What is the proper response for an American Christian to Radical Islam?
The Paris attacks have forced me to come to a better understanding of what I actually feel as a Christian and an American with regard to what is going on in Syria and Iraq; and what has now spread to many other nations and resulted in millions of displaced persons.
Pretty much all my life I have believed that people have the right to believe whatever they want about eternal questions. I saw Islam as a choice people made because of their geographical or cultural roots, and it was OK with me for them to believe whatever that meant.
Being largely ignorant of the basic tenets of Mohammad’s philosophy, ‘Live and let live’ seemed a fitting response, both as an American and as a Christian.
As things in the Near East climbed more and more into the headlines, and I was forced to learn more about the geography, culture, and history of that region, it was troubling. The plight of Israel had been known to me for long years, ever since I read Leon Uris’s books as a young man. The Iran hostage situation occurred while I was an active duty Navy pilot, and after 9/11 we all began to know much more about Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.
I was totally supportive the invasion of Iraq by the senior President Bush, and totally against it when his son sidestepped into that country when he should have gone after Al Queda in Afghanistan. But that still seemed like a small group of zealots who could be eventually eliminated.
Bombings and shootings in those countries seemed like tribal squabbles between religious sects that had no connection to or significance in my life.
Then along comes Syria and Assad and that civil war and my response was ‘Stay the hell away from that complicated situation!" We had already wasted trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives with virtually nothing positive to show for it.
But that spawned ISIS, and ISIS seems to embody all that is evil about the Koran and Islam. I began to change slowly as the news reports came in. I supported the idea of combat air support, and thought arming the Kurds was a good idea, since they seemed the only effective force that opposed ISIS. I still struggled with the idea of sending American troops into that maelstrom, because I didn’t see a clear way to win. Didn’t know what ‘winning’ really meant there.
Now with these attacks in Paris, I am brought to a point where I feel that I have to clarify my thinking and better understand the right moral and political stance that befits a committed Christian and a loyal American. I’m posting this to solicit your opinions on that.
Can we contain or even eradicate ISIS? Should we? Is the response of Islamic nations and religious leaders adequate? Where do they really stand? Can America afford another costly war over there in that hotbed of 14[SUP]th[/SUP] century tribal warfare?
Who is best qualified to lead us in answering these questions?
The Paris attacks have forced me to come to a better understanding of what I actually feel as a Christian and an American with regard to what is going on in Syria and Iraq; and what has now spread to many other nations and resulted in millions of displaced persons.
Pretty much all my life I have believed that people have the right to believe whatever they want about eternal questions. I saw Islam as a choice people made because of their geographical or cultural roots, and it was OK with me for them to believe whatever that meant.
Being largely ignorant of the basic tenets of Mohammad’s philosophy, ‘Live and let live’ seemed a fitting response, both as an American and as a Christian.
As things in the Near East climbed more and more into the headlines, and I was forced to learn more about the geography, culture, and history of that region, it was troubling. The plight of Israel had been known to me for long years, ever since I read Leon Uris’s books as a young man. The Iran hostage situation occurred while I was an active duty Navy pilot, and after 9/11 we all began to know much more about Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.
I was totally supportive the invasion of Iraq by the senior President Bush, and totally against it when his son sidestepped into that country when he should have gone after Al Queda in Afghanistan. But that still seemed like a small group of zealots who could be eventually eliminated.
Bombings and shootings in those countries seemed like tribal squabbles between religious sects that had no connection to or significance in my life.
Then along comes Syria and Assad and that civil war and my response was ‘Stay the hell away from that complicated situation!" We had already wasted trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives with virtually nothing positive to show for it.
But that spawned ISIS, and ISIS seems to embody all that is evil about the Koran and Islam. I began to change slowly as the news reports came in. I supported the idea of combat air support, and thought arming the Kurds was a good idea, since they seemed the only effective force that opposed ISIS. I still struggled with the idea of sending American troops into that maelstrom, because I didn’t see a clear way to win. Didn’t know what ‘winning’ really meant there.
Now with these attacks in Paris, I am brought to a point where I feel that I have to clarify my thinking and better understand the right moral and political stance that befits a committed Christian and a loyal American. I’m posting this to solicit your opinions on that.
Can we contain or even eradicate ISIS? Should we? Is the response of Islamic nations and religious leaders adequate? Where do they really stand? Can America afford another costly war over there in that hotbed of 14[SUP]th[/SUP] century tribal warfare?
Who is best qualified to lead us in answering these questions?
