Saturday, March 29, 2008

Christians Had Suicide Martyrs, Too, With Important Differences

Picture a religious sect willingly bringing death upon themselves, with the idea of becoming martyrs and ascending immediately to their heavenly reward. Meanwhile, those they consider their oppressors shake their heads and wonder what is wrong with these people that they do not seem to value life. That may sound like Iraq or Israel or other places in the Middle East today but it also describes what was happening in Spain in the 800s, and those seeking their own deaths were Christians.

Most educated people know that Spain was ruled for several hundred years by the Moors, before they were driven out and Christianity regained the upper hand. Now, as an aside, although I learned about the Moorish period many years ago it was not made clear to me until much later that these "Moors" were what we today call "Arabs," in this case, the Arabs of northern Africa. But heck, back then it was not clear to me that these "Hebrews" we learned about in Sunday School were what we today call "Jews." Learning and understanding are gradual processes.

It would be natural to wonder how the Christians fared under their Moorish masters during those centuries, and that is just the topic of the book I'm now reading, Christianity and Islam in Spain, A.D. 756-1031. Written in 1889 by Charles Reginald Haines, a Brit, this book displays the author's prejudices but on the whole is surprisingly objective.

For example, Haines makes the point repeatedly that despite the questionable writings of some Christians of the time, the preponderance of credible evidence shows that the Moorish kings were surprisingly mild and enlightened in their treatment of their subjects. Jews in particular led good lives under the Moors. It seems the Christians had treated the Jews so badly that when the Moors invaded, the Jews welcomed them and helped them in their conquest. But the Christians were not badly treated. As long as they obeyed the laws they were left unmolested.

This is not to say they were treated as equals, and had no valid complaints. Apparently it was somewhat similar to the way it used to be in the U.S., particularly in the South, where Blacks were second-class citizens and often were treated scornfully and with some malice by the Whites. But -- importantly -- they were not persecuted. They were left free to practice their religion as they saw fit. The exceptions were the occasional times when the Christians revolted and their revolts were put down violently.

The key in all this was the issue of obeying the laws. You could be a Christian and freely practice your religion, but then as now, the Moors/Muslims considered it an offense punishable by death to mock or scorn their god or their prophet. And in case you are repulsed by the idea of modern Muslims beheading their victims, rest assured that this is nothing new. Beheading was how it was done more than 1,000 years ago. Just part of the culture, apparently.

Along about 823 A.D., however, a number of Christian monks and nuns decided that their faith required them to point out to the Moors the error of their ways. The Moors had no desire to kill a bunch of people and tried to be lenient, but when their leniency only brought on greater insults and blasphemy their patience ran out and they obliged the would-be martyrs.

This stirred up a lot more clerics and eventually even non-clerical Christians to do the same. The movement built and finally subsided only after the leading recruiter for these would-be martyrs was himself put to death.

There are two essential differences between these martyrs and today's Muslim martyrs, who are also trying to serve their god and get an express ticket to heaven in doing so.

First, the Christian martyrs in Spain weren't taking anyone with them. They weren't causing death and destruction to anyone but themselves.

But secondly, and very interestingly, their fellow Christians did not condone what they were doing. The matter was debated in the high councils and it was agreed that anyone deliberately bringing death upon him or herself was not a true martyr, and did not warrant an express ticket to heaven. In fact, the act was deemed very un-Christian because it showed the sin of pride.

It was an abuse of words, said the party of moderation, to call these suicides by the holy name of martyrs, when no violence in high places had forced them to deny their faith, or interfered with their due observance of Christianity. It was merely an act of ostentatious pride--and pride was the root of all evil--to court danger. Such conduct had never been enjoined by Christ, and was quite alien from the meekness and humility of His character.
Returning to modern times, I recently read with interest an article that said that the very conservative Muslims may prove to be the undoing of the Muslim suicide bombers. It seems they feel that blowing yourself up without the approval of your parents or your spouse is a show of disrespect and does not conform with Muslim law. Maybe there's hope for the world.