"The creation of an environment of cooperation in a multi-religious military community" 3/2/2004 Address to the conference of NATO chaplains, 3 February 2004 A DETAILED SUMMARY Introduction: Our topic is both contemporary and anticipatory. It is an issue not chiefly in theory or in formal contacts, but rather in real-life interventions, where the natural sympathy of a chaplain for his own co-religionists could even come into conflict with military objectives. Background: NATO is from its launching (1949), an alliance of western nations and all the chaplains were and continue to be from the Christian confessions, because Turkey’s army hasn’t Islam priests. So, there isn’t a problem of multi-religious co-operation within NATO’s army. The problem arose because of the new political situation. As you know, NATO was founded as a Western answer against the threat of the Soviet Empire. But after the end of Soviets, NATO has become itself a question, an organization without clear aims and fields of action. It no longer has any pre-defined enemy, clear duties or definite objectives. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, any intervention by NATO anywhere must be morally justifiable, both to the member countries and to the people of the recipient countries. Social dimensions: The Mediterranean countries for the most part present a striking religious and ethnic homogeneity. This automatically, even if unintentionally, creates a sense of marginalization in minority groups, whom the majority feels little reason to understand or support. The dynamics of social exclusiveness related to overriding homogeneity in a society are exacerbated by yet another strong current of the twenty years since the fall of communism: the current of migration from central and Eastern Europe towards the west. It is entirely understandable that peoples newly loosed from their bonds were unrestrained in their will to acquire what the Westerner had possessed for decades already. Unfortunately, however, a high proportion of these immigrants who fell into illegal means to their ends, using prostitution and organizing children to beg, as well as trafficking in drugs and arms trade, overshadow the many examples of hard-working and honest immigrants, such that the instinctive reaction of the West was an increase in xenophobia and a negative attitude of social ostracism towards peoples with which there had been a common culture for centuries. The next big current is that created by globalization. Refugees and boat people immigrating for economic reasons from Africa and Asia originate from disparate cultures and have great problems living in our society. Very many, though not all, are Moslems. These people, already numbering in the millions, created the first internal crisis of utmost significance in European culture. I believe it a mistake to include the world of Judaism in the same category. The Jews are a people who have lived with us for centuries, fulfilling the prophecy and commandment to Noah: “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem” (Gen. 9:27), and not only participating, but contributing dynamically to all branches of our culture. They did not immigrate to Europe in the same way and for the same reasons as the other peoples. Thus the only problems we have in cooperating with Jews are due to anti-semitism, and it is our duty to fight anti-semitism, even if it is not creating any immediate problems. The political differences that many of us have with the government of Israel, however intense, should not be permitted to lead to ethnic hatred or prejudice. It is the responsibility of every Christian clergyman, and of all of us, to trample down anti-semitism, and racism in general – an illness that consumes the entrails of European civilization. There is obviously fragmentation within the NATO powers which is an accurate reflection of the state of European culture, but there is not a multi-religious problem, at least at present. There would be a problem only if the well-known “destructive cults” – satanism and the like – had infiltrated the military forces of NATO. It has been recognized internationally that the activity of many such para-religious groups, called sects, constitute a great problem and direct threat both to the individual and to the society as a whole; in European statutes these groups are often characterized as “totalitarian” or “oppressive” and are forbidden by votes of the European Parliament. These destructive sects nevertheless attempt to penetrate and use the NATO forces as a vehicle for their recognition and proliferation, invoking human rights, while they have already been banned even by the more liberal European states, exactly in defense of human rights. The priests of the Orthodox Church, and I believe, as many as belong to the Roman Catholic and protestant Churches as well, have the responsibility and obligation to resist the legalization of destructive cult worship, rejecting any proposition of cooperation with satanism for any reason. We Christians will never recognize Satan and his devils as if having a legitimate claim over the human soul and a place beside God’s throne. I hereby proclaim with all my strength, that such a position is untenable. Holding this position, I will now attempt to describe with what terms and ways it is possible to create an environment of collaboration. In the future, when members of religious minorities acquire political rights in their host countries, they will enter the ranks of the military as well; then we will be discussing the need for a milieu of tolerance. A ready recipe for the creation of a suitable atmosphere, is respect for human rights. Human rights are worthy of respect by all of us, but whoever thinks that by respecting human rights, he is more liberal than Christianity, does not do it justice. Christianity is always one step ahead of respect for human rights, because it is not satisfied with this alone, but rather, it demands serving our fellowman, whether or not he has some right. Not upon legal documents or other human inventions, however excellent, but upon the example and teaching of Jesus Christ our prototype, should the Christian churches and confessions found their cooperation. His Sermon on the Mount is known to all of us: “blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers”. We are called to realize that all these commandments are certainly not a prescription for good manners, nor even the teaching of a higher ethic, as has been said. Rather, they teach the way by which we can surpass our existential boundaries, break the chains of our egos, and serve the person beside us. In this teaching of love and service we will find both the method and the power to accomplish our aim. Moreover, every Christian chaplain expressing this spirit of love, should teach his co-religionist soldiers that within each person there is a little “diamond”, his personal spirituality, history, tradition, culture and customs, all of which can be turned to the advantage of the community in building relationships of inter-dependence and mutual understanding. Such “give and take” is a product of development and civilization, certainly without the de-valuation of our European culture. Finally, the creation of the appropriate environment of respect and tolerance depends upon the surrounding social context, which is not shaped exclusively by people in the Church, but by many factors which we ought to influence by persuasive teaching, zeal and faithfulness, aiming at the eventual shaping of the military environment which is its natural extension. I wish you success in all the activities of your Conference. The Church of Greece will study its findings and make the corollary decisions. Her priests serving as military chaplains are first-rate fathers and shepherds, dedicated to their work. I salute and bless their presence here. To all of you I wish a good stay in our country and success in your work.