一本比较逊尼派伊斯兰教和罗马天主教的社会政治斗争的书，为什么会在封面上放一张崩溃的照片, rusty old locomotive in the middle of a desert?
For a very good reason, according to Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence, author of the book in question, Coping with Defeat: Sunni Islam, Roman Catholicism, and the Modern State.
Jonathan Laurence (Lee Pellegrini)
The locomotive in question was owned in 1917 by British officer, diplomat, and writer T.E. Lawrence (famously known as “Lawrence of Arabia”), 是谁帮助阿拉伯人反抗奥斯曼帝国——摧毁并取代了帝国长达820英里的汉jazz铁路——这是这场起义最引人注目和最关键的遗产. To Laurence, 锈迹斑斑的船体象征着对英国人来说似乎大有希望的冒险的残余:一个抛弃曾经伟大的伊斯兰哈里发的机会，代之以更顺从的地方当局，这将符合英国的利益，并使大英帝国能够扩大其影响力.
Instead, 英国和其他欧洲大国填补奥斯曼哈里发帝国解体留下的真空的努力，在整个地区分裂了逊尼派伊斯兰教权威, 引发了一系列冲突和危机，这些冲突和危机不仅影响了战后出现的伊斯兰占多数的民族国家，而且最终影响了殖民大国本身，其影响一直持续到今天.
As for the Hejaz, British plans to revive the railway were never carried out, and it was simply abandoned.
“Part of what ails Islam, and Sunni Islam in particular, 英国和其他国家对抗奥斯曼哈里发的行动是否会带来意想不到的后果——以及目光短浅,” said Laurence. 逊尼派伊斯兰教在伊斯坦布尔有一个运作良好的中央权威机构，它正在塑造一个更符合我们现代国家制度的伊斯兰景观. This included an acceptance that political control ended at their own border, while their spiritual influence extended beyond. 哈里发的丧失产生了现代政治伊斯兰，并加剧了逊尼派穆斯林当局与世俗统治者之间的紧张关系，这种紧张关系至今仍未解决.”
But as Laurence describes in Coping with Defeat, the Roman Catholic Church endured a similar upheaval more than 100 years ago. In fact, the parallels between the two seemingly disparate religions are striking, he said, and offer a pathway to easing discord between Sunni Islam and non-Islam states.
罗马天主教会和伊斯兰哈里发统治着大片领土和人口, making law, controlling land, and governing people for roughly four centuries,” he explained. “Both suffered three similar upheavals and challenges: the end of empires, the rise of the modern national state, and significant outward migrations from the ‘home base’ of the religious tradition.”
英国和其他欧洲大国填补奥斯曼帝国哈里发政权解体留下的真空的努力，分裂了整个地区的逊尼派伊斯兰权威, 引发了一系列冲突和危机，这些冲突和危机不仅影响了战后出现的伊斯兰占多数的民族国家，而且最终影响了殖民大国本身，其影响一直持续到今天.
劳伦斯曾电子游戏正规平台过欧洲比较宗教和政治问题, Turkey, and North Africa in The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims: The State’s Role in Minority Integration and Integrating Islam: Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France. For Coping with Defeat, 他在梵蒂冈和奥斯曼档案馆进行电子游戏正规平台，并采访了土耳其和北非负责伊斯兰事务或公共宗教教育的高级官员. 他还在欧洲各国首都与负责北非关系的内政和外交部官员进行了交谈, Turkish, Qatari, and Saudi ministries of Islamic and religious affairs.
近几十年来，伊斯兰主义者对西方民主国家的象征和平民的威胁和暴力行为令人担忧, said Laurence, it is instructive to examine the militant, aggressive posture of Pope Pius IX in the 1860s, as the rise of nation-states increasingly challenged the Church’s authority. Pius barricaded himself behind Vatican walls, 主张他个人的绝对正确以及他有权废黜王公和君主. His encyclicals condemned religious pluralism, banned books, and forbade Catholics from voting in democratic elections. 他甚至组建了一支私人民兵来对抗试图统一意大利的意大利爱国者, 导致一些国家禁止为捍卫教皇而寻求殉道的年轻人出国旅行.
By contrast, noted Laurence, the Ottoman caliph of the era, Sultan Abdülmecid, 在立法会议上被称赞为表现出世俗和开放思想的进步人物, toured European capitals, 并在整个帝国范围内扩大了宗教宽容，甚至还向美国赠送了一块刻在大理石上的友谊纪念碑，以供华盛顿纪念碑之用.
More than a century later, it is the Roman Catholic pope who is in the global mainstream, whether addressing the European Union Parliament and the U.S. 参加跨宗教活动，或颂扬世俗立法者“保持民主活力”.”
What happened? While the modern states effectively ended Roman Catholicism as an imperial power, Laurence explained, they allowed the Vatican micro-state to survive, and to exert its guidance over Catholics’ religious beliefs and practices worldwide. 天主教机构接受了国家的政治管辖权，并将精神领袖作为他们的中心使命.
Meanwhile, the end of the caliphate essentially trapped Muslim communities in a “purgatory,，夹在穆斯林占多数的民族国家中由国家任命的学者和官员和魅力派之间, populist transnational figures like Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. 由于缺乏强有力的联系，一些穆斯林很容易受到持不同政见者和政治化形式的伊斯兰教的影响, he explained.
“在哈里发王朝灭亡的地方，教皇得以幸存，这不是命运的问题，”劳伦斯说. “The transition for the Church was by no means an easy one, and there are still instances where Church and state authority aren’t in synch. But when religious institutions adapt to the loss of their previous sovereignty, 他们被迫重新评估他们在自己的社会和散居他乡所能取得的成就. 这导致了一种文化和宗教的统一性，这种统一性可以跨越国界，在世俗国家内部实现自治空间，而不会对世俗国家构成威胁.”
As an example, 劳伦斯指出，美国过去对天主教移民能否融入美国社会持怀疑态度. Over time, 美国天主教徒被鼓励改变他们与罗马的关系，即使他们遵守自己的信仰, 这使得美国天主教机构在牧师培训和天主教学校课程方面有了更大的自主权.
“Most significantly, Rome no longer treated the Catholic Church in the U.S. as part of its missionary arm, 将其从“宣传机构”中剥离出来，并赋予美国教会自己的等级制度,” said Laurence.
Muslim-majority states, he said, should continue to guarantee the neutrality of mosques, imam-training, and religious education, 使逊尼派伊斯兰教与法治和解，从而与世俗国家的权威和解.
“In our part of the world, we take for granted that the state will legally supersede religious authority. 但逊尼派伊斯兰教面临着一场艰苦的战斗，以适应现代国家模式，因为伊斯兰的挑战. It’s important that the U.S. 欧洲认识到穆斯林占多数的国家为创造天主教占多数的国家所呈现的政教合一的真诚尝试.
“As we see with T.E. 劳伦斯的火车头，草率决定的后果可能会比我们想要的更久.”
Sean Smith | University Communications | June 2021