How should we respond to Johnnie’s invocation of the Hidden Imam?

A reader asked me what I thought about this quote from the Iranian president’s speech at the UN. He noted that he had put Johnnie’s “subtle attack on Christianity” in bold:

I emphatically declare that today’s world, more than ever before, longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity, and above all, longs for the perfect, righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace, and brotherhood on the planet. all Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures, and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirst for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers, among those who strive for his return and his cause.

I replied:

It’s a skillfully crafted statement, both ecumenic (reaching out to all mankind) and particularist (asserting the “real” Shi’ite savior). An American Christian might do somewhat the same thing, make a Christian statement that goes to “all humanity, of all faiths,” but that is specifically about Christ.

So, as a 12th Imam Shi’ite, he has the right to do this. he’s stating his belief. And we in our turn can point to what he’s up to and say, “We don’t like Shi’ism.” But I can’t see the statement in and of itself to be an offense against any “rules.”

Another reader wrote:

It’s not acceptable, Larry, what are you, a dhimmi? The world is not longing for the Islamic savior and he has no right to put it that way at the UN.

I replied:

What do you mean, he has no right? He can say what he likes, but others can attack it. I would have no problem with another UN member saying:

It is bizarre for the Iranian president to tell this body that the whole world is longing for the imagined savior of a small minority sect within Islam, a sect that practices x, y, and z. We are offended by it. The UN General Assembly is not a place for religious proselytization. Iran is a country currently in grave violation of various UN mandates and has been threatening nuclear war, and, in fact, has been threatening nuclear war in the apparent belief that such war will bring its Hidden Savior out of hiding. Iran is the last country on earth that should come to this body telling us that its weird and oppressive religious belief system is the hope of the whole world. Based on Iran’s appalling record, the hope of the world is that Iran will start to behave like a decent citizen of the world community before it ever presumes to proselytize to this body again.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 21, 2006 11:08 AM | Send