November 17, 2004
Not that it'll help, but...
Maybe it's time for a qualification. I've been pretty blatant about my belief that we are currently engaged in a new phase of a millennia old conflict that has no chance of ending in our lifetimes, and in which the attainment of victory is less important than the avoidance of defeat. As such, I've been unabashedly pro-West and anti-Islam. I know my enemy.
Now let's take a step back. Mr. Cave has mentioned this article. It suggests that "Differences need not be a threat to another. Mutual understanding in an increasingly violent world needs to be rediscovered." In theory, I agree. The fact that I am immovably opposed to the threat Islam poses to the West does not, believe it or not, mean that I am automatically opposed to Muslims on an individual level.
The article presents a noble, if futile, hope for mutual understanding and individual friendship. I think that this is a good thing, but I don't think that it's going to make a difference. It would be kind of like the stories of Yanks and Rebs trading luxuries across the river before trying to kill each other the next day. It heightens the tragedy of what's going on, and believe me, it's tragic. This unending war is deeply wrong. This is not the way it's supposed to be.
But here's the thing: until every tear is wiped away, there are going to be tears. Until death is thrown into the lake of fire, there will be death. And until God himself walks among us, there will be division, conflict, and war. We don't have to like this. We aren't supposed to. We should do everything we can to avoid these tragedies. But we would be foolish to pretend that it isn't this way.
God isn't on anyone's side in this fight. I'm not convinced he was on the Crusaders' side in the Middle Ages, and he certainly isn't on America's side now. This isn't about who is morally superior, because both sides are ultimately sinful. It isn't even about who is worse (though to be partisan about it, I don't see thousands of Westerners lining up to blow themselves up hoping to take a few Muslims with them). It's about realizing that like it or not, we are born into a fundamentally broken world, and though this brokenness may be accidental, it is real. There isn't anything logically or morally necessary about this War, but it's here, and we've got to deal with it. It doesn't matter that we don't want to fight or that the war was started for reasons that may no longer apply, or that we think that it would be better to live in peace. All of those things can be true. But there has been too much blood shed at this point to do anything but continue on.
The fact that we live in a broken world means that we have to do things that we'd rather not do. Anyone who has broken up with a significant other knows this. Sometimes things just aren't right. Denying this doesn't change the fundamental brokenness of the world, nor does it excuse us from our responsibilities. The answer to "Can't we all just live together in peace?" is, "No." No, we can't. We didn't ask for this war, but we didn't ask to be born either. You've got to play the hand you've been dealt. No amount of whineing or hand-wringing will change that.
So I'm all for trying to build bridges into the Muslim world. Not because I think it will accomplish anything, but because it's the right thing to do. I don't think that this current phase of the War is going to settle anything, but I also think that it's necessary.
Our enemies may be uncivilized dogs that do not deserve the protections of civilized law, but they remain undeniably human. Our conflict with them is a tragedy. Just as we fight without hope of victory, but only because we have to fight, we should seek friendship without hope of ending the war, only because it's the right thing to do. Just as it is wrong to deny the brokenness of the world, it is also wrong to deny the fact that there is a remedy for this brokenness, and the Muslim deserves to hear about this no less than we.
It's a hard line to walk. On one hand we have a foe dedicated to our ultimate annihilation that we must fight. On the other we have fellow humans who are to be respected and cherished. This forces us into the unenviable position of having to love those we are required to kill.
You don't have to like it. But that doesn't mean that you don't have to do it.
