Rebuild with Iraq religious assets

During the US Civil War, a northern religious leader wrote President Lincoln to take heart that "God is on our side." Lincoln responded that what concerned him most was, "Are we on God's side?"

When violent conflicts are accompanied by the conviction that "God is on my side," religion can easily be distorted to scapegoat and blame others. Despite global public perceptions, the war in Iraq was not a religious war. Political and religious leaders on all sides bear responsibility for describing the war in Iraq in religious terms.

Even when political leaders acknowledge the dangers of viewing conflict in religious terms, mixed messages and symbolism can carry weight. The Bush administration correctly emphasizes that military intervention in Iraq was not a war against Islam. Yet, the president frequently employs religious rhetoric - using scriptural references to characterize the American people, for example - that creates the opposite impression.

The best way for the US to prevent the war in Iraq from being perceived as a religious confrontation is to create a postwar space for Iraq's religious communities to contribute to the country's reconstruction. A society that has suffered as Iraq's has can easily misuse religion as a proxy for ethnic, tribal, and political divisions. Already Iraqis have killed religious leaders in what may hint at upheaval to come.

But religion can also be seen as an Iraqi asset in the reconstruction. The potential that this asset holds is evident in what I've seen happening here in Iraq during the past week in meetings among religious communities.

Already, Iraqi religious leaders are finding ways to work together to heal a war-traumatized society. Last week, in Najaf, the spiritual home of Iraqi Shiites, I attended meetings in which the most influential leaders of the Shiite community committed to cooperation with all Iraqi religions in humanitarian efforts. And they and senior Iraqi Sunni and Christian leaders pointed to relief activities already under way by Iraq's religious communities as examples of tolerance and unity that can be strengthened and expanded. These religious leaders pledged to send representatives soon to meet and agree on common principles for action.

A dramatic example of the potential this cooperation holds was evident in what Sheikh Ali Hussein-al-Jobourii said to me Friday at the Shakir al-Adoud mosque in Baghdad: "We provide shelter in our mosque, and the Christians bring them food here. Together we survive."

Religious collaboration is the best way to realize each religion's constructive capacities for change without falling into the trap of remaking the state in the image of any one of them.

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