JERUSALEM — Pardon the pun, but a Christian church in Florida is looking to add fuel to the fire between the so-called civilized West and extremist Islamists:
The U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Monday criticized a Florida church’s plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning the demonstration “could cause significant problems” for American troops overseas.
“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,” Gen. David Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday.
The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the anniversary of al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by burning copies of the Muslim holy book. The church insists the event is “neither an act of love nor of hate,” but a warning against what it calls the threats posed by Islam.
To understand the complexity of the situation, it is important to understand the underlying theological motivations of these extremists — note: I referred not to Christians and Muslims in general but to the extremists in each camp. This is an important distinction.
Still, the mainstream theologies in each camp do play a role. Both Christianity and Islam are monotheistic, dualistic religions that divide the material and spiritual worlds into “good” and “evil.” There is an all-good God and an all-evil Satan that opposes Him.
(I am leaving aside the debate over whether a religion with an evil, powerful entity opposed to God can, in fact, be viewed as monotheistic. One argument in favor of the term is that in Christian and Islamic prophecy, the evil entity loses in the end — unlike in other religions in which the good and evil entities are destined to balance each other and fight eternally. But this is a debate for another time.)
In Christian and Islamic prophecy, the world is predicted to fall into chaos and disorder before a redeemer — a “Messiah,” so to speak (though the term originally meant something completely different in Judaism) — will save the world, herald a Day of Judgment, and then establish God’s kingdom forever. Christianity names the Messiah as the second coming of Jesus; Islam calls him the Mahdi. (Sometimes I wonder if the opposition between Christianity and Islam stems from the fact that they are very similar in theological terms. In business, the fiercest competition occurs between products that are essentially the same.)
But here is the key: In Christianity, no one is supposed to know when this will occur. In fact, the Christian Bible states in reference to the time of the return of Jesus, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36). It is a mystery. I am not very familiar with the Koran, so I would be interested to hear in the comments whether something similar is in Islam’s holy book. I presume it is the case.
And this reveals a crucial difference between mainstream Christianity and Islam as compared to extremist Christianity and Islam. Moderate Christians believe that the world will “fall into chaos and disorder” at some point before Jesus returns. And that’s it. Full stop. Whenever it happens, it happens.
However, extremist Christians aim to create “chaos and disorder” since, in their view, such actions will hasten the return of Jesus (no matter what Matthew wrote). I suspect that extremist Muslims believe the same thing — that the Mahdi will return more quickly if one fosters anarchy on earth.
I do not know how much thought the Dove World Outreach Center has given to the subconscious theology behind its goals, but the plans are understandably stoking protests:
But outside the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Monday, where as many as 500 protestors chanted “Long live Islam” and “Death to America,” demonstrators argued that the church isn’t acting of its own will.
“We know this is not just the decision of a church. It is the decision of the president and the entire United States,” said Abdul Shakoor, an 18-year-old high school student who said he joined the protest after hearing neighborhood gossip about the Koran burning.
A few years ago, I wrote an essay on the “True Clash of Civilizations” here at Considerations arguing that the true conflict of modern times is between Skeptics and True Believers. The former support order and civilization; the latter want chaos and anarchy. And extremist Christians and Muslims are both True Believers who side against civil society. (And as I wrote in the article, the mentality extends into other political issues as well.)
The true danger of this Clash of Civilizations is that the cycle of violence is self-reinforcing as each side grows more angry. Extremist Muslims attack civilians. Extremist Christians harass innocent Muslims. Extremist Muslims bomb major cities in the West. Extremist Christians burn the Koran. Extremist Muslims unleash further attacks. Extremist Christians want to confine all Muslims to internment camps. Extremist Muslims nuke U.S. cities. Extremist Christians kill Muslims.
On a subconscious level, I am sure that both sets of extremists welcome an escalation of violence since it would surely mean that salvation, in their views, is at hand. Both sets use the actions of the other to proclaim that the opposing side is “anti-Muslim” or “anti-Christian.”
Still, all the while, the Skeptics on each side can only shake their head since, after all, they eschew violence — and rightly so. But the True Believers have all the inspiration and motivation since they have no doubts about their positions — all thinking people, of course, are inherently weaker since they have doubts.
But the violence will increase on each side until the entire world becomes only a burning cinder. And each side will be disappointed when Jesus or the Mahadi does not return to save humanity (perhaps because humanity will have proven itself unworthy of Paradise).
Sadly, I do not have a solution. But what I do know is that the Dove World Outreach Center’s actions will have no positive effect — only a negative one. Of course, in a free society like that of the United States, every private citizen has the right to protest as he sees fit — even if it means burning books. But it does not mean that he should.
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