Defeating an Ideology
Last week, President Obama launched a new war, although he seems to be averse to using the term, against murderous Muslims. While not all Muslims are violent, a simple reading of the Koran supports their behavior and a significant percentage of Muslims agree with their tactics. You know, 1% of a billion is a whole lot of murderers!
Both President Bush and President Obama have pointed out that we are at war with an “ideology.” I wonder if they consistently use that term to keep from using the term “religion.” Clearly it is not all Muslims but it is a major “sect” of Islam. An ideology is “a system of ideas and ideals, esp. one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.” In this case, it is a system of ideas that forms the basis of a religious policy.
How do you defeat an ideology? While I rarely agree with President Obama, in this sense he is right: There is no military solution to this problem. We had a military solution to Osama Bin Laden. But someone else arose and took his place. The mastermind behind 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is behind bars, as is the 1998 African embassy bombing mastermind, Ahmed Ghailani. But others arose and took their place.
I support military action against evil doers (Romans 13). But even if we “decimate and destroy” ISIS, what then? Will not someone else rise up and take their places? Will not future moms and dads teach their children that the infidels have to be destroyed? How do you defeat an ideology?
You have to replace an ideology with an ideology. But, how do we replace this ideology? Is the solution found in the United Nations? Where? Is it found in our own State Department? Where? With what ideology do we replace murderous Islamic thoughts? Capitalism? Free markets? Welfare? Free birth control?
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There truly is only one solution to defeating this ideology. A stronger, purer, divine ideology – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our battle is not against flesh and blood. “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
We would not have much success trying to evangelize ISIS. That requires a military solution. But in the long term, there is only one way to have peace on earth and that is to teach the Gospel of Peace, focused on the Prince of Peace.
Young men and churches and elderships need to look to the future, designing plans to evangelize countries with Muslim populations that are less radical. These, in turn, will have to evangelize Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, and others. Learn Arabic. Learn the Koran. Learn keys to leading a Muslim away from Mohammed and to Jesus Christ.
Christians are the only hope this world has.
–Paul Holland
