Development at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In Laura Robson’s seminal work on Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine (2011) she describes the “politicisation of Christianity”, as an outcome enabled by the British colonial administration’s decision to “promote communally organised legal and political structures” modelling “Imperial policy in India and elsewhere”, which ultimately encouraged sectarian identification among Palestinian Arabs. Reviewing the intersections of religion, colonialism, and broader politics, she eloquently captures the essence of these intersections, effectively summarising reams of critical research and evidence over a century old. She notes that the emergence of a rigid sectarianism in British-ruled Palestine connects it with a global colonial history, including South Asia and Africa, of the modern construction of supposedly “traditional” categories of religion and ethnicity. As in other parts of the British Empire, the colonial making of sectarianism permanently transformed the local, national and regional politics.
Religion and Colonialism Then
In their tome Of Revelation and Revolution: Christianity, Colonialism and Consciousness in South Africa (1981), authors Jean and John Comarrof begin by describing and quoting, the words of tribal elders in Mafikeng, South Africa, in 1960, a time of the infamous Bantu Authorities Act[i], as they came together to discuss the allotment of their land to build a Dutch Reform Church (DRC). Thus:
Rising slowly from his ceremonial chair, a respected old man, one Rre-Mokaila, spoke out…
You must know what it means to accept this Church. The Dutch Reformed Church has a motto, a commandment “There Shall Be No Equality Between Black and White in Church or State!” If we allot a site to this Church it is as good as [accepting] the Bantu Authorities Act. It does not want educated Africans…It does not want Black people to wear shoes. The DRC refuses passports to our children when sympathizers overseas offer them scholarships to further their education. We are afraid of the DRC. Its members are bribed people. People of no intelligence [pp. 1]
Writing about “Christianity and Colonialism” (in Commonweal, in 1957), Anthony J. Parel, laments that there would have been many more Christians in Asia and Africa today, had it not been for the “identification of Christianity with Western culture, and the subsequent evaluation of it based largely on the impressions created by the colonizer”. This, he notes, “is the strongest single emotional barrier to the conversion of the pagan intelligentsia”. In his lament, Parel notes clearly that
The most vital contact which the pagan world had with the Christian world came, not through complete Christians, but unfortunately, through the colonizers. The colonial regimes of the Western powers in the mission countries have created a strained social relationship, not only between the East and the West, but what is more tragic, between Christians and non-Christians[ii].
Religion and Colonialism Now
The links between Christianity and non-Christians (whether of Traditional belief systems, Jews, Muslims or any others) and colonialism, rests within the consciousness of political and social engagement between Europeans with Africa, Asia and Latin America (the latter in particular through the Spanish Catholic influence). While the influence of the Churches and Church based institutions was pushed back from visibility and influence in public policy in Western Europe, most European governments continued to support Christian Churches (also) in former colonies, including as part of what came to be known as international development assistance to developing countries[iii].
Not only that, but a read out of the UN’s Human Development Index of 2019 – a far from perfect but nevertheless interesting comparison of the state of inequality and human development between 189 countries over time – still reveals that the former colonial powers are among the top 30 developed countries today, whereas the rest of the countries (including former colonial territories and ‘nations’ created by colonial administrators) rank far below. In other words, little has changed in the overall global balance of political and economic power between peoples today.
While most nations of the world today are independent ones, the inequalities of economic wealth and geopolitical power, including access to affordable and safe technology, access to quality education, universal health care and food security, are still challenging for the majority of the world’s peoples – while being relatively more available in the western world – including former colonial powers. The Covid pandemic, coming on top of the disastrous environmental implications of global warming, has only egregiously exacerbated these inequalities. In effect, therefore, while much has changed, much has remained the same.
One of the relevant developments in the last two decades, is the emergence of interest among many Western European nations – former colonial powers (e.g. the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium) in ‘engaging with religion’. This ‘engagement’ takes many forms, from increased funding for [select and largely Christian] faith-based NGOs (FBOs) abroad, to creating new initiatives in their own countries (and organisations) meant to enhance partnerships with religious actors. Multilateral actors, such as the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union, are also increasing their interest and work with religious leaders and other religious actors. While working in the United Nations for nearly two decades, as a development practitioner myself, and a Professor of Religion and Development, I was both an active participant, and an observer of the increase in diverse UN development entities’ interest in religion, ranging from identifying FBOs as partners (implementing partners on development programmes in countries) to setting up a group of advisors on the broad agenda of the UN’s work on peace and security, human development, and human rights[iv].
Faith-based and faith-inspired NGOs are among the top global humanitarian responders. Some of these have long shed their faith-inspired capes (e.g. Red Cross and Red Crescent), others have names that reveal diverse religious affiliation (e.g. Caritas, World Vision and Islamic Relief). There are important intra-faith – mainly Ecumenical – collaborations taking place in development, humanitarian and rights-based work. I share here a sample only as a long and detailed list would require far more space and time. The ACT Alliance, was midwifed through the efforts of the World Council of Churches less than two decades ago. The creation of the ACT Alliance was a unique moment of Protestant and Orthodox Church solidarity specifically around humanitarian efforts. Prescient about the frequency and size of humanitarian needs, and having worked to align their efforts over many decades, the World Council of Churches saw fit to support a concerted effort to rally their significant church resources around and for humanitarianism. And thus was created the Alliance of Churches Together – the ACT Alliance. Today, ACT Alliance has grown beyond humanitarian relief, and is forging ahead in mediation and peacebuilding, democratization, as well as progressive gender equality agendas, including sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. It is an impressive and striking path of church alignment around progressive needs, which also successfully seeks to engage with non-Christian counterparts.
Also of note is the groundbreaking rapprochement between the Lutheran and Catholic Churches and another between the Holy See and all the of Orthodox and Protestant communities represented by the World Council of Churches. It seemed to onlookers that the seas of the Christian world, parted centuries ago, and now led by two enlightened Popes (one a Catholic and the other an Orthodox) were merging, and that a healing of sorts between the theologians and institutions was taking place. A joint thesis on the value of Christian collaboration in Covid times was also issued – providing theological and lucid treatises that called for a ‘whole of Christian ethos’ response to healing this troubled and wounded world. Any significant uptake of joint practical responses, however, have yet to be seen.
And even were this collaboration were to be seen, the fact will remain that these are Christian responses and still headquartered in the Western hemisphere. The realms of faith far exceeds Christianity. There are more faiths on earth—I am constantly told by my more than 100 leaders on Religions for Peace’s 50-year-old World Council (governing board) – than all of the realms of the Christian Churches.
Why is it the case that when the Catholic Pope speaks, the world’s media reports, but when many other religious leaders representing many other faiths, speak, few, if any, English, French or Spanish language global newspaper reports? Why is it the case that when a handful of terrorists kill hundreds, the world’s media and academia report and analyze, but when representatives of all the world’s faith traditions convene to urge for health justice for all populations, no one appears to be listening? Why is it that when the Taliban take over Afghanistan from the US forces, global media appears to shake with insecurity, but when the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda killed and rampaged for years, it was “just a civil war’? Is it because what happens in and to the Western powers and their religious cohorts, still makes the larger difference to the world around us?
Does the “multi”-faith matter?
FBOs and faith leaders have much to offer, beyond having their places of worship and their NGOs serving as first responders in humanitarian crises, they are the oldest social service (development) providers known to humankind. They are also the strongest behavioural change agents (and moral gatekeepers) in the world. And even as they feel the restrictions of pandemic lockdowns, the influence of their respective pulpits – and the demand for them in hard times – remain hard to rival.
Nevertheless, religious institutions, religious leaders and religious NGOs are as territorial about their reach, their visibility, their resources, and their “unique added value” as any other actor in contemporary civil society and political arena. None of this abated during the Covid crisis. Rather, all of these ‘features’, increased. In fairness, faith actors are also struggling for resources at a time when many are also lamenting serious reductions of their regular income streams. But some are also boasting that they have more resources due to more giving. So, there is no across the board generalization of loss of income.
When Religions for Peace set up the first of its kind ‘Multi Religious Humanitarian Fund’, to pool financial resources of diverse faith communities to serve the shared demand together, the responses from all governmental, intergovernmental and non governmental institutions varied from utter silence, to murmurs about already having “our own humanitarian mechanisms and work”, to an outright lament that coordination and collaboration are a luxury few have time for, as it is difficult enough to manage the mechanisms already at hand. One multi-lateral/UN entity, decided to replicate the idea of the Fund, not by giving to it, but by creating their own ‘Multi Faith Giving Circle’ – so they could get more money from religious actors to fund their work. It would seem that some colonial models (where a Western-based secular entity takes from, or deploys, certain religious institutions, to support its ‘noble’ work) have not changed that much.
Yet, the shared voices of all faith leaders, including -but not limited to the Catholic Pontiff – are required to effect solidarity, remind of the human and planetary imperative, make commitments of their own to safeguard the global attack on human rights by authoritarian regimes in every continent, and suggest ways to live our shared values beyond business and political profit making. Many religious leaders, on the ‘right side’ of science and steeped in their theological and practical intricacies of service to all barring none, are keen to influence worldwide awareness, and to insist on reaching all those currently marginalized. Even more breathtaking for those of us in this space for nearly three decades, there are many faith leaders who are ready to do so together – thus to speak in one voice for all human rights.
We need more ‘knowledge’ about the realms of religions and human rights being reported and studied, and having this research undertaken using different language sources, which may challenge the demands of Western academic ‘rigour’. This means that a thesis written in Urdu by a Pakistani graduate for their degree will rarely qualify as ‘scientific’ enough by a Western academic institution working in English or French or Spanish. We also need the works of the multi religious actions to be reported in mainstream Western media (and that is a big ask since the bulk of the attention still goes for Christian actors or leaders, rather than collective multi religious work). We need this in order to begin to see how the impact of faith actors working together – at community, regional and global levels – can and will shift mindsets of individuals and policymakers across the globe. We complain – rightly – about religious actors being instrumentalized to serve the vested interests of some. Yet, we are also witnessing a moment where the multi-religious voices for moral dignity, human rights, and shared well-being are at their most coordinated and loud. So what will it take for the former colonial masters to serve those multi-religious champions of human rights, rather than try to use them for their respective national interests?
[i] The Bantu Authorities Act, 1951 was to ostensibly give authority to Traditional Tribal Leaders within their traditional homelands in South Africa. Effectively, it was a “divide and rule” strategy which not only divided shared heritage and increased strife among the inhabitants vying for support from the Apartheid government, but also to the Bantu Education Act ,which increased racial tensions, reduced national educational standards, and denied quality education to thousands of South African children. All of which, in turn, led to economic hardships for those generations.
[ii] Anthony J. Parel, “Christianity and Colonialism”, in Commonweal, February 8, 1957 – https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/christianity-and-colonialism accessed on February 2021.
[iii] As examples only: In 2019, Bread for the World, the largest Protestant association in Germany (the EU’s most powerful economy) identified funding from the Federal government as one of three most important sources, to the tune of Euros 173.9 million [https://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/ueber-uns/]. As recently as 2015, the UK government created a fund of over 20 billion pounds from which both Catholic and Anglican Churches benefit [https://www.gov.uk/government/news/support-for-churches-and-cathedrals-across-the-uk-announced-by-chancellor]; also in the UK, The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is an international development charity and the official aid agency of the Catholic Church (in England and Wales), receives significant funding from the British government. During Covid times, some European governments sought and even used faith-based NGOs as recipients of their multi-year, flexible funding, as disseminators to other recipients handling covid responses – e.g. Caritas Denmark is acting as an intermediary for Danish government funding.
[iv] More details of the early days of this work can be found in Azza Karam, (2016), “The Role of Religious Actors in Implementing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals”, in The Ecumenical Review: Religion and Development, Volume68, Issue #4, December 2016. Pp 365-377. https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.12241. I would also point to the founding, in January 2018, of the Multi-Faith Advisory Council of the UN Interagency Task Force on Religion and Development, which has over 40 global FBO members, with a Terms of Reference which mandates that they advise the UN entities on international development, human rights and peace and security work [https://www.peacemakersnetwork.org/multi-faith-advisory-council-hosts-global-conference-on-75th-anniversary-of-the-united-nations].
Prof. Dr. Azza Karam serves as the Secretary General of Religions for Peace – the largest multireligious leadership platform with 92 national and 6 regional Inter-religious Councils. She also holds a Professorship of Religion and Development at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands. Professor Karam has served in different positions in the United Nations since 2004, as well as other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations since the early 1990s, such as International IDEA,OSCE, and Religions for Peace. Simultaneously, she lectured in various academic institutions in Europe, in North America (including the United States Military Academy/West Point), Africa and the Middle East. Her Ph.D. in 1996, focused on Political Islam, became her first book in Arabic (her mother tongue) and in English. She has since published widely on different topics, and in several languages. She was born in Egypt, and now lives in the United States.
