INTERVIEW Iran and religious diplomacy Bishop John Bryson Chane
Interview by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Bishop John Bryson Chane, a leading voice of religious diplomacy, is the eighth
Episcopal bishop of Washington, a diocese that encompasses 93 congregations and
about 45,000 church members in the district of Columbia, and the Maryland
counties of Prince George's, Montgomery, Charles and Saint Mary's.
He has traveled to Iran on two occasions at the invitation of former Iranian
president Mohammad Khatami and has spoken with numerous religious leaders and
at numerous cultural events as well as at seminaries and universities in the
cities of Tehran and Qom.
Kaveh Afrasiabi: You have recently stated that "finding common
grounds is critical at a time when the world is at risk". Please elaborate.
Bishop Chane: Well, I look at this not from a strictly diplomatic
or political perspective but rather from a faith-centered approach that focuses
on reconciliation and dialogue among people, especially when religion plays an
important role in the lives of so many people around the world. So using
religion to find common grounds among people in different societies and
cultures is vitally important.
KA: You have referred to "peace as a prophetic gift" and,
simultaneously, you have criticized the misuse of religion as "a weapon of
demonization". How do we overcome this "dual-purpose" tradition and solidify
religion's role as a reservoir of peace and non-violence?
Bishop Chane: I think a good start is to look at the very
definition of peace differently. A look at the Abrahamic religions, for
instance at Islam where salam means peace, and then we realize that
religion plays a huge role in peace-making and yet, unfortunately, has been
used and abused by just anyone to support their particular point of view. We
can eliminate that by becoming far more aware, more literate, about scriptural
texts, since illiteracy in texts is a weapon of ignorance, and bigotry, that is
utilized to demean and even demonize other communities of faith.
KA: In the West, there is a great deal of misunderstanding about
Islam in general and Shi'ism in particular. Case in point, Shi'ite messianism
is often misrepresented as a form of violent apocalypticism, even though
Mahdism can well be interpreted as a doctrine of hope, of creative expectation
geared to global peace, do you agree?
Bishop Chane: I agree, in the West, especially in the US, a lot
of people don't know much about the Koran and Islam, except that there has been
a peaceful inculturation of Muslims from other countries. After the attacks of
9/11, there has been a whole new interest in the question of what Islam is.
Unfortunately, it has been easy to blame religion for the acts of a group of
terrorists attacking the US for the first time, and to demonize Muslims as a
result of that. We definitely need a much greater public education about Islam
in the United States.
KA: What insights have you gained as a result of your trips to
Iran and your engagement in Christian-Shi'ite dialogue?
Bishop Chane: I have learned about a significant level of
fellowship and respect among scholars and clerics of different faiths, sharing
broad-based values that intersect between Christianity and Islam, especially
Shi'ism. In many ways, Shi'ism is more liturgical than Sunnism. But I have also
learned that while we share a lot in common, there are also a lot of
differences, and we need to study both more seriously rather than to give in to
stereotypes. And we can achieve this through on-going dialogue. Then we can
demonstrate by this behavior what diplomats ought to be doing from their
perspectives.
KA: What is your response to your critics who charge that you are
naive and allow yourself to be manipulated by hostile forces?
Bishop Chane: Such a criticism has been leveled against me from
the first day when I went to Iran. But I also faced that when I went to London
in early 2003 to meet with prime minister Tony Blair to try to convince him not
to align himself with the US and its planned invasion of Iraq. This criticism
is unfounded. When I visit Iran, I am given free access to go anywhere and
speak with anyone I want to - Shi'ites, Jews, Christians - the only reason I
haven't met with the Anglicans in Iran is that the Archbishop of Canterbury has
instructed me not to for reasons that I am not aware of. But there has been no
prohibition. That kind of criticism represents an attitude and a foreign policy
that finds itself wanting for a long time. These are new days when
extravagantly unique new ways of diplomacy are being discovered with religion
playing a key component part.
KA: Are you concerned that the lame-duck George W Bush
administration may still trigger another military mischief in the Middle East,
specifically against Iran?
Bishop Chane: I have always been concerned about the use of hard
power by any country against other countries. There has to be a way of seeing
diplomatic channels to resolve differences and I know how complex that is. For
the current administration to engage in any military action against Iran,
regardless of what the justification is, would be a grievous error, a very
dangerous action that could involve other countries in the Middle East.
Although President Bush has said that all options are on the table, I don't
think there would be support for military action - by the Europeans or the G-8
[Group of Eight] partners, simply because they realize it is not productive.
KA: Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has been
criticized in the US for advocating the idea of direct negotiation with Iranian
leaders without setting any preconditions. What is your opinion about this?
Bishop Chane: Obama has also been criticized because of his name
and the insinuation that he is a practicing Muslim, which I find fascinating
and know that is certainly not the case. But, if we are going to move forward
in developing relations between the two countries, then there has to be a
gathering of leaders in a new configuration that would entail discussions
without any preconditions.
Obama has been criticized as being naive, yet we are not going to resolve our
differences by not talking to one another and by, instead, constantly
demonizing each other. We cannot normalize relations between our countries by,
for instance, speaking loudly before we think. My president has not been
helpful with his rhetoric against other countries. But I would say that it is
also the case with the president of Iran [Mahmud Ahmadinejad] that has
sometimes used rhetoric that is not helpful.
So we really need a moratorium on that kind of rhetoric and political discourse
on both side, simultaneously. And we also need voices of reason to begin
dialogue between the two sides, and I would say that voices of reason come from
the alliance of religious leaders and thinkers who are credible and have
connections with their own governments in a healthy way.
KA: In your opinion, are we experiencing a "clashing of
civilizations" today?
Bishop Chane: No, I don't think there is a clashing of
civilizations. Rather, I think we are witnessing the beginning of a "dance"
between civilizations and that means that we are finding each other for the
first time, and I really mean that. The engagement of civilizations will bear
much fruit, depending on who the leaders are and their scripts for action, but
also depending on the dynamic of dialogue, reconciliation and spirit of
solidarity from below, by people and their civic and religious representatives.
So, on the whole, I am rather optimistic about our ability to forge new
relations and to narrow the gaps and overcome our differences.
Kaveh L Afrasiabi is founder of the non-government organization, Global
Interfaith Peace.
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