THIS IS A RELIGIOUS WAR AND SEPTEMBER 11 WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING

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THIS IS A RELIGIOUS WARAND SEPTEMBER 11 WAS ONLY
THE BEGINNING

• In an article published by the New York Times
  Magazine on October 7, 2001, author Andrew
  Sullivan writes about the war sparked by the
  events of September 11, 2001. He asserts that the
  war is, in fact, a religious war, despite what
  President Bush and others say to the contrary.

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AUTHOR

• Andrew Sullivan
• Controversial, outspoken, and often contradictory

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Andrew Sullivans Background

• English, of Irish Roman Catholic Descent
• BA in Modern History from Oxford University,
  Masters in Public Administration and PhD in
  Government from Harvard.

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Career History

• 1991-1996 Served as Editor of The New Republic
  magazine
• 1994 Published excerpts from The Bell Curve,
  which was considered racist material, and caused
  controversy.
• Briefly wrote for New York Times magazine,
  leaving the magazine in 2002.

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Career History

• 2000 Began his blog The Daily Dish, which is
  characterized by passionate argumentation and a
  willingness to admit doubt and entertain changes
  of mind. His blog has been quite popular,
  receiving up to 300,000 unique visits per month.
• 2003 Wrote a whimsical, oft-cited salon essay
  proclaiming himself a member of the gay bear
  community.
• Currently, he serves as a columnist for The
  Sunday Times of London.

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Politics
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Politics

• Self-Proclaimed Conservative
• Dissociated himself from the Republican Party
• Believes they have abandoned conservative
  principals

• Endorsed Kerry in 2004 for President
• Voiced support for Democrats in 2006
• Though he claims to be conservative, many of his
  views are to the left of the political spectrum.

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Controversies and Religion
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Controversies

• Speaks out against gay promiscuity, however, is
  rumored to have posted ads on internet for
  bareback sex, though HIV positive

• Defends himself, stating in his book Love
  Undetectable I never defended promiscuity. I
  never publicly attacked it. I attempted to avoid
  the subject because I feel unable to live by the
  ideals I really hold.

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Controversies

• Journalistic ethics called into question for
  accepting sponsorship to write his blog from the
  Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America.

• He dropped the sponsorship when the ensuing
  criticism of him and the company (which he
  credits with saving his life) regarding its
  practices in AIDS infected areas of the Third
  World raged.

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Religion

• Born a Catholic, he has maintained an interest in
  and not proclaimed or indicated abandonment of
  the religion, though the Church considers
  homosexuality to be a disorder and a sin.

• His writings, such as in his book Virtually
  Normal, have at times dealt with this issue, and
  may have been influenced by homosexual Roman
  Catholic John Boswell.

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THE ARTICLE

• This is a Religious War
• September 11 was Only the Beginning.

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Historical Background

• The article was written less than a month after
  September 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks on
  the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and speculated
  target the White House had ripped Americans sense
  of security to shreds, but also bound us together
  to stand strong against the evil that had
  destroyed property, families, and lives.

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Historical Background

• President Bush, government officials, and
  commentators stressed repeatedly that this was
  not a religious war.
• Americans were suspicious of anyone who did not
  appear all-American
• Fear and a sense of loss ran high and wide
  throughout the nation
• Many feared and speculated this may be a
  religious war, despite what those in power
  claimed.

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Main Points
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Certain assertions have been made to emphasize
what this war IS NOT about.

• Bush, government officials, and commentators have
  repeatedly stressed that this is not a war
  between the Muslims and the Western World.
• They assert that the murderers are not
  representative of the Islamic faith.
• To emphasize this belief, an attempt to include
  Muslim leaders alongside Christian, Jews,
  Buddhists, and others in talks and conventions
  has been made.

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Problems with these assertions.

• They dont hold up under inspection. Sullivan
  states that the religious dimension of this
  conflict is essential to its meaning.
• Osama bin Ladens words are saturated with
  religious argument and theological language.
• Many Muslim Leaders in the Middle East and
  elsewhere have not denounced these acts, and even
  celebrated them.
• The things these terrorists hate about our
  culture are inherently religious in nature.

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Though not mainstream Islam, this enemy surely
represents a radical fundamentalist part of Islam
that cannot be ignored.

• This war is not Christianity vs. Islam, but is a
  war of fundamentalism against faiths of all kinds
  that are at peace with freedom and modernity.
• The conflict has ancient roots, but seems to be
  gaining new force as modernity spreads and
  deepens.

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Our Aggressor

• Osama bin Laden and Al Quaeda

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Osama bin Ladens View

• The call to wage war against America was made
  because America has spearheaded the crusade
  against the Islamic nation, sending tens of
  thousands of its troops to the land of the two
  holy mosques over and above its meddling in its
  affairs and politics and its support of the
  oppressive, corrupt, and tyrannical regime that
  is in control.
• -- Osama bin Laden

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Osama bin Ladens View

• Littered with explicitly religious terminology,
  such as crusade, two holy mosques (Saudi
  Arabia)
• Ignores the fact that the last few major American
  interventions abroad, in Kuwait, Somalia, and the
  Balkans, were all conducted in defense of
  Muslims.
• The crusade the USA allegedly leads, is not
  said by bin Laden to be against Arabs, but
  against the Islamic Nation spanning many
  ethnicities.

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Osama bin Ladens View

• bin Ladens beef is with American troops defiling
  Saudi Arabia the land of the two Holy Mosques.
• He stated in 1998 that his terrorism was of the
  commendable kind, for it is directed at the
  tyrants and aggressors and the enemies of
  AllahOur religion is under attack.
• Believes that their call is the call of Islam as
  revealed to Muhammad, and this war is against
  unbelief and unbelievers.

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Is Islam Against Us?

• It is not mainstream Islam that holds these
  beliefs.
• It is an extreme, violent strain of Islam that
  emerged in the 18th century.
• Many passages in the Koran urge mercy, tolerance
  and respect for life.
• Extremists latch on to stray passages such as
  Believers! Wage war against such of the infidels
  as are your neighbors, and let them find you
  rigorous.

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Is Islam Against Us?

• The use of religion for repression and terror is
  not restricted to Islam.
• The answer is that fundamentally, ISLAM is not
  against us, but that the extreme, violent and
  passionate subculture that has taken root cannot
  be ignored.
• The religious element of this conflict cannot be
  denied, and should not be denied.
• In understanding and addressing the cause of a
  conflict, a better chance at resolution exists.

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Fundamentalism

• What is the difference in Islam, and the violent,
  fundamental strain of Islam that terrorists fight
  for?

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What does fundamentalism offer? Sullivan asserts
that

• It elevates and comforts.
• Provides a sense of meaning and direction to
  those lost in a disorienting world.
• Texts are blindly embraced as LITERAL truth, to
  follow the commandments of God before anything
  else, even reason and judgment.
• Has led individuals to commit acts of both
  extreme evil and extreme good.

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What do fundamentalists fear?

• Unbelief. Sin begets sin. The sin of others can
  corrupt you as well.
• Solution is viewed as to construct a world in
  which sin is outlawed and punished and constantly
  purged by force if necessary.
• If you believe strongly enough, it isnt crazy to
  act this way, but crazy not to.
• There is no room for dissent or doubt.
  Interpretation can lead to error and error to
  damnation. Literalism is key.

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Defeat of Fundamentalism

• How do you defeat an ideal, even more difficult,
  an extreme, irrational, fundamentalist ideal?

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Fundamentalist Conflict is not new

• Inquisition, religious wars that raged in Europe
  for nearly three centuries, and many witch hunts
  were all product of fanatics who often genuinely
  thought their efforts were in the best interests
  of their victims that they were acting out of
  mercy and godliness.
• A few minutes of hideous torture on earth were
  deemed a small price to pay for spiritual
  cleansing and helping a soul to avoid eternal
  damnation.
• Sullivan sums these things up by showing the
  good intentions of the fanatics who waged these
  wars.

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Taliban reflects this history

• Fusion of politics and ultimate meaning
• Fear they are in danger by those too weak to have
  faith therefore they must be liquidated or
  purged.
• The lessons learned in Europe in its bloody
  history have yet to be absorbed within the Muslim
  world.
• We are not at the end of this conflict, but at a
  very early stage.

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Resolution

• Is there possibility of resolution?

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Assimilation into Western Culture

• We often think that assimilation into Western
  culture will bring fundamentalists around
  somewhat, but in fact the opposite is true.
• The allure of such a culture is seen as
  temptation and there is little room in the
  fundamentalist psyche for moderate accommodation.

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Separation of Church and State

• The security against an American Taliban is
  simple The Constitution.
• It has not led to a collapse in religion or
  faith, but has instead strengthened the tolerance
  thereof, and allowed a huge diversity of belief
  without fear for that belief.
• What is at the heart of this war is that we have
  the freedom to practice or not to practice any
  religion we see fit, any way we see fit, without
  government interference according to the author.

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Expectations of Resolution

• The symbol of this conflict should not be Old
  Glory, but our Constitution and the freedom of
  religious faith it guarantees.
• This conflict is indeed as momentous and grave as
  the conflict against Nazism and Communism.
• This conflict represents another battle against
  a religion that is succumbing to the temptation
  Jesus refused in the desert to rule by force.

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Expectations of Resolution

• We can expect a resolution to this conflict to be
  as long and arduous in coming as the end to
  Nazism and Communism.
• It is not about ending Islam, or the fight
  against Islam, but the fight against those whose
  religion has become terrorism in the name of a
  religion they have embraced in a twisted,
  fundamentalist effort to cleanse the world of
  their idea of sin, much as Hitler wished to
  cleanse the world of those not racially pure.
• If we truly seek a resolution to this conflict,
  we cannot deny its religious underpinnings.

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Things to Consider

• Do you think that separation of church and state
  has truly created diversity in this nation?
• Do you think that separation of church and state
  is in danger in our country today?

• Do you consider this conflict a religious war?
  Who do you feel the religious aggressor is?
• How do you feel the authors conflicting beliefs
  and politics affect his point of view on this
  subject?