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Atieno's lessonBy Renato Kizito SesanaHow can Christians speak of war? Why is there so much hatred among supposed people of faith? Whose side is God on, anyway? The author explores these and other tough questions as he puts the recent terrorist acts in the United States into context.“During Mass, the priest offers to the faithful the peace of the Lord, and invites us to exchange a sign of peace. Ours is a religion of peace. How is it that so many Christians speak of war?” This is the simple question of Atieno, a single mother not yet twenty years old. Two years ago, she had started studying at the University of Nairobi on a government scholarship, but was expelled after becoming pregnant. Today, the baby has a bad cough, and Atieno is queuing up at the Kivulu dispensary in a run-down section of Nairobi. “How is it that so many Christians speak of war?” Most probably because we are not Christians. Images come to my mind. There is a Sudanese bishop who, in order to ingratiate the liberation movement, does not hesitate to call the government soldiers “the enemy” and sometimes even “the monkeys.” A priest in Nairobi continues to deliver fiery homilies against the “Islamic terrorists” in spite of warnings from his superiors. Racist, anti-Islam, and anti-Arabic rumblings – dotted with quotes from the Apocalypse - of some fundamentalist American pastors are heard even on Nairobi television stations. Christians in Northern Ireland have to ask for police protection to accompany their children to school, while a human barrier of other Christians hurls insults at them. Anti-immigrant sentiments continue to manifest themselves in some “Christian” European countries. Is this “only” verbal violence? It is precisely verbal violence that keeps hatred alive and fosters terrorism. From the mouth comes what has been nurtured in the heart that sooner or later will translate into action. Which side is God on? With the fanatics who use airplanes full of people like bombs, awaiting their reward in paradise, or with President Bush who does not fail to close his speeches with a resounding "God bless America"? With those who represent a world system that thrives on injustices, or with those who, in the name of Allah, keep women in a state of permanent repression? With those who, in order to exploit the oil fields of Sudan, do not hesitate to displace thousands of people from their traditional land and close both eyes to the human rights violations of some of the poorest people on earth, or those who want to impose Sharia, the Islamic law, on everyone? History has shown us that it is easy for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim fundamentalists and integralists to move from the adoration of the One True God to the making up of “my god,” a little god created to fit one's image and likelihood, a god that fundamentalists and integralists can use to justify any action and elevate a chosen few at the expense and suffering of the others. Nobody – not even the Church – has the right to own God and to use Him to protect selfish interests. It is a game that cannot continue anymore; people now have understood the trick. In Europe, Christians have been killing one other for centuries in the name of the same God, with priests within the same Church blessing weapons and soldiers before the carnage started. As a consequence, many have stopped believing in a God who was presented to them as the defender of national causes, ideological positions, or particular interests. Those who still believe do so because they have understood that God is greater than our thoughts. As believers, recent world events prod us to rediscover not only the truth and beauty of the Gospel, the Beatitudes, and the Parables of Jesus, but also their concreteness. They speak of justice, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, service, and an unrelenting search for God. The Kingdom of God consists of justice and peace, pays attention to the widows and orphans, and offers a dignified life for everybody, here and now. We have to pursue a vision that can heal the world, that is able to give direction in the great themes of human relations, that does not give us authority to condemn but impels us to understand and serve… Atieno has tried to wait for my answer. She gives a light caress to the baby who coughs in her arms, murmuring: “The world is sick, like this sweet baby of mine. What can I do for him? I have no money for expensive drugs. But I can always love him more.” Renato Kizito Sesana is a Comboni Missionary of Italian origin. He has lived in Africa since 1977. At present he is in Nairobi, where he is involved in pastoral and social activities and teaches journalism at Tangaza College.
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