“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:” Hab 1:13
When we talk about people like bin Laden and the al-Qaeda movement that he has created, we aren’t really talking about a man. Clearly our efforts since 9/11 have marginalized this one man’s tactical ability to train, organize, and direct a force of people.
The reason why bin Laden still seems to have power in the world is because he is the prophet for a particular philosophy. It is his fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran and that it resonates with other people that gives him the appearance of power. The fact that this philosophy appears to inspire people to kill themselves isn’t the issue, nor is it particularly new. The history of religious, political, and philosophical movements are filled with accounts of individual sacrifice for the higher goal. What’s disturbing here is that these “martyrs” are turning themselves into weapons, targeting innocent civilians, and seeking to extract the maximum disruptive value from their terrorist acts. It’s this particular terrorist twist on martyrdom that ends up defining this philosophy as evil.
So, at least in my mind, the issue isn’t so much what we do about bin Laden because he could die tomorrow and his philosophy would continue. The question is how we deal with evil in the world.
BTW, I don’t intend to suggest with this characterization of bin Ladist Islam that he or his followers bear all of the blame. Our government’s middle east policies and our appetite for oil clearly help create the set of circumstances which allow this evil idea to take root. This is no different than the set of feudal conditions in Russia and China which allowed the idea of communism to take root, or Europe’s insistence for German WWI reparations which plowed the ground for Nazi fascism.
WWII defeated fascism. The Internet and global consumerism defeated communism (both in Russia and China). What is going to defeat bin Ladist Islam? I don’t know what the history books will attribute it to, but I do know what we can do now. That’s to combat one malevolent idea with another even more powerful idea. That idea is that God is the only power.
Evil is frightening only when we allow it to appear to be more powerful than good. Christians, however, already affirm that there is only one infinite all-powerful God. Because God created everything and is all-knowing and all-good, evil must be something outside the scope of God/good. So at it’s most basic spiritual sense, evil can only be our fear that there can be anything other than good in the world. It is only our unwillingness to admit that God is the only power that can give the illusion of power or substance to something that God is not.
Jesus understood this clearly in his frequent use of the metaphor of light and darkness. We have a choice between the two. The light, like the sun, never stops shining. It’s our choice whether we embrace the light that is always there and the only power, or embrace the darkness of our fears that there has to be something other than light.
So the history books will have a material explanation of how the bin Ladists were ultimately defeated, but the reality will be that their evil idea was defeated by all those who prayed to know that only good has power or place in God’s creation.
“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:20-21
I am always sad when it is thought that somehow the policies of America have wrought the teachings of the Islamic extreme. I will agree that this maybe true only in the context that had the governments of these nations, (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan) ensured that the profits made off of the “evil” oil was returned to good infrastructure, education, equality then the anti-west feelings tend not to be so out of control (think Saudi Arabia or Kuwait). I understand the argument and wish that we, as a nation, would have demanded that if we were going to do business with a country that they uphold basic human rights; meaning, you can not stone people to death, you can not mutilate your daughter, you can not cut someones hands off for theft . . . you get the point. Sadly, these things continue in much of the Islamic world today. I believe defeating Osama Bin Ladin and others who teach such fundamental religious beliefs is by freedom. That has always been the most amazing thing about the christian faith that for some reason people seem to miss – you are given freedom of choice.
Will,
Thanks for your thoughts.
Certainly sharia law seems barbaric by westerns standards. Our capital punishment laws, though, also seem barbaric by European standards.
As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, it’s a lot more complex. The Saudi establishment likes the US because we helped them develop their resources, we are good customers, and we supply the military might that keeps them in power. At the same time, they are the primary source of funds for the Wahhabist schools that promote this evil fundamentalist Islam.
I do agree with you that our freedom to choose how we view this challenge is what will eventually defeat it.
Jeff
Skipping over the political references I’m not sure of what you mean by the following comment:
“It is only our unwillingness to admit that God is the only power that can give the illusion of power or substance to something that God is not.”
Is your intent to convey the idea that evil is not something that real but merely an illusion? Or are you just attempting to express the idea that good will eventually triumph.
Bob,
The political references are obviously part of the message, but I’m happy that at least part of what I wrote prompted you to respond.
In answer to your metaphysical question, I’m saying both. I realize that there are Christian traditions which read the Bible more literally than I, where evil or the devil is perceived as a very real entity engaged in a life and death struggle with God. Those that feel that way are likely to have a problem with the idea that evil is only the fear that good or God is absent. That’s OK. I’m not out to convert anyone, just trying to give people other ideas to consider.
Another way to think about it is light and darkness. If the light from the sun shines all of the time, darkness only represents an absence of light. It doesn’t have any power of it’s own. The only power that the darkness has is our own fear that what we can’t see or don’t understand will somehow harm us. As soon as the light shines again, however, we see that there was nothing to fear.
Jesus said that he came to demonstrate that life is eternal. Once He did that, what else have you got to be afraid of? He never said it was going to be easy, but He did say that the Kingdom was the reward. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. What do you think?
Jeff