It was fascinating to read of the recent Environics survey of Muslims
in Canada. It’s a very wide-ranging survey (far too long to go into in detail
now) and if you’re interested in the whole thing, here’s a link to the report
on the survey published by Environics:
What I was most intrigued by were two of the survey’s findings in particular:
first, that the younger the respondents were the more committed to their faith
they were, and second, that Muslims feel a greater attachment to their faith
than they do to Canada. Both seemed worthy of some reflection.
The first interested me because it’s pretty much the polar opposite of
what we find in what you might call mainstream Canadian society, and certainly
in the wider Christian community. Canada is rife with cultural Christianity –
but how much of that is centred on Jesus Christ is doubtful, and I think all of
us involved in any way with the church would agree that our experience is that
commitment to the Christian faith seems to decline among younger generations.
And I think that even among the older generations who populate many of our
churches, there is an element of cultural Christianity – going to church was
the thing to do at one time, and it’s still the thing to do for some from
certain generations. It isn’t so much a commitment to Jesus Christ as it is a
commitment to the church, the building, the ritual, etc. In the Muslim
community, on the other hand, we’re told that younger Muslims are attending
mosques in great numbers, and not only because it’s a part of their cultural
identity, but because Islam as a faith is important to them.
I wonder if it has to do with being a minority? The survey did suggest
that many Muslims have experienced discrimination – and I’ve seen suggestions
that younger Muslims, often born in Canada and raised with Canadian values are
much more insistent on being respected by wider society than their elders, many
of whom immigrated to Canada and were simply happy to be here. This phenomenon
isn’t unlike the fact that in parts of the world where Christians are often
discriminated against and oppressed, the church nevertheless seems to be quite
strong and vibrant. Many churches in the Western world seem to deliberately set
out to create that mindset, playing with the idea that Christians are
discriminated and even persecuted (because that word does pop up sometimes) in
the Western world, and they also seem to attract larger numbers of young people
than churches that don’t play the “persecution” card. I’m not suggesting that’s
the only factor involved. I just find it interesting to make that comparison in
light of the Environics study. Those who feel themselves under threat might
well become more passionate about what they believe than those who feel
comfortable, who might well start to take their beliefs for granted – and,
thus, the rise of cultural Christianity in the West, often at the expense of a
truly vibrant and life giving relationship with Christ. I’m not suggesting that
we in the United Church or other mainline denominations should start
manipulatively playing the “persecution card” in the hopes of getting people
riled up and – at least on the surface – more committed. It’s just an
interesting fact that younger Muslims in the West and younger Christians in other
parts of the world seem particularly committed to their faith in a way that
older generations perhaps aren’t.
That, to me, was the most interesting part of the Environics survey. But
what seems to have received the most media attention – and what I suspect will
get some folks who are susceptible to anti-Muslim rhetoric in the first place
riled up – is the suggestion that Muslims in Canada feel a greater attachment
to their faith than to Canada. Every now and then for whatever reason I seem to
see on social media a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment. “We have to do something
about the Muslims,” some say. “There’s too many of them,” say others. “We’re
all going to end up living under sharia law,” comes up every now and then.
Then, of course, there are anecdotes (they’re always anecdotes – “I heard from
someone that …”) about “no go zones” in European and even American cities that
are controlled by Muslims, and where sharia law is the only law because the
police won’t enter certain neighbourhoods. It’s worth noting that snopes.com says
“FALSE” to those allegations in general:
Similar accusations were made about the Brussels neighbourhood of
Mollenbeck – that it was a Muslim neighbourhood where sharia law was enforced
and the police just don’t go there. Those accusations seemed to increase after
a number of Muslim extremists were arrested in Mollenbeck a few weeks ago. The
police had to separate Muslim youths and anti-Muslim demonstrators in
Mollenbeck and a suspect in the attacks on Paris was arrested and wounded
following a shootout in Mollenbeck. Of course that all seems to suggest that
the police actually do go into Mollenbeck, in spite of the anecdotal
suggestions that Mollenbeck is a “no go zone” where the police don’t go.
There may, of course, be districts in European and American (and even Canadian) cities where the police receive a hostile reception and are reluctant to enter unless in force. There are a lot of minority groups who don't particularly like the police and don't make trust them or make them feel welcome. Does Ferguson, Missouri ring a bell? There are gang controlled areas where police aren't welcome. There may well be Muslim gangs who make police feel unwelcome. I have seen some reports about parts of Stockholm - that lone police cars on police chases won't pursue suspects into certain districts because if they do they'll get pelted with stones, etc. But that's a far cry from calling them "no go zones" where the police literally WON'T go and just leave it to the locals to establish their own version of law and order - be it sharia or anything else.
But I digress.
I’m anticipating a largely negative reaction to the idea that many Muslims
identify first as Muslims and then only second as Canadians. I won’t be
surprised to hear charges of disloyalty and treason, and cries of “go back
where you came from.” I’ve seen people on social media who I think of as
sensible people who fall into the trap of stereotyping all Muslims on the
actions of a few. Many of those who do so are probably good, church-going
Christians. Which means that we should perhaps consider these words from Philippians
3:20 – “our citizenship is in heaven.”
Paul was a citizen of Rome. He wasn’t averse to claiming the rights
that he possessed as a Roman citizen. He wrote about the role of the state and
the responsibilities of Christians to the state. The state serves a legitimate
purpose, Paul said – but the state is not our first allegiance. Fundamentally, “our
citizenship is in heaven.” Our first loyalty is to God and Christ – and there
are Christians who aren’t shy about believing that all of society should be
governed by their version of Christian beliefs: so the government should ban
abortion, the government should ban same sex marriage, the government should
ban doctor assisted death, etc., etc. And we’re citizens of a democracy, so we
have the right to advocate for those positions – and my faith guides me in a
lot of political decisions as well. So it’s intriguing that, at least based on
the media coverage, the idea that Muslims see their faith as more important
than their country is startling and newsworthy. That’s actually a very
Christian concept – one that many Christians promote and live by – for themselves,
of course.
The problem, I think, is that Muslims are “different.” The Environics
survey suggests that the Muslim community in Canada is generally well-thought of (for which I'm glad) but
there will always be those who don’t understand a community that seems
different and who will seize on excuses to be suspicious of them. That’s my concern. It’s fine for Christians to think of themselves
as Christians first, but for at least some that same understanding won’t be
extended to the Muslim community, and it will be used as another opportunity to
demonize those who are our neighbours; those whom Jesus calls us to love.
No comments:
Post a Comment