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Published on August 22, 2007

CNN's London-based international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is plumbing the full depth of 9/11's aftermath in unprecedented fashion in a series called "God's Warriors".

The documentary debuts today on the news channel (True Channel 42) with the segment "Jewish Warriors", followed by "Muslim Warriors" tomorrow and "Christian Warriors" on Friday, with each episode repeated twice daily.

Amanpour, who made her name covering the Bosnian war, examines another realm of religion in the hope of turning some heads to the reality guiding those who die for their faith.

It was the success of CNN's series "In the Footsteps of Bin Laden" that spurred Amanpour to take on this story, she tells The Nation in a phone interview.

"We want to open people's eyes about the incredible impact of religion," she says. "So many people don't realise how deeply religion is embedded in political, cultural and social life today. Religions have so much influence and impact that we need to know who they

 

 

are and what motivates them."

"God's Warriors" includes thought-provoking interviews with former presidents Jimmy Carter of the US and Shimon Peres of Israel, American evangelist Jerry Falwell just before he died, Muslim women's-rights advocate Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Yehuda Etizion, a founder of the Israeli settlement movement.

Amanpour says she found all of the 50-odd people she interviewed fascinating, both the "warriors" and those who condemn them in the name of peace.

She doesn't balk at issuing challenges. In Islamic countries she asks women whether the veil is a suppression of their rights. And she questions why teenagers become suicide bombers. In Israel she delves into the territorial dispute with the Palestinians.

The answers to such probing, she admits, are neither obvious nor easy.

"There is more than violence out there - it's a much deeper situation.

"Many people in the West and in the media are secular, but there is an immense group of people who are deeply religious. They want to have an impact on culture and society."

Amanpour declines to talk about her own religion, but says she has "experienced" all three: Her mother is a Roman Catholic, her father a Muslim and her husband a Jew.

Widely regarded as hard headed, she insists she's committed to journeying into the human condition. She's asked if she felt any emotion while filming the series.

"Not so much emotions, but [I was struck by] the massive impact that all of this has, and the thought that so much of this is so unknown to so many people."

While Amanpour has often run risks covering religious and ethnic conflicts, she says it's more difficult now that she has a son. Interestingly, much of the documentary focuses on young people.

Another figure she interviews is Ron Luce, the leader of Battle Cry, a group of Christian teenagers pursuing a "pure life" in San Francisco. She also speaks to Muslimteens raised in America who have come to reject Western culture in favour of a strict Islamic code. She asks the families of suicide bombers why they believe their sons are martyrs.

"Anything that happens to children is so much more heart rending," she says.

Are there solutions to the endless conflict?

"We really need enlightened political leadership, not leaders who will bend to any kind of special interest, even a religious special interest," Amanpour says.

But she's pragmatic about "God's Warriors" provoking direct change.

"It's not a call for action," she says. "It's an attempt to open people's eyes to some of the realities of the world."

 

Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

The Nation