Our current reaction to ISIS is relevant to me because it means that we don’t understand commitment to belief and we really don’t think belief matters. Ultimately, belief determines behavior; a thought that the West needs to revisit. Decades of teaching in our schools and in some churches that there is no truth and belief is irrelevant has left us unable to even grasp any other reality, except the regressive emotionalism that has caused us to elevate feelings to a level of irresistible force. I am not suggesting we radicalize Christianity; God forbid! However, Americans in particular have developed a queasiness with deeply held beliefs, beyond stuff like “I firmly believe the Red Sox need an ace in their starting rotation!”
Since we are so uneasy with the concept of “belief” we say about ISIS…
1. “They’re just haters”
Stomping out hate has become the one-stop-shopping solution to fix all the evil in the world for Westerners; hence our invention of the so called “hate crimes.” If our own fellow countrymen are suspected of hate, their lives are destroyed. Many people have sent out stupid tweets, that probably didn’t have much emotion at all but because readers and re-tweeters decided the message came from “hate” they were eviscerated and they are now on unemployment. On the other hand, if people outside of our ranks are suspected of hating us we must find out why and make nice with them (“what have we done to make them so angry?”). The only problem with the “they’re just haters” song is that we’re the ones singing it and calling it a hit, not ISIS. They are not saying, “We hate Jews and Christians.” They are saying they are fulfilling prophetic destiny; why don’t we believe them?
“The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them; they believe, they are key agents of the coming apocalypse.” Graeme Wood, “What ISIS really wants” Atlantic Monthly. http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/
2. “They’re just reacting to years of oppression”
It is true that the colonial power of England, France and the United states have tromped all over the Middle East and meddled in their affairs. It is also true that our interest in the region has brought enormous wealth, wealth that has not been fairly distributed among Arabs, by Arab governments. That being said, apologies would still be appropriate. However, this narrative that ISIS is just reacting to centuries of European and Western oppression is ours, not theirs. They say they are following the dictates of ancient prophecies, honoring the prophet Mohammed and doing the will of Allah. I am not speculating as to whether moderate Muslims don’t agree with the teaching of the Koran and the Hadith or not. Moderate, lukewarm Christians don’t follow the Bible, but does that mean the Bible doesn’t teach what it teaches and some Christians act accordingly?
Graeme Wood wrote, “The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.” Graeme Wood, “What ISIS really wants”
3. “They’re a modern political organization with sixth century methods”
First of all, ISIS is extremely sophisticated. Cam Simpson wrote a masterful article back in November of 2014 about how ISIS has corporatized terror by copying a corporate model of governance created by Alfred Sloan for General Motors, in the 1920s and popularized by Alfred Chandler Jr., a Harvard business professor. Chandler called it the “M Model” of management. Here’s the article if you want to wrap your brain around it. (http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2014-the-business-of-isis-spreadsheets-annual-reports-and-terror/#/) Simpson said, “The foundation of Islamic State’s management model is more akin to General Motors than to a religious dynasty.”
Secondly, they employ modern technology masterfully. During a routine January 2007 patrol in Anbar province, in a town along the Euphrates called Tuzliyah al Gharbiyah, a unit of U.S. Marines stumbled on a cache of nine documents in a roadside ditch. They included financial records, payrolls, supply purchase records, administrative records, and other details of fund flows into and out of a single local cell in Anbar from a group, at that time, calling itself the “Islamic State of Iraq.” They found a computer hard drive holding ledgers with 1,200 files detailing the finances and operations of provincial-level managers overseeing the cell and others like it across Anbar province.
They are not just people who, if properly civilized, will adhere to modern peace loving ways. (a) ISIS doesn’t have a modern political agenda; they have apocalyptic visions. (b) ISIS isn’t barbaric because they’ve been stuck in the desert and don’t know there’s a different, more contemporary way to get along with fellow humans. Westerners think love is a modern concept and the more advanced we become the kinder we become. ISIS is barbaric because they take their “book” literally and they believe with all their hearts. The members of ISIS have a wholehearted belief in the literal teachings of Islam.
Graeme Wood writes, “The most-articulate spokesmen for ISIS are the Islamic State’s officials and supporters themselves. They refer derisively to ‘moderns’. In conversation, they insist that they will not/cannot waver from governing precepts that were embedded in Islam by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers. They often speak in codes and allusions that sound odd or old-fashioned to non-Muslims, but refer to specific traditions and texts of early Islam.” Graeme Wood, “What ISIS really wants”
Now those 21 brave men who were beheaded while they repeated the name of Jesus; those courageous “CHRISTIANS” who stood up to the sword rather than renounce their faith were believers. My personal responsibility however, and I believe yours, is to have a belief that is as strong as the most radical Muslim. Christ and truth will prevail and Christians will NEVER have to pick up the sword in the name of Jesus to fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord.
