Magic says calling a thing by its real name gives the magician power or saying the wrong words is dangerous. Former Secretary of State Clinton apparently will not use the phrase “radical Islam,” because she is searching for a name that will win the struggle or not empower her foes. She presided over a foreign policy that decided anything was better than the brutal Assad regime and the result was Daesh.
Meanwhile, Linda Stasi won the Moral Equivalency Award for the San Bernardino shootings claiming “one of the victims was just as bigoted” as the killers for having opinions she did not like, expressing them forcefully, and then not killing anyone.
On the right Jerry Falwell Jr. continued the family practice of saying something outrageous that a Clinton could denounce. Clinton Inc used the senior Falwell as a foil during the Nineties to quiet the Democratic party’s left flank during a period when President Clinton had to announce “the era of big government is over.” Clinton could denounce Falwell and show that he was no friend of the right. Falwell Inc got unearned television time to say he was standing up to the liberals in Washington so the cards and letters would keep coming from his constituency. Everybody in the game was a winner and now the process is repeating itself with Mrs. Clinton and Jerry Junior.
Donald Trump announced that we should ban all Muslims from coming to the United States. Nobody can say how this would be done without gross violations of civil and religious liberty. My friend Russell Moore has it right: “we must not trade soul freedom for the illusion of winning.”
Meanwhile, the President dithers like Buchanan before the Civil War. President Obama may have given the least consequential speech from the Oval Office in my lifetime. He said almost nothing new, though he did add important language calling on Islam to do some soul searching. Mostly, however, he listlessly recited his talking points and stared off into a better Hawaiian future. The world has disappointed President Obama by not becoming a better place and in eighteen months he is going to give up on us.
Thank God.
We are not politicians, aspiring demagogues, or leaders of mega-ministries. What is an average Christian who is also a citizen to do?
First, we must face facts. A large part of the Islamic world hates our virtues and not just our vices. They reject our way of life and this is not going to change quickly. Pretending this is not so will not make the world better. Instead, we must do what we did in our long struggle with communism. We need effective media presentations of our values. Daesh has a more nimble propaganda arm than the American government. That is shameful.
We must double down on religious freedom, the first freedom. Sadly, religious hate crimes in the United States are most common against Jewish persons. We shouldn’t forget this fact as American Christians support religious freedom for all Americans.
The struggle against expansionist or terrorist forms of Islam will be long and difficult. We are in a war of ideas and bullets, not just a police action against “youths” run amuck.
Second, we have to deepen our understanding of Islam and at least know what we do not know. Our State Department seems lost when it comes to Arabic, Middle East studies, or the experience and expertise needed to “get” the region. Christian groups should look to our experts on the Middle East and Islamic Studies such as Judith Rood of Biola University.
The other option is to stop saying inflammatory things about a vast topic we do not understand.
Third, as Christians we must separate our goals as Kingdom subjects and citizens of the Republic.
As a Christian, I wish my Islamic neighbor to find Christ. As with any group, my witness should be charitable yet clear. Islam contains some truths, but Islam is fundamentally wrong about the nature of God, humanity and the message of Mohammed. Christianity and Islam have many good things in common and both are very diverse, but they are fundamentally incompatible.
We need to support missionaries in Islamic regions and not act in ways that undermine their outreach. If we are going to argue against Islam, let’s use mainstream scholarship like my friend Mary Jo Sharpe. We want to make brothers and sisters, not just win arguments. My goal as a Christian is for every person to become a Christian. I must never resort to force or coercion to make converts, but I should not be surprised if my Muslim neighbor thinks I am wrong and should be Muslim!
Disagreeing on serious matters is possible if we will love our neighbor.
As an American, I want our Republic to be safe. That need not conflict with my Christian duties, but when (or if) it does, the Kingdom must come first. I must love my enemies as a Christian, even if the state calls me to bring them to justice. As a citizen, I can stress common values between my Islamic neighbor and myself and create as many common spaces as possible.
If my local public school has many Muslims, then we should accommodate the schedules of those students.
For radical Islamic terrorists, the only message as a citizen is justice, while the Christian always holds out mercy, forgiveness, and love. We can stamp out Daesh without hating our neighbor. I hated Bolshevism during the Cold War, but loved the Russian people and culture. Christians in a state have historically fought when we must (pacifism is aberrant), but Christians never want war or glorify conflict.
Fourth, American Christians should start listening to Middle Eastern Christians.
Americans Christians have done a bad job listening to Middle Eastern Christians. We have sluffed over their concerns and only remember the existence of these ancient churches when they are being killed. As I have learned as a member of such a church, there is great wisdom available from those who have survived and created a thriving Christian culture for centuries. Americans must begin to listen first.
Fifth, one party will nominate someone who cannot lead this fight. Who will lead the other?
Secretary Clinton will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. She is manifestly unserious when it comes to fighting terrorism and is burdened with decades of political corruption. She presided over the foreign policy establishment that gave us Syria.
We do not know the nominee yet of the Republican Party. Those who care about the security of our nation need to find a person that avoids jingoism, but takes the challenges seriously. We do not need a reprise of the failures of the Bush years, though it would good to remember the virtues as well. Bush kept us safe.
As Americans we should hope for a leader who is no demagogue, knowledgeable, but also not beholden to the foreign policy establishment. We need new ideas. As Christians, we know no “prince” will be perfect and so we will pray that whoever leads us into the long war with radical Islamic terrorism will do justice ending the war with malice toward none and charity toward all.
Meanwhile, we will pray for the conversion of our own hearts so that we can become more like Christ ourselves.
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