January 20, 2010

CHRISTOPHER STEFANIC

More theology needed for national security

By Christopher Stefanick

Human history is shaped by religious history.  Faith is the engine that most often propels a society.  It’s what makes people “tick.” The very word “culture” has the Latin cultus (meaning “worship”) at its heart.  Christianity was the mortar for the bricklayers of western civilization.  We are a Judeo-Christian culture. 

Yet, in a time of growing unbelief, religion barely gets a passing glance in most history books.  Look up “Catholicism” in the index and you’ll see “Crusades” and “Inquisition.”  Every other contribution of Catholicism to the civilization founded, in large part, by Christian thought, is ignored.  We’ve come to treat faith in education as we do in our fragmented lives—divorcing it from every other subject.  In the educational establishment, discussions related to faith are relegated to an optional “world religions” class. 

Such an impoverished understanding of religion’s role in human history is especially dangerous when the No. 1 enemies wanting to wipe out western civilization claim religious roots.  Government agencies knew Army Maj. Nidal Hasan from Fort Hood was in contact with an imam tied to extremist elements of Islam.  They were, apparently, clueless about how dangerous that might be.  The Christmas Day bomber’s extremist links were known.  That wasn’t enough for us to deem him high risk.  Much was reported on the methods of the Christmas bomber.  Very little was said by mainstream media about Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab’s motive or why he was targeting a nation of largely Christian people on Christmas Day—religious jihad (which, as illustrated by this young man from a well-to-do family, has nothing to do with poverty or a lack of education.) 

Much is mentioned in the news about Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nuclear ambitions.  Most Americans don’t know just how troubling that is because little is said about his religious ambitions.  He believes in the coming of a great leader, al Madhi (the Twelfth Imam), who will establish peace just before the final judgment.  This sounds harmless.  But he is also part of a sect that believes he will only come to set things right at a time when the world is in total chaos, and that he, himself, is appointed to prepare the way for al Madhi.  He has said he was “directed by Allah to pave the way for the glorious appearance of the Mahdi.”  He even prayed aloud while addressing the UN, “Oh, god, hasten the arrival of Imam fit-Mahdi.”  If you don’t grasp how powerful religion is in human history, you won’t know just how dangerous it is that this man wants nuclear power. 

Our former Marxist enemies over the past 70 years (the USSR  and similar), who didn’t have any hope in an afterlife, were restrained by a fear of retribution from other nations.  Akhmadenijad won’t be.  There is truly no negotiating with some people. 

The motive of our enemies from Sept. 11, 2001 to Dec. 25, 2009 isn’t political, economic, or psychotic, it’s religious.  They are all motivated by a misguided and violent version of Islam.  And they’re not alone.  According to an extensive Gallup Poll, 7 percent of Muslims thought the 9/11 attacks were “completely justified.”  The good news is that this is a small minority of the world’s more than 1 billion Muslims—most of whom are peace-loving people from a great faith tradition.  Let me emphasize—most Muslims are not jihadists and, sadly, the chief victims of jihadist violence are fellow-Muslims. However, the bad news is that 7 percent of 1 billion is still enough to fill a medium-sized nation and to put us in danger for a long, long time. 

When the archbishop of Smyrna addressed European bishops in 1999, he gave an eye-opening reminder of the threat militant, expansionist Islam poses to the West.  He quoted the bold comments of a Muslim leader at a conference for Christian-Muslim dialogue: “Thanks to your democratic laws we will invade you; thanks to our religious laws we will dominate you.”  I think the cleric is wrong.  It’s not tolerance that puts western civilization at risk, it’s total ignorance. 
Perhaps after enough disasters we’ll realize that a firm grasp on theology is as important for national security as is a firm grasp on political science.  Then respect for religious faith will take its rightful place in high school and college textbooks, so that the next generation can understand our enemies, and ourselves. 

Speaker and author Christopher Stefanick is director of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry for the Denver Archdiocese. Visit chris-ste fanick.com.