Naive Bishops praise Iranians for release

Telegraph:

The Roman Catholic bishop who oversees the armed forces has provoked fury by praising the Iranian leadership for its "forgiveness" and "act of mercy" in freeing the 15 British sailors and marines last week.

The Bishop of the Forces, the Rt Rev Tom Burns, said that the religious beliefs of the Iranians had played a large part in their decision to release the hostages after holding them for more than two weeks.

His words were echoed by a leading Anglican figure, the Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, who said Iran had acted within the "moral and spiritual tradition of their country" and contrasted this with Britain's "free-floating attitudes".

Bishop Burns, who ministers to the 40,000 Catholics and their families who are members of the armed forces, said the decision to release the captives had demonstrated "faith in a forgiving God".

But his comments were angrily denounced yesterday by politicians and soldiers as "naive" and "wishful thinking" for failing to recognise the illegality of Teheran's actions.

In a statement welcoming the hostages' release on Thursday, Bishop Burns said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had spoken of forgiveness, and appealed to the religious traditions of Islam. This might seem puzzling, said the bishop. But it had to be seen in the context of the Iranians' belief that Britain had violated their territorial waters.

"So, if that is the case they are putting forward, then by their own standards, the standards enshrined in their religion, they have then chosen to put their faith into action to resolve the situation," said the bishop.

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This is stunningly naive. These 15 people were being illegally detained by a regime made up of religious bigots who exploited them for their own political purposes. There is such a thing as being forgiving, but you have to be honest about what is being forgiven.

As for me, I am reminded of the lines of a country and western song about betrayal that pretty well says it all-- "Jesus may love you, but I don't. God may forgive you but I want."