Kerry's now dubbing DAESH apostates: this panel of 'apostasy' shows it's complicated!

Published February 5th, 2016 - 08:54 GMT

US Secretary of State John Kerry accused Daesh (or ISIS to most) militants of apostasy this week, diving into a hot-tub of Islamic debate that Orthodox theologians and his boss, President Barack Obama, have so far avoided. Kerry defended his word choice saying that Daesh are “people who have hijacked a great religion." Perhaps Kerry should have thought twice before hijacking this particular term given that charging peope with apostasy is is just as frought or clumsy a business.

Apostasy describes the act of denouncing one’s former faith. Daesh claims to be rooted in precepts of early Islam; their governance is consistently guided by Medieval traditions and texts. Christian Crusaders similarly reinterpreted the Bible's message of peace and compassion to justify violence. The world may be off its rocker, but can we at least pick the right words to describe it?

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Kerry should have invoked heresy, not apostasy, as heretics continue to identify with their religion even as they preach heterodox views. Heretics may be rejected by the larger community, but want to belong and often claim to represent the authentic expression of the faith. Apostates completely reject their faith and religious community.

Takes one to know one? Kerry comes from a line of apostates. His paternal grandparents were Austro-Hungarian Jews who raised their son (his father) Catholic. His mom left Episcopalianism to raise her kids Catholic too. The former altar boy still plays by the Catholic handbook; he annulled his first marriage to marry wife #2 in the church.

Apostacy was deadly in 15th c. Spain for those not signing up to Catholicism. The kingdom issued royal decrees in 1492 and 1501 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave Spain. Ironically, the grandmother of Torquemada, head of the Spanish Inquisition, was an apostate - a converted Jew. Thousands who refused conversion were killed on his watch.

In 19th c. Iran, apostate men faced death, or repented to avoid execution; women were imprisoned until they recanted. Tahirih, the Persian poet, feminist, and new convert to Babi – the forerunner to Baha’i - wasn’t so lucky. She was strangled by a drunken executioner on the orders of the mullahs and thrown into a well.

Paul Haggis, Oscar-winning director and screenwriter of Crash and Million Dollar Baby, resigned from the Church of Scientology in 2009 over the church's refusal to denounce California's Prop 8, which aimed to outlaw same-sex marriage. Haggis, like John Travolta and Tom Cruise, had reached the top tier of the church. He's their most famous apostate.

Dutch-American activist, author, and apostate Ayaan Hirsi Ali identified as Muslim until 2002, when she announced her atheism. A vocal critic of Islam, she collaborated with Theo van Gogh on the controversial film Submission about female oppression under Islam, sparking death threats and eventual assassination of Van Gogh by a Dutch Muslim.

A parental decision made Barack Obama an unwitting apostate. Cultural descent in Islam is patrilineal, in contrast to Judaism where it is matrilineal. Born to a Muslim father, he was technically Muslim, but raised Christian by his mother. Obama has said, “ISIL is not Islamic”, but never raised the accusation of apostasy against the group.

Many Catholics tag former Pope John Paul II as apostate for asserting that all religions contain some truth and have value. He also believed all men can reach eternal salvation. His reformed Catholicism contradicts the Church's position as the one, true and holy faith. The better accusation is heresy, and humanist Pope Francis can be accused too.

Both Sunni and Shia Islam teach that Prophet Mohammad (PBOH) was the last messenger to be sent from Allah. The US-based Nation of Islam (NOI) teaches that Elijah Muhammad was the messenger, a modern heresy to a vast majority of Muslims. NOI founders and leaders considered to be apostates by wider Islam, but you now see the right word is heretics.

Fractures within every faith prompt apostasy accusations. Islamic sects vulnerable to the charge include Ahmadiyyah (founded in Pakistan in 1889); Alawites (alleged to have started in the 9th C, but this is disputed); and Bahá'í which stems from Shia Islam. Refer back to slide 1 - correctly call them heretical, as they cling to Islamic roots.

Kerry should have invoked heresy, not apostasy, as heretics continue to identify with their religion even as they preach heterodox views. Heretics may be rejected by the larger community, but want to belong and often claim to represent the authentic expression of the faith. Apostates completely reject their faith and religious community.

Takes one to know one? Kerry comes from a line of apostates. His paternal grandparents were Austro-Hungarian Jews who raised their son (his father) Catholic. His mom left Episcopalianism to raise her kids Catholic too. The former altar boy still plays by the Catholic handbook; he annulled his first marriage to marry wife #2 in the church.

Apostacy was deadly in 15th c. Spain for those not signing up to Catholicism. The kingdom issued royal decrees in 1492 and 1501 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave Spain. Ironically, the grandmother of Torquemada, head of the Spanish Inquisition, was an apostate - a converted Jew. Thousands who refused conversion were killed on his watch.

In 19th c. Iran, apostate men faced death, or repented to avoid execution; women were imprisoned until they recanted. Tahirih, the Persian poet, feminist, and new convert to Babi – the forerunner to Baha’i - wasn’t so lucky. She was strangled by a drunken executioner on the orders of the mullahs and thrown into a well.

Paul Haggis, Oscar-winning director and screenwriter of Crash and Million Dollar Baby, resigned from the Church of Scientology in 2009 over the church's refusal to denounce California's Prop 8, which aimed to outlaw same-sex marriage. Haggis, like John Travolta and Tom Cruise, had reached the top tier of the church. He's their most famous apostate.

Dutch-American activist, author, and apostate Ayaan Hirsi Ali identified as Muslim until 2002, when she announced her atheism. A vocal critic of Islam, she collaborated with Theo van Gogh on the controversial film Submission about female oppression under Islam, sparking death threats and eventual assassination of Van Gogh by a Dutch Muslim.

A parental decision made Barack Obama an unwitting apostate. Cultural descent in Islam is patrilineal, in contrast to Judaism where it is matrilineal. Born to a Muslim father, he was technically Muslim, but raised Christian by his mother. Obama has said, “ISIL is not Islamic”, but never raised the accusation of apostasy against the group.

Many Catholics tag former Pope John Paul II as apostate for asserting that all religions contain some truth and have value. He also believed all men can reach eternal salvation. His reformed Catholicism contradicts the Church's position as the one, true and holy faith. The better accusation is heresy, and humanist Pope Francis can be accused too.

Both Sunni and Shia Islam teach that Prophet Mohammad (PBOH) was the last messenger to be sent from Allah. The US-based Nation of Islam (NOI) teaches that Elijah Muhammad was the messenger, a modern heresy to a vast majority of Muslims. NOI founders and leaders considered to be apostates by wider Islam, but you now see the right word is heretics.

Fractures within every faith prompt apostasy accusations. Islamic sects vulnerable to the charge include Ahmadiyyah (founded in Pakistan in 1889); Alawites (alleged to have started in the 9th C, but this is disputed); and Bahá'í which stems from Shia Islam. Refer back to slide 1 - correctly call them heretical, as they cling to Islamic roots.

Kerry's now dubbing DAESH apostates: this panel of 'apostasy' shows it's complicated!

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