2009 SPRING PEACE FORUM
in collaboration with the Center for liberal arts & Society at Franklin & Marshall College

Sunday, MARCH 29, 2009
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Roschel Performing Arts Center • College Avenue • Lancaster, PA

TOPIC: FINDING A COMMON WORD: NEGOTIATING THE VOLATILE MIX OF RELIGION, OIL AND POLITICS IN U. S.-IRANIAN RELATIONS
 
CHARLES KIMBALL, I R A N  S P E C I A L I S T and Presidential Professor and Director of Religious Studies, University of Oklahoma. Author of "When Religion Becomes Evil", and an expert on Islam, the Middle East, and Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations. Formerly professor of comparative religion at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

• 1983-1990 Director of the Middle East Office at the National Council of Churches
• Made more than 35 visits to the Middle East
• Interviewed by more than 500 TV and radio stations internationally since 9-11
• Worked closely with U.S. Congress, the White House and the State Department during the past 20 years
• Ordained Baptist minister
• Several weeks after Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November, 1979, Charles Kimball and six other Americans flew to Iran and over a period of two months, became, in effect, unofficial mediators. In addition to the students, Rev. Kimball met with the Ayatollah Khomeini, Hashemi Rafsanjani and other Iranian leaders and later transmitted their views to U.S. officials.

Summary of March 29 address

Introduction:

l. On a personal note, as background for his specialty in Comparative Religion, Kimball's grandfather was Jewish, and a close friend of Charlie Chaplin. He married a Presbyterian chorus girl who sang in a Vaudeville show. About his family, he said, "We were Christians but it was also good to be Jewish."

2. There are three major issues facing the Obama administration — nuclear proliferation, the war in Iraq and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. These three issues he reported, have one thing in common — The Islamic Republic of Iran.

3. A recent issue of the New York Review of Books noted that the three most important issue facing the new Obama administration are--nuclear proliferation, the war in Iraq and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. All three, the speaker noted, had one thing in common: the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Major Topics in Address

1. The history of US-Iranian relations
2. The importance of reeducation of the West about Iran
3. Signs of Hope
4. What citizens and people of faith can do

l. The history: There has been a 30 year history of hostility and harsh rhetoric between the US and Iran. There is a great gap between perceptions and realities. While the Iranians love the American people, they are opposed to the policies of the American government. Iran has legitimate concerns and security interests. It is surrounded on all sides by US military forces, is labeled by former President Bush as part of an "Axis of Evil" and is threatened by the US with regime change. Iranians see the U. S. government as arrogant, and remember painfully the U. S. and British engineered coup of 1954 and the U. S. shooting down the Iranian plane with more than 200 passengers on board. US media reflects negative images and focuses too narrowly on Ahmadinejad's harsh and extremist rhetoric. Iran has a rich and deep civilization; the people are sophisticated, educated and hospitable. There is potential for a significant relationship between the two countries.

There are strong movements within Islam, which are not well understood in the west. Kimball recommends The Shii'a Revival, by Walid Nasr. Nasr writes that there is currently a struggle for "the soul of Islam." Around 15 per cent of world population is Shi'ite, and Iran is 90 per cent Shi'ite; Iraq is over 50 per cent Shi'ite.

2. Education. The failure of policy makers to understand Iran and the region and their stereotypes of Islam is appalling, said Kimball. Muslims focus on God as Creator and Sustainer. Three years into the Iraq war members of U. S. Congress didn't have a clue about the differences between Sunni and Shiite Islamic groups. Iranians seek respect for their long history. Muslims invented the university system in Cairo, where the concept of a chair in a field of study originated. The Iranian revolution of 1979 adopted the structure of a modern democracy with division of powers. Iran has a higher percentage of the population voting than does the U. S.

3. Dr. Kimball was hopeful about President Obama's initiative toward Iran, particularly his address on the occasion of the Iranian New Year. Obama highlighted the common humanity that binds us together, and called for an atmosphere of mutual respect. He cited also the policy recommendations of the team of experts on Iran headed by Ambassador Thomas Pickering, and former Defense Secretary Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Brent Skowcroft. The shared U. S.-Iranian interests offer a lot of potential.

4. Finally Dr. Kimball said he was encouraged by the way Muslims are reaching out in a cooperative spirit, and he urged participants to write letters to editors and policy makers to support improved relations. There is a reservoir of goodwill between the peoples of our two countries that could help to change the 30 years of simplistic negative images of the two countries.