Religion is exploited both to obtain popular support and to launch a political message that is identified with people's loyalty and devotion to a nation.

It is taken for granted that people have in religion a common identity, origin and history, and that these support an ideological, cultural and religious homogeneity that is strengthened by geopolitical boundaries.

In reality, in today's globalized world, there is no geographical entity that can be defined as a "nation" that has within it a single homogeneous identity from a linguistic or religious point of view, or indeed from any other point of view.

Therefore, radical nationalism is only possible if it eliminates diversity.

It follows that a liberating deconstruction of nationalism is more necessary than ever.

Let us be clear: nationalism should never be confused with patriotism.

In fact, while the "patriot is proud of his country for what it does, the nationalist boasts of his country, whatever it does; the former contributes to creating a sense of responsibility, while the latter gives rise to the blind arrogance that leads to war."

The relevance of theological response to nationalism

What are the contours of nationalism that gains mythical status?

Effective nationalistic narratives usually mythicize history and historicize mythologies with great success.

Let us take the following passage by Johann Dräseke, written in Bremen in 1813, as an example: "All temples, all schools, all town halls, all workplaces, all houses and all families must become arsenals in defence of our people against all that is foreign and evil."

"Heaven and earth must unite in Germany. The Church must become a State to increase its power, and the State must become a Church until it is the Kingdom of God. Only when we have become devout in this sense, and we all unite in this devotion, and become strong in this unity, will we never again have to endure a yoke."[3]

Even a national sentiment as secular in some ways as that of the United States has cloaked itself in "religious" guise, with a kind of divinization of the founding fathers and a narrative centred on the special role and favour given by God to that people.

The parable of the Good Samaritan debunks the myth of nationalism that aims to build a nation on the rubble of some of its citizens and neighbours.

The commitment to become anyone's neighbour, as extolled in the parable, demands concrete steps.

In the period following the Second World War, the exaltation of the American way of life led to the apotheosis of national life, the equivalence of national values and religion, the divinization of national heroes and the transformation of national history into Heilsgeschichte ("History of Salvation").

As reported in La Civiltà Cattolica, some fundamentalist religious communities "consider the United States a nation blessed by God, and do not hesitate to base the economic growth of the country on a literal adherence to the Bible."

"Within this narrative, whatever pushes toward conflict is not off-limits."

On the contrary, "often war itself is assimilated to the heroic conquests of the ‘Lord of Hosts' of Gideon and David. In this Manichaean vision, belligerence can acquire a theological justification and there are pastors who seek a biblical foundation for it, using scriptural texts out of context."

An appropriate response to nationalism is an authentically religious response, that is, a response that, through theology, grasps the essence of religious discourse itself, deconstructing narratives and practices that threaten to be destructive rather than constructive, precisely like those of nationalism.

Theology is not only important but essential in deconstructing so many dangerous narratives and practices that dehumanize individuals and communities, such as the rhetoric and practice of religious-cultural nationalism.

Pope Francis has spoken about the role of religions in the face of today's dangers: "Religions, therefore, have an educational task: to help bring out the best in each person."

This is the opposite of "the rigid and fundamentalist reactions on the part of those who, through violent words and deeds, seek to impose extreme and radical attitudes which are furthest from the living God."

The universal saving will of God

The Old Testament texts are quite ambiguous with regard to nationalism.

On the one hand, they support Israel's religious-cultural exclusivism and its related feeling of being favoured by God; on the other, they depict the vision of God's universal love for all peoples.

That is, on the one hand, we have the so-called "trajectory of royal consolidation," aimed at fostering, defending and justifying the role of the Jewish ruling class and its theology.

On the other hand, we have the so-called "trajectory of prophetic liberation," characterized by authentic criticism of the idolatrous lifestyle of the rulers, with the prediction of judgment, punishment and subsequent reconstruction of Judah as the sign of a universal providence of God.

In fact, the prophets relativize Israel's exclusive proximity to God: "Are you not like the Ethiopians to me, O people of Israel? says the Lord. Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?" (Amos 9:7), thus deploring a purely exclusive vision, with the repeated evocation of the "mixture of races" that characterizes Jewish history,[7] of the pagan king Cyrus who is "the chosen one of the Lord" (Isa 45:1), of King Nebuchadnezzar who is "the servant of the Lord" (Jer 27:6), and of God, who is not God of his people "only from nearby, […] but also from afar" (Jer 23:23).

Reading these texts within an overall picture of justice and God's love as they are revealed by the Christ event leads to the unequivocal denunciation of all oppression and exploitation of any human being in any circumstance.

Any vision that is not set at this height certainly goes against God's universal salvific will.

The ‘neighbour' instead of nationalism

It is enlightening to consider the parable of the Good Samaritan (cf. Luke 10:25-37).

Its impact comes from the prominence given to a Samaritan instead of to a (good) Jew.

While criticizing the priest and the Levite for their narrow-minded religiosity, the parable could have exalted any poor Jew. Why does it exalt a Samaritan instead?

The new category, that of the "neighbour," is an antidote to nationalist self-justification. The neighbour does not coincide with the co-religionist and the compatriot.

The parable of the Good Samaritan debunks the myth of nationalism that aims to build a nation on the rubble of some of its citizens and neighbours.

The commitment to become anyone's neighbour, as extolled in the parable, demands concrete steps. Continue reading

"'Us first. We … We … These are frightening thoughts."

"Sovereignism" or nationalism, represents an attitude of "isolation" and closure, he said in an interveiw with Italian newspaper La Stampa last week.

"A country must be sovereign, but not closed" inside itself, he said.

In his view national sovereignty "must be defended, but relations with other countries, with the European community, must also be protected and promoted.

"Sovereignism," on the other hand is something that goes "too far" and "always ends badly — it leads to war," he said.

In addition, Francis said it is one thing for people to be able to express their concerns, but quite another "to impose a populist attitude on the people.

"The people are sovereign," with their own way of thinking, feeling, judging and expressing themselves, while populism leads to forms of sovereignism.

"That suffix, '-ism,' is never good."'

His comments to La Stampa followed a call from Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini for the Italian parliament to be dissolved.

Salvini reportedly asked President Sergio Mattarella for snap elections to help push the country's government further right politically.

Although Mattarella hasn't said whether he'll act on Salvini's request, media say it follows Italy's months-long tensions within its coalition government.

Some say Salvini is like US President Donald Trump, with his comments that Italy should come first and the country should crack down on immigration.

In contrast, Francis says migrants should be integrated into society and maintains that nationalism is an "attitude of isolation."

Francis has already stood against what he sees as Italy's rising tide of nationalist views.

Last month, for example, following clashes between Italy's government and migrant rescue ships, he said no one is exempt from helping migrants.

Salvini has long taken the opposite view, tweeting in 2016 that "The pope says migrants are not a danger. Whatever!"

Source

• NCR Online
• The Hill
• Image: Daily Express

Nationalism that compromises international cooperation, mutual respect and the sustainable development goals of the United Nations is part of the growing problem.

In addition, nationalism that neglects the common good and the growing threat of nuclear confrontation risks cancelling the progress of the recent past and multiplies the risk of war, Francis told the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Francis said the Church has always urged the love of one's own people and country while respecting the various cultures, customs and habits of other peoples.

However, he warned against excluding and hating others. This is when loving one's own people and country becomes "conflictual nationalism that raises walls, even racism or anti-Semitism," he said.

Francis also pointed out that often states are subservient to the interests of a dominant group, mainly for reasons of economic profit, which oppresses the ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities who are in their territory.

Instead, Francis suggested, "the way in which a nation welcomes migrants reveals its vision of human dignity and its relationship with humanity."

He urged welcoming with humanity people forced to leave their own countries - by protecting, promoting and integrating them.

Migrants are not a threat to the culture, customs and values of the host nation, Francis pointed out.

They also have a duty - to integrate into the receiving nation, by enriching the host while maintaining their identity.

Migration is a permanent feature of human history, affecting all nations Francis noted, while warning that a "nation state that arouses the nationalistic feelings of its own people against other nations or groups of people would fail in its mission".

History proves where such deviations lead to, he said.

The nation-state cannot be regarded as absolute and an island in relation to its surroundings and on its own, Francis said.

Nor can it provide its people with the common good and meet the great contemporary challenges of climate change, new slavery and peace.

In Francis's view, a cooperative vision among nations requires the relaunching of multilateralism.

"Humanity would thus avoid the threat of recourse to armed conflicts whenever a dispute arises between nation-states, as well as evading the danger of economic and ideological colonisation of the superpowers, avoiding the overwhelming of the strongest over the weakest, and paying attention to the global dimension without losing sight of the local, national and regional dimensions."

Source

• Vatican News
• Image: LifeSite

After the war, Pope Benedict XV "was prompt in indicating how the missionary world must change paths, abandoning the colonial ideology in which it had been lulled and promoting autonomy, independence and ecclesial self-governance in all the areas outside Europe," said the Vatican secretary of state.

Speaking at a conference July 12 anticipating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, Parolin looked at the wide-ranging impact of the war and its aftermath on the political map of Europe, and how that affected the fates of peoples in the Middle East and in the countries of what would become the Soviet Union.

But he also spoke about Benedict's 1919 apostolic letter Maximum Illud on the Church's missionary activity.

In conjunction with the document's centenary, Pope Francis has asked all Catholics to celebrate a special "missionary month" in October 2019.

Announcing the special commemoration, Francis had said, "In 1919, in the wake of a tragic global conflict that he himself called a ‘useless slaughter,' the pope recognized the need for a more evangelical approach to missionary work in the world, so that it would be purified of any colonial overtones and kept far away from the nationalistic and expansionistic aims that had proved so disastrous."

"May the approaching centenary of that letter serve as an incentive to combat the recurring temptation lurking beneath every form of ecclesial introversion, self-referential retreat into comfort zones, pastoral pessimism and sterile nostalgia for the past," Francis said. "Instead, may we be open to the joyful newness of the Gospel."

World War I marked the end of the "state church," which was particularly strong in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Parolin said in his lecture in the northern Italian city of Aquileia.

The government had power in the appointment of bishops and controlled the seminaries and a variety of religious institutions, all of which fed into a mentality that emphasized national belonging over the universality of the Catholic faith, the cardinal said.

Maximum Illud, he said, was "the manifesto of a missionary and political revolution whose importance still has not been recognized as it deserves."

"In the encyclical," the cardinal said, "the pope ordered European missionaries to free themselves of nationalism, of the idea of European superiority over the peoples then seen as subordinate, to promote local languages rather than the language of the conquerors, (and) to train and to value indigenous clergy so that ‘one day they will be able to take up the spiritual leadership of their people.'" Continue reading

• Image: NCR

Myanmar's semi-civilian government has lifted restrictions on freedom of speech, association and media, but reforms have been accompanied by a rise in Buddhist nationalism.

The main target of the nationalist movement has been Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of Myanmar's 53 million people.

Sectarian violence since June 2012 has killed at least 240 people, most of them Muslims.

Parliament is due to debate laws, including regulations on religious conversions and interfaith marriages, which were initially proposed by a Committee to Protect Race and Religion, one of the main Buddhist nationalist groups associated with Wirathu an anti-Muslim movement in Myanmar

Myanmar's population is about 90% Buddhist, and many influential monks believe the sentence is just.

"If the judge sentenced him to less than he should get, there could be more and more insults to the religion," says U Pamauka, a Buddhist monk.

In an editorial Wellington's DomPost said:

"Buddhism has a deserved reputation as a religion of peace, and Buddhist monks were behind the 2007 Saffron Revolution that helped push Myanmar's military junta towards promising reforms."

"But Buddhism in Myanmar has an oppressive strain that is on the rise. It is showing in the persecution of the country's Muslim minority, the chilling of free speech and the rise of inflammatory religious leaders."

"It seems Blackwood's case connects to all this - such prosecutions have been rare till now, and hardline monks gathered to watch the sentencing. Observers fear more witch hunts."

Blackwood grew up in Wellington and attended Victoria University where he studied engineering.

He had lived in Yangon previously but returned to New Zealand for 12 months last year.

His first child, a daughter named Sasha, was born in Wellington in August.

Blackwood and his partner Noemi Almo returned to Yangon to live last October.

His parents, Brian and Angela live in Tawa, just north of Wellington.

Source

• Huffington Post/Reuters
• TVNZ
• New Zealand Herald
• Image: givealittle.co.nz