[asa] On secular culture. Is the academy to blame?

The following article by Dinesh D'Souza was published in this month's issue
of American Legion. I am amazed at Christians finding agreement with Osama
Bin Laden and with the president of Iran. But it resonates with the
reported views of people I know. The Muslims I personally talk with say
they are angry with the secular materialist state and the decadent
unChristian culture of the west. I ask myself, "What has been the role of
the academy in all this? Of scientists?"

-Dave

For many Western liberals—and even some conservatives—the war on terror is a
clash of opposed fundamentalisms: Christian fundamentalism vs. Islamic
fundamentalism. So, in this view, Christian and Muslim religious fanatics
are once again fighting each other, as they have done in the past.

From this perspective, the best solution is for America to stand up for the
principles of secularism and oppose both Muslim fundamentalism and Christian
fundamentalism. But in reality secularism is not the solution. Secularism is
the problem. It is the West's agenda of secularism that is alienating
traditional Muslims and pushing them toward the radical camp.

The common understanding of the battle as one between two rival
fundamentalisms is superficially supported by Bin Laden's rhetoric declaring
a religious war of civilizations. Bin Laden speaks of the world being
divided into the "region of faith" and the "region of infidelity." At times
Bin Laden defines the clash as one between the Muslims and the crusaders.

But the context of Bin Laden's arguments clearly shows that Bin Laden is not
speaking of a religious war between Islam and Christianity. In the same
videotaped remarks where Bin Laden posits these conflicts, he praises
Christianity. In one statement Bin Laden observes that Islam respects the
prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam "without distinguishing among
them."

In the classical Muslim understanding, there is a fundamental distinction
between Jews and Christians on the one hand and polytheists and atheists on
the other. According to Islam, Judaism and Christianity are incomplete but
genuine revelations. As monotheists, Jews and Christians have historically
been entitled to Muslim respect and even protection. In every Islamic
empire, from the Umayyad to the Abbasid to the Ottoman, Jews and Christians
were permitted to practice their religion and in no Muslim regime has it
ever been considered legitimate to systematically kill them.

By contrast, polytheists and atheists have always been anathema to Islam.
The Koran says, "Fight the pagans all together as they fight you all
together" and "Slay the idolaters wherever you find them." These passages,
which Bin Laden frequently quotes, do not refer to Christians, because
Christians are not considered pagans or idolaters. Rather, they refer to
those, like the Beduins of ancient Arabia, who worship many gods or no god.
Muslims are commanded to fight these unbelievers, especially when they
threaten the House of Islam.

Muslim radicals could repudiate the entire Islamic tradition and argue that
Christians and Jews are no different from atheists and deserve the same
treatment. But this claim would undoubtedly alienate traditional Muslims.
Sheikh Muhammad Tantawi, head of Al Azhar University, recently argued the
traditional view that "Islam has never been and will never be at war with
Christianity." For Bin Laden to declare war against Chrsitianity would even
divide the radical Muslim camp. The influential radical sheikh Yusuf
Qaradawi has said that as Muslims, "We believe in the Jewish and Christian
scriptures. Our Islamic faith is not complete without them."

Islamic radicals like Bin Laden make their case against America and the West
on the grounds that these cultures have abandoned Christianity. In his May
2006 letter to President Bush, Ahmadinejad faulted America not for being
Christian, but for not being Christian enough. Many years earlier, the
radical theoretician Sayyid Qutb made the same point. The main reason for
the West's moral decay, Qutb argued, is that in the modern era "religious
convictions are no more than a matter of antiquarian interest."

Other Muslim radicals today echo these arguments. The influential Pakistani
scholar Khurshid Ahmad, leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami, argues, "Had Western
culture been based on Christianity, on morality, on faith, the language and
modus operandi of the contact and conflict would have been different. But
that is not the case. The choice is between the divine principle and a
secular materialistic culture."

Even though Christianity has eroded, Muslim radicals contend that the
ancient crusading spirit now infuses the pagan culture of the West. When Bin
Laden calls America a crusader state, he means that America is on a vicious
international campaign to impose its atheist system of government and its
pagan values on Muslims. How? My supporting secular dictators in Pakistan,
Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. And by exporting a secular culture that
undermines the traditional values of Islam.

In this way, Bin Laden argues that America is hell-bent on destroying the
Muslim religion. The rallying cry of Islamic radicalism is that "Islam is
under attack." In his 1998 declaration Bin Laden called on Muslims to
"launch attacks against the armies of the American devils" and to kill
Americans whom he identified as the "helpers of Satan." In a 2003 sermon,
Bin Laden praised the September 11 hijackers and compared the twin towers of
the World Trade Center to the idols in the Kaaba that the Prophet Muhammad
destroyed in the year 630 upon his victorious return to Mecca.

Thus the doctrine that the war against terrorism is a battle of two opposed
forms of religious fundamentalism is false. This is not why the Islamic
radicals are fighting against America. From the perspective of Bin Laden and
his allies, the war is between the Muslim-led forces of monotheism and
morality against the America-led forces of atheism and immorality.
Secularism, not Christian fundamentalism, is responsible for producing a
blowback of Muslim rage.

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Received on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:41:31 +1800