Dispatch from Sudan

Little did you know that LawReligionEthics.com has had a correspondent in Juba, Sudan for the last few days.  Sudan has experienced violent religious conflict over the last three decades, leading to the deaths of three million people.  I was brought here by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to speak to a group of religious and government leaders of Southern Sudan about the American experience of religious freedom.  

Why would I spend two days to get here and two days to get back in order to speak for 12 minutes and engage in discourse with these folks?  The answer is the great importance of the work they are doing.  I felt like I was speaking to the James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and John and Abigail Adams of what will be a new nation.  On the same day that I arrived, the United Nations Security Council (including the US Ambassador to the UN) came here for hearings (and I thought I sparked the bands, crowds, and protests at the airport).  If that does not convince you of the significance of the situation here, George Clooney and Ann Curry (of the Today Show) arrived that day as well.   

A little background:  Southern Sudan has a population of 15 million that are 90% Christian; Northern Sudan has a population of 25 million, 90% are Muslim.  In 1958, Sudan became independent of Britain.  The country has experienced significant periods under Islamist rule since that time.  In 1983, Sudanese President Nemeiri declared Sharia law.  A civil war lasted from 1983-2005, between the government in the North and the South’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).  The peace agreement provides that by January 9, 2011, there will be a referendum in the South on independence.  Many wonder whether the North will honor its agreements re. the referendum and whether the election will be fair.  Though the election is to be held in three months, there has been very little preparation.  

The struggle is not entirely religious–there is oil in the south and there have been allegations of the misallocation of its revenues.  Also, this conflict is largely independent from Sudan’s conflicts in Darfur, a western region of Sudan, where pro-government militias have engaged in genocide.  (Sudan’s President Bashir was recently indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur, the first indictment against a sitting head of state.)  For a BBC timeline on Sudan, see:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/827425.stm 

Among those to whom we talked were what will be the leaders of the new country, assuming Southern Sudan becomes independent.  They included the current Vice-President.  There are all sorts of dangers in an area that has never known religious freedom.  Some might argue that there should be a Christian republic in the south to mirror the Islamic republic in the north.  No one seems to be making that argument.  Some leaders want an aggressively secularist government (cf. France).  We sought to describe the separation and collaboration between religion and the state in the United States.  Our laws would not be as humane, were it not for the influence of religion—witness the religious involvement in our civil rights movement.  

At our meeting, Commission Chairman Leonard Leo gave a summary of international standards of religious freedom.  I was on a panel with Commission members Rev. William Shaw of Philadelphia and Imam Talal Eid of Boston.  I gave a summary of US law concerning religion and they spoke of their experiences of religious freedom in the United States.  

Another panel dealt with religious freedom in other African countries.  Justice Mike Chibita of Uganda told the following story, illustrating that government leaders always want to be independent of the influences of civil society.  A large group of pastors came to Ugandan President Museveni and aggressively complained about an alleged human rights violation.  Museveni argued back at them that what the government did was none of their concern.  He said, “How would you like it if I went out to the public square tomorrow and started baptizing people?”  That got a laugh.  

Several in our meeting were Muslim.  Surprisingly, there appeared to be little tension between the Christians and the Muslims in the South.  There seemed to be real affection between them.  They laughed at each other’s jokes, gave warm handshakes, and the discussion was quite candid.  One person asked why Muslims who control a country treat Christians worse than Christians who control a country treat Muslims.  The surprising answer from a thoughtful Muslim cleric was that Islam has not developed to the point where Christianity has developed on this issue.  Both religions have scriptures with portions that could easily justify violence and oppression against those who did not share their faith, as well as scriptures that call for love and fair treatment of others.  Christianity at times in its past treated Muslims (and Jews) very harshly, but countries controlled by Christianity have generally allowed religious freedom within the last 200 years (my part of the program).  This Imam acknowledged the superiority of Christianity on this point and expressed a hope that Islam would develop in the same direction.  

There seems to be greater suspicion of Muslims in the United States than in Southern Sudan, but in Southern Sudan, as in many places in the world, Christians and Muslims have a history of relationships with one another.  In the United States, few people have a Muslim friend.