How religion could help save Iraq

Bickers

Why does your council need money to function?

Surely, these clerics are already well funded?

Isn't there a danger that 'money' to 'support' the council is seen as a form of extortion?

This may seem a cynical viewpoint and is probably not true, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was!

terence patrick hewett

How I wish that the Rev. Richard Dawkins was the Vicar of Baghdad and the Vicar of Baghdad was the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Gordon Mackley

Canon White's comments are so true. We need people to understand that everywhere is not the USA or western Europe. Outside of the apathy of a secular materialistic west, religion can either hold society together or tear it apart. The excellent work of religious conciliation in which Andrew White is involved needs to be fully supported (including financially - I'm sorry Bickers but you can't do aught with nought!). Each $ or £ spent in that will probably ultimately be more effective in saving both Iraqi and western lives as any £ or $ spent on military hardware.

I think Andrew White would be wasted as Archbishop of Canterbury As for Richard Dawkins (not ordained to the ministry as far as I know!), his nice cosy middle class western atheistic philosophy of 'everything happens by cosmic accident but we should all still be nice people' would I fear have no more effect in solving any of Iraq's problems than it does solving the (rather different) problems in our western culture. Reconciliation and harmony are brought about by love. That is what Andrew White (and sadly so few others) shows to the world. It is a lesson we should learn from here in the west also.

Canon Andrew White

I am afraid that the Council needs money to function as most of Iraqs key religious leaders are now out of Iraq. We can not meet in Iraq. The security and cost of meeting in Iraq is so huge. We have done it unless you are here you do not realise the complexity of it. It is not like getting together in London. So you need transportation, Hotels, Staff to make things happen that is not to and that is not to things like my phone bill which is over £2000 per month.Religious leaders do have money but you cannot compare here with the West. Plus some of the Sunni leaders have had all there money removed from them under de bathfication. One of our group had $72m taken so it is all very complex.
Andrew White
Baghdad

Sue Taylor

How much money per month do you need? Can you mention figures?
a minimum? a satisfactory amount towards it?
cheaper and less damaging than military hardware quite apart from human issues! Surely this is part of the work for peace and always listen to the people with local knowledge when they show signs of thoughtfulness and effectiveness....

JB

I, too, was curious as to why the council needed funding when head's coffers must already be bulging, due to donations from elsewhere. I thank Canon White for explaining this, but can't help wondering why the funding was taken away in the first place as the council seemed to be doing some good. It probably would have cost a tiny fraction of the total expenditure to maintain the links. Perhaps there is an ulterior motive afoot!

Canon Andrew White

I am afraid our money went after the little election in the USA. In the USA a lot of the staff are political employees. All of our contacts were the political appointees. So we no longer had the contacts with the key people.

All we need is $95,000 a month so a lot less than the cost of one tank each year.

Stephen Sharpe

This is the most Groundbreaking, positive,practical, UNPUBLISCISED statement about the war in Iraq.
?"When this group was brought togeth1er in Baghdad" Who promoted it? , Why have we not heard about it before ??What do the
allied Politicians think about it?, Where are the comments from the Established Church??
This story has got to be one of your Front Runners.