One of the most moving and inspiring narratives in sacred scripture is recorded in the Maccabees books (inexplicably omitted from the Protestant versions) describing the brutal martyrdom of a group of orthodox Jews who refuse the orders of Antiochus IV Epiphanes to eat pork. This was a period when the temple was desecrated and the practice of Judaism was effectively banned.
Flash forward to today. Now, the religion is Islam, and the part of Antiochus is played by George Bush and his military commanders. Read this compelling story of religious desecration at Guantanamo and elsewhere by Michael Peppard. For us Catholics, the Word of God is a living person, Jesus the Christ. All Catholics shudder at the thought of somebody desecrating the Eucharist. For Muslims, the Word of God is a text, the Qu’ran, and their reaction to somebody desecrating this book mirrors the Catholic response to a desecration of the Eucharist.
For this happened quite routinely at Guantanamo, and it haunts the memories of the prisoners to this day. Indeed, reports found that Qu’ran abuse was one of the most widely reported offenses, and it was well known, and even sanctioned by one of the architects of Bush’s torture regime, Gen. Geoffrey Miller. All in all, the holy book was “written in, ripped or cut with scissors, squatted over, trampled, kicked, urinated and defecated on, picked up by a dog, tossed around like a ball, used to clean soldiers’ boots, and thrown in a bucket of excrement”.
Here is one revealing tidbit: the military authorities blared The Star-Spangled Banner over the loudspeaker to coincide with the Muslim call to prayer. It is Antioches all over again. Instead of the Seleucids, it is the Americans. It is a nationalism trying to stamp out an threatening religion. We all know that there are those– especially in the American evangelical community– that seek to align Christianity with a worship of the secular American nation. This was also evident at Guantanamo. One form of abuse conducted by female military agents was to rub their bodies provocatively against the prisoners, and smear them with (fake) menstrual blood. One woman took off her clothes to tempt a prisoner, smeared the red liquid in his face, kissed a crucifix on her necklace and said “this is a gift from Christ for you Muslims.” This women blasphemed against Christianity as well as Islam.
Others said that “a holy war was occurring, between the Cross and the Star of David on the one hand, and the Crescent on the other” and draped prisoners in the Israeli flag. An interrogator bragged that he had ““dressed as a Catholic priest and baptized [a] detainee in order to save him.” Blasphemy again?
Not only has the Muslim religion been desecrated, but so has Christianity in the process, by aligning it with the perpetrators of these great injustices. And yet, where are all the Catholics and other Christians in all of this? Having made their deal with the devil by supporting the supposed “pro-life” candidate, is it simply a case of burying their heads in the sand, the desert sand of Iraq?
One final thought: the martydom under Antioches and the subsequent Maccabean rebellion still lives on in the Jewish tradition. It is still celebrated over 2000 years later. Do we really want another 2000 years of enmity with the Muslims? If so, we are off to a good start.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In