Pauline Hanson denounced Islam. Where are the religious leaders?
Robyn Whitaker
When there were attacks on the Jewish community in Melbourne last year, St John’s Anglican church joined the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation for Shabbat service and supper. More than 50 Anglicans responded to the invitation in an act of solidarity, saying “we see what is happening to your community”. Bread was broken, prayers were said, wine was drunk and tears were shed because of the support given.
When 15 people were shot dead at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi last December, the reaction from other faiths and the nation was swift. Christian and Muslim leaders came together in unity with the Jews and pledged their support. And when a gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019, there was a similar show of support from people of other faiths. Within 24 hours, Buddhists, Christians, Jews and others gathered to pray at the site.
But religious leaders remained silent last week when Pauline Hanson implied Muslims were complicit in the “social cancer” of hate preachers. Her comments at the National Press Club were entirely consistent with a career of demonstrations that included wearing a burqa in parliament (twice) and saying there was no such thing as a “good Muslim”. Secondly, it has led to increased threats to Muslim communities.
Although I have seen countless articles verifying Ms. Hanson’s facts or analyzing her speech, I have not come across a statement from a single religious leader condemning her slander of Islam and Muslims. At least it’s not an incident reported in the press. Where is the moral outrage?
When someone rejects and denigrates a religion in its entirety, all of us who have faith should shudder. Islam is one of the three main monotheistic religions in the world, along with Christianity and Judaism.
The Hebrew Bible, the sacred text of Jews and Christians, mentions Ishmael, the namesake of Islam and one of the prophets of this tradition, and says that God will “make him a nation” because he is a descendant of Abraham. In this story, God saves Ishmael and his mother from starvation in the desert. Islam, then, is the cousin of the Jews and therefore of the Christians.
Christians, in particular, are not monocultural because we believe that all people are created in the image of God. We understand that our own scriptures reflect cultures that are not our own, even if we are Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Celtic. Care for the stranger is the essence of these scriptures. Moreover, one of the first miracles of the early church was the ability to speak in multiple tongues so that the good news could be heard in different lands (Acts 2).
Of course, there are extremist Muslims too. However, we must not forget that there are also extremist Buddhists, extremist Jews, extremist Hindus and extremist Christians who spread hatred and commit violence. No religion is immune from the body count of its worst actors.
It is clear that hateful language in a speech is not morally equivalent to hateful action that ends lives. But if there is one thing we have learned from past acts of terrorism and the ongoing royal commission into antisemitism, it is that language matters.
Language is powerful. Language can encourage and normalize violence. It can also be dehumanizing and divisive.
We have seen Islamophobia and antisemitism rise as our community becomes more divided over what is happening in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon. Both are unacceptable: Prejudice and discrimination against any group increases fear and trauma for people who identify with that group. This is why scientists call such conversations “violence”; Because it really does harm.
When a religious group is attacked, we are all at risk.
Being multicultural means being multi-religious. We cannot have one without the other. On the contrary, as Pauline Hanson suggests, being monocultural also means being monoreligious. We know what Hanson thinks about Muslims; How many other religions would he want us to destroy to achieve this goal? We need religious leaders and people of all faiths to stand up and defend our multicultural democracy.
Reverend Dr. Robyn Whitakerdirector of the Wesley Center for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy
