"The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.
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- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
Saturday, November 7, 2009
From Mark Steyn:
Major Hasan is not a card-carrying member of the Texas branch of al-Qaeda reporting to a control officer in Yemen or Waziristan. If he were, things would be a lot easier. But the pathologies that drive al-Qaeda beat within Major Hasan too, and in the end his Islamic impulses trumped his expensive Western education, his psychiatric training, his military discipline — his entire American identity. One might say the same about Faleh Hassan Almaleki of Glendale, Ariz., arrested last week after fatally running over his “too Westernized” daughter Noor in the latest American honor killing. Or the two U.S. residents — one American, one Canadian — arrested a few days earlier for plotting to fly to Denmark for the purposes of murdering the editor who commissioned the famous Mohammed cartoons. But Noor Almaleki’s brother shrugs that’s just the way it is. “One thing to one culture doesn’t make sense to another culture,” he says.
Indeed. To infidels, Islam is in a certain sense unknowable, and most of us are content to leave it at that. The vast majority of Muslims don’t conspire to kill cartoonists or murder their daughters or shoot dozens of their fellow soldiers. But Islam inspires enough of this behavior to make it a legitimate topic of analysis. Don’t hold your breath. We’d rather talk about anything else — even in the Army.
What happened to those men and women at Fort Hood had a horrible symbolism: Members of the best trained, best equipped fighting force on the planet gunned down by a guy who said a few goofy things no one took seriously. And that’s the problem: America has the best troops and fiercest firepower, but no strategy for throttling the ideology that drives the enemy — in Afghanistan and in Texas.
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Comments on "“One thing to one culture doesn’t make sense to another culture”":
3. Bill
- 11/07/2009 2:34 pm CST
I hope no one thinks this post was me advocating for the crusades.
Jared, I agree with you but don't understand your last sentence.
One main point here was I got to thinking about cultural equivalence, all cultures are equally valid, etc. and how that reconciles with honor killings, etc.
4. Bill
- 11/07/2009 2:36 pm CST
Another point here, which I guess I need to explain, was me hoping our military can, at the least, stop the next mass murder by reading the signs and taking appropriate action.
5. Jared
- 11/07/2009 2:41 pm CST
Sorry for the obtuseness. I was referring to the church doing missions work among hostile Muslims.
I wasn't trying to imply any disagreement with your post or the spirit behind it. I agree with you not all cultures are created equal.
And I also am not a pacifist; I think a strong defense is important for American security.
Was just trying to say, perhaps unhelpfully, that while our military is charged with subduing enemies, only the gospel has the power to make enemies brothers.
6. Bill
- 11/07/2009 4:07 pm CST
Was just trying to say, perhaps unhelpfully, that while our military is charged with subduing enemies, only the gospel has the power to make enemies brothers.
I completely agree.
My guess (my hope?) is that there are Christians in the hostile muslim culture now, doing that dangerous work.
My parents in law were three years with the muslim Tatar people in Ukraine - not the same as being in the middle east, but still a tough and sometimes hostile mission field in many respects.
God bless those who are taking the light to the middle east.
7. Cara
- 11/07/2009 5:45 pm CST
We are friends with a couple that were missionaries in Uzbekistan, it is a nation closed to the gospel. They were there under pretense of doing agricultural education. I should clarify that they actually WERE doing ag ed, they were also creating relationships and sharing the gospel. They ended up being kicked out as the gov't learned of their mission purposes. They are now in Kazakhstan doing missions there. It was, and continues to be dangerous. Less so for a missionary with a Canadian/American passport - much more so for any of their converts. As we pray for our missionaries, pray even harder for those who choose to serve Christ as they are marked for death for betraying Islam.
8. Bill
- 11/07/2009 6:41 pm CST
Thanks Cara - regardless of whether we agree or not, I know for a fact that your heart is in the right place and I do respect your opinion.
Two quick notes: I may have this wrong (because details are still sketchy) but I believe Hasan was born in the U.S. and also that he is not Iraqi or from Afghanistan. He is of Palistinian descent, I believe. Again, I may have this wrong and it will be cleared up in a few days, certainly.
Secondly, I do want to take issue with this: "At this point, in Iraq and Afghanistan, America is setting up a government that IT has chosen, not necessarily the people. And it will have to support it for years..."
I think this does a disservice (and is also fairly patronizing) to the droves of Iraqis who VOTED for the government they have. While it's not as mature (or stable) as our system, the Iraqi people have a working political system. Theirs is not a puppet government and can, actually, legally ask us to leave at any time.
I know where you're coming from on this, but I think the people of Iraq need to be given a bit more credit than is being given to them here. It's their government.
Leave a Comment:
The strategy that throttles the ideology of Islam (and everyone else) is the gospel. But our military cannot (and should not) adopt it.
Who will go and freak Muslims out by dying?