Guest Post: On Martyrdom and Persecution

A Guest Post by Alison Moffitt

Student: Sir?

President Bartlett: Yeah

Student: Do you consider yourself a man of principle?

President Bartlett: I try to be

Student: Well... Don't you consider, I mean I know they're our enemy, but don't you consider there's something noble about being a martyr?

President Bartlett: A martyr would rather suffer death at the hands of an oppressor than renounce his beliefs. Killing yourself and innocent people to make a point is sick, twisted, brutal, dumb-ass murder.

I recently rewatched the West Wing episode produced just after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The episode is called Isaac and Ishmael. This scene, where a student quizzes President Bartlett on martyrdom, has really got me thinking. What does it mean to be a martyr? What is the 'proper' context in which to die for your faith? Is President Bartlett right?

Last year I went to a talk by Bishop Josiah A. Idowu-Fearon who was visiting Australia at the time. Bishop Fearon oversees the Diocese of Kanduna in Nigeria. It straddles the middle of country, the very volatile part where the predominantly Muslim north meets the predominately Christian South. It's a dangerous place. Religious tensions are mixed up with political and economic power, and are regularly expressed with violent physical attacks.

Speaking to a small audience of mainly Christian workers in Australia last year, Josiah Fearon talked about the difficulties of leading the church in a climate like this. Not only does the church feel threatened by reactive Muslims, but many members of the church believe that it is their duty to defend the honour of the church through avenging other injured Christians or even attacking Muslims who slander the church. Fearon clearly articulated his own stance: Christians follow a crucified Lord, who was insulted, oppressed, persecuted and killed. He told his followers to turn the other cheek and warned his followers that they would be abused just like him. Christians who feel like they must defend the honour of their religion through further violence, or even avenge the injury or death of family, are not following Jesus as they do these things.

Josiah Fearon's attitudes have made him the target of a few assassination attempts, not just by Muslim extremists but also by Christian extremists who think he is too soft in his approach. But I don't think he is being soft. I think it would much harder to take persecution 'lying down' than fighting back.

Although they speak about slightly different things, I'm inclined to think that Josiah Fearon would agree with Jed Bartlett on martyrdom, and Jed Bartlett would agree with Josiah Fearon on persecution (even though Jed Bartlett is fictional...). Martyrs die for their faith, but they don't kill innocent people. Persecution means enduring suffering and humiliation without ever seeking revenge, and Christians must never initiate violence.

Do you think this is the correct way to view things? Issues of violent persecution and martyrdom don't really come up in contemporary Australian society, but they definitely do right now in other places of the world. This week, 13 people were killed in a religious attack on a village outside Jos, one of the larger towns in Josiah Fearon's diocese. Most of them were women and children. Is it fair to say that the church should sit by and watch people get abused and killed? If you were a Christian leader, how would you seek justice if your local community was governed by sharia law? Would you take justice into your own hands?

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all.If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written: "'vengeance is mine, I will repay', says the Lord". To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give hims something to drink; for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head". Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:17-21

P.S. Did anyone notice that Josiah Fearon and Jed Bartlett have the same first name?

UPDATE from Matt: Last year at CMS I was involved in interviewing Josiah Fearon. You can watch the interview here.

No Fear in Love

...love casts out fear...

This verse has been running through my head for about a week and a half. I had the pleasure of hearing Bishop Josiah Fearon from Kaduna Diocese Nigeria, speak about Gospel Ministry in Areas of Strife: The Interface of Christianity and Islam. Kaduna is in northern Nigeria, and if you know anything about that country, you’ll know that the north has been the scene of religious tension for many years now between Muslims and Christians. Bishop Fearon explained that this goes back to the establishment of Nigeria as an independent nation in the 1960’s. At that time the population was made up quite sizable populations of Christians and Muslims, and a fair number of traditionalists at well. Southern Nigeria is the home for Christians, and northern Nigeria is the home for Muslims. But over the last 50 years the Christian population in the north has been steadily growing, so that in Kaduna Diocese today, Christians now slightly outnumber the Muslims. This change in demographics has only heightened the tension between the tow religious communities – the Muslims who want to enforce the constitutionally recognized sharia law; and the Christians who want to use their new found majority to free themselves for the yoke of Islam. This is the main tension in Kaduna. But Bishop Josiah helpfully explained that these tensions are often used to exploit local and tribal conflict. A religious crisis may begin when Muslim and Christian farmers have land next to each other, and the Muslim farmer’s cattle enter the Christian’s lands. This is then spun out as a religious conflict between the two religions. And 10 years ago this would have resulted in violent clashes throughout the diocese, often causing fatalities.

The result of all this is fear – fear of the religion, and fear of the people. Bishop Josiah said that this has led to a genuine hatred and resentment towards Muslims by Christians. However, his approach is to promote ‘friendship evangelism’. He engages in dialogue, and is not afraid to build friendships with Muslims. He sees himself as having been called by God to evangelize his Muslim neighbours. So he tries to love, rather than shouting them down with doctrine as some of his colleagues prefer to do. And he has copped flack for this from inside and outside his diocese. He shared the story that during the major sharia crisis around 2001, some young members of his clergy had really had enough of his evangelism approach. And so they planned to assassinate him and blame it on the Muslims! Miraculously they were stopped on the day they set out to do this dreadful deed. 

And so I was reminded that ‘there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear’. Sitting in a church hall in the Georges River Region of Sydney, with several mosques within walking distance, (within close proximity of several Anglican churches that 50 years ago were the largest in the diocese but are now empty), I was reminded again that Jesus is so powerful, so magnificent, that I do not have to be afraid with Muslims; out of love I can share with them the Lordship of Jesus in my deeds and words. 

The talk was recorded, and if you would like a copy you can email me at work. CMS also interviewed Bishop Josiah earlier that day, and that will released soon – stay tuned. Josiah Fearon is an international expert on Islam. Besides his degrees in Nigeria, he has postgraduate studies in theology (Durham), Islamic Theology (Birmingham), Arabic (Jordan) and a Doctorate of Ministry (Hartford). He has recently completed his time as the Archbishop of the province of Kaduna, was on the Eames commission that produced the Windsor Report, and is a licensed preacher at Canterbury Cathedral.

PS This post by Byron is also relevant to this discussion - it's not just our African brethren who are afraid of Islam.