We need faith in humanity rather than religious beliefs
This post is by Themrise Khan, independent practitioner
This blog post is the eighth in a series that is part of a collaboration between the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI) and the Centre for Religion and Public Life (CRPL) of the University of Leeds on the topic of decolonisation, development and faith. The series aims to showcase diverse perspectives from practitioners, researchers, activists and faith communities.
Blog posts reflect the positions of the author(s). Publication on the blog must not be read as an endorsement by the JLI, the CRPL or University, or the series convenors.
Writing while witnessing genocide
It is impossible not to talk about the current situation in Palestine when we speak of humanitarian action, peacebuilding, faith and any work that is aimed at improving the lives of communities around the world. As I write these words, each one of these factors is being challenged in a way it has never been in the history of the twenty-first century. Not to mention the genocidal and absolutely senseless loss of innocent lives of a community at the risk of being wiped out completely.
The Israel-Palestine war and its preceding history of violent occupation, challenges everything that humanitarian aid workers and development professionals have been working for, for decades – the pursuit of equality and autonomy, the dignity of life and the peaceful co-existence of faiths, ethnicities and races. We are being confronted with a global war that is about none of these and which instead, puts one faith above the other, one life above the other, one race above the other and one nation above the other.
Colonialism, violence, religion and race
This trajectory is not new. Colonial occupation by European powers, as far back as the discovery of the Americas in the fifteenth century, put in place a process of mass dispossession of land, knowledge and rights amongst the colonized populations of the world. This included the many Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples of the Americas and Australia. Colonialism usurped not only physical boundaries, but also the belief systems of those it colonized. Forced conversions to Christianity of local populations, the annihilation of Indigenous belief systems, the forced erasure of religious communities, including Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Hindus over a series of events over the centuries.
The world that we see today, is not one that has licked its wounds and healed itself from past trauma. It is a world that is creating new traumas every day. Traumas that may never be healed for generations to come. Because this is a world that just cannot coexist with each other, particularly in the realm of faith and race. What we face today in countries around the world, is not just the remnants of violent colonial occupation, but an even stronger endorsement of faith as a common denominator for humanity. We exploit the historical disagreements of our faith(s), (culture, traditions, rituals) to base decisions on who to collaborate with (or not to) instead of the many agreements and common beliefs that our different faiths espouse (peace, rights, co-existence). Muslims and Hindus, Christians and Jews, Muslims and Jews; no one wants to work together. What is far worse, is the persecution of sub-faiths within each religion; Shias and Sunnis in Islam; Catholics and Protestants in Christianity, Orthodoxy and progressive movements in Judaism. We cannot even define peace within our religions, so how can we find peace among them?
Neither development nor humanitarianism should be about faith
The issue here isn’t about decolonial thought and definitely not about decolonizing development – a term I refuse to use in any present context, especially in regards to aid and humanitarianism (here is why). Neither development nor humanitarianism should be about faith, i.e. religious beliefs which is how faith is interpreted today. It should be about faith in humanity as a whole, that every life is important, regardless of faith. This is why - as I have written earlier as well - actions such as faith-based solutions for development and/or humanitarianism, are not the right ways to address issues of inequality, discrimination and marginalization. Because instead of emphasizing on humanity co-existing together, they elevate faith as the factor that could encourage people to live together. When faith is exactly what is creating divisions amongst people, as we see today in the guise of fascism, racism and religious discrimination.
While we have seen events such as natural disasters that have brought faith-based groups together to help the displaced, we have also seen faith-based groups vilify each other as in the current case of the Israel-Palestine war. And this is not just because of the effects of colonization, but more so because of the rise in geopolitical superpowers around the world – all of whom belong to different “faiths”. We have seen the rise of multiculturalism in countries like Canada, the USA and Europe, lead to anti-immigrant sentiments, all based primarily on the faith of the latter groups. We are seeing a refusal of acknowledging the original inhabitants of land such as the recent referendum in Australia to recognize the voice of the Indigenous in Parliament, based on a larger platform of white Christian superiority. We are seeing a hatred towards refugees in Europe based on their respective faith and race.
All this points to the fact that we cannot center faith as the voice of morality, reason and equality. Instead, we must center global human rights and dignity, which ironically is endorsed by all major religions of the world. We must begin to re-evaluate our approach to faith in respect to peace, humanitarianism and human development.
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