This past Monday (Sept. 24) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke
at Columbia University in New York. I happened to be watching CNN when
it was happening live and heard the introduction by the President of
Columbia. As the headlines in Tuesday’s papers indicated, it was a
scathing rebuke, which I found astonishingly blunt. It was simply
incredible to watch. The TV news shows have not done justice to the
full extent of his remarks, but in characteristic form, have chosen to
zoom in on the most pointed quotes.
As I’ve reflected on it, I’ve become increasingly uncomfortable with
what happened. Let me first say that I am NOT a supporter of
Ahmadinejad, and find him to be one of the most disturbing world
leaders today. That said, I think what Columbia did was BRUTAL. On the
natural level of things, it was brutal, but on the spiritual level, it
was simply stupid!
Columbia extended an invitation to
Ahmadinejad; he did not ask for the platform. So for the President of
Columbia U. to then proceed to tear a strip off an invited guest, whom
HE invited, is in matter of fact, in extremely poor taste. It smacked
of an attempt to save face in response to the huge uproar of protest
that Columbia received for inviting Ahmadinejad in the first place.
What
exactly did he think would be accomplished by such a public
humiliation? Clearly Ahmadinejad was not going to change his mind, nor
put his tail between his legs and run away. Did the President of
Columbia U. really think it would do anything except provoke the man
and likely cause many people in Iran to hate the United States more
than they already do?
All the introduction accomplished was to
humiliate a world leader on an international level and further polarize
relations between the two nations.
On a spiritual plain, things
are much worse. Now I don’t expect the President of Columbia U. to
operate in these terms, but from a Christian perspective, what he did
was make matters worse. Thousands of people protested and hurled all
sorts of verbal insults, spewing anger and hatred. The problem is that
all this does is increase the anger and hatred in both countries and
likely in other countries around the world.
Looking at this in the reality of Ephesians 6, the problem with what happened at Columbia U. comes into focus:
Put
on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the
devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms. (Eph. 6:11-12)
Ahmadinejad is not
the problem. The spiritual forces of evil are the problem and they are
working on BOTH sides of the issue. Thus, to publicly humiliate and
insult a man such as Ahmadinejad, is neither helpful nor wise! It
betrays a complete misunderstanding of what is really going on, which
is that spiritual forces of evil are at work here! Creating a stage
where massive amounts of anger and hatred are stirred up in people only
serves to strengthen those evil forces.
Do I expect that the President of Columbia U. would operate from this paradigm? No, not unless he was a Christian.
Nevertheless,
as I’ve reflected on these events, my spirit has grown more concerned
over what I witnessed. We may now dismiss what happened, as it has
faded from the headlines, however the damage has already been done and
it is very real. There is no way that Ahmadinejad will forget what
happened that day at Columbia University. It will now be more difficult
than ever to more forward toward understanding and peace.
We
often are tempted to speak words that are bold and brash, but very
often such words create more problems in our lives than they solve. We
may feel better in the short term, but in the long term the issues
remain as strong as ever.
When Jesus was being led towards his
crucifixion he was insulted and yelled at and spit upon. He was
deliberately shamed over and over again and humiliated beyond
imagination. Yet he remained silent towards those who attacked him.
Indeed, the words he chose were a prayer, asking God to forgive them,
because they did not understand the true significance of what they were
saying and doing.
I pray that I will continue to learn from His example.