Leap of Faith

"He had, in fact, got everything from the church
and Sunday School, except, perhaps, any longing whatever
for decency and kindness and reason."

"A proper school should teach. . .the Hebrew Bible
as interpreted by men superbly trained to ignore contradictions,
men technically called 'Fundamentalists.'"
--Elmer Gantry, Sinclair Lewis (1927)

A twelve-gauge, double-barreled, grenade-launcher of LOVE!
--Leap of Faith (1992)
_________

Sitting at the Mayo Clinic the past two days and being post-operative leads one to introspection. Thinking on morality inevitably leads one to religion. For us here at Ranger, this is not the little personal religion, but the larger Religion that overtakes a people.

Ranger has always proposed that terrorism is a total cultural phenomenon that entails economic, religious, political, economic, sociological and psychological elements. This applies to most typical terrorists groups, like the Irish Republican Army and ETA (Basque Homeland and Freedom), which are but two long-term examples of the genre.

But we have encountered a deviation from the old partisan groups with our created Phony War on Terror (PWOT©). The U.S. has fabricated an enemy cut of one cloth, variously called Islamofascism, Islamic extremism or radical Islam. We see them as the motivating force behind Middle Eastern terrorism. But this impulse is only relevant to al-Qaeda and related sympathetic Wahhabi elements.

In fact, the terrorists, or what we call terrorists, fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq are not of this fabric. Most elements of the Taliban and Iraqi insurgency are fighting simply because the U.S. is an invading army of occupation, with no ideological ax to grind beyond that of expulsing the occupiers.

This behavior is justifiable, understandable and sanctioned by international law. Bottom line: the U.S. invaded a country without being aggressed upon and targeted the Taliban, a group which never did attack U.S. interests (though they did provide safe haven to the actual menace, which is the terrorist group al Qaeda, as does Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.)

In contrast to the Taliban, all the extreme Islamists targeting U.S. interests have one shared characteristic, from leader Osama bin Laden down to the lowliest recruit. They are all willing to defer their happiness to the supernatural plane. They are willing to forgo material gratification in this life with the goal of entering paradise as an honorably felled warrior.

In effect, the earthly plain is of little consequence and the battle therefore assumes eternal and cosmic proportions. Powerful stuff.

Sure, the Christian ideology retains quaint notions of resurrections and Elysian Fields, but for most, the concept of eternity is only concretized in the form of a vain concept of personal genetic legacy -- a quasi-scientific projection of one's own gametes. But that is as sure as most folks get. The metaphysical persistence of one's essence beyond death is a hope residing on a tenuous faith. Most are willing to hedge their bets in choosing belief in the eventuality of this gossamer afterlife, but this is a far less certain call.

So how does the U.S. true believer, who has most faith in the almighty dollar, address these true Muslim believers? We send troops to fight them, troops who have access to computer porn, but who aren't allowed to drink alcohol in consideration of their area of assignment. Can you say, "hypocritical"? Conflictual?

Our occupation has introduced cell phones, ipods, blackberries, You Tube, My Space and cellphone and computer accessed smut. But the local women wear burkhas and hajibs.

We further believe that oil revenue sharing will buy their loyalty. Foreign aid --throwing truckloads of shrink-wrapped newly minted C notes is another tried and true attempt to pimp them out. But to the true al-Qaeda believer, none of this will ever work. They don't want our money and things, they just want us out of their face and space.

These people cannot be bought off like the pimps that cooperate with the U.S. occupations of their countries. Money is not the answer. They are focused on eternity, and this earthly plain (plane) is simply the line of departure.

The radical Islamists are reminiscent of the religious right in American politics EXCEPT the radical Islamists have a purity of intent that is unknown to church-goin' people like GWB and Cheney. The hardcore Islamists really believe their dogma.

The Catholic church worships their martyrs and saints who preferred a reward in heaven to life on this plane of sin, but the day of the literal self-flagellant is largely passed. And the act of worship has been transmuted into a pecuniary transaction, one of buying indulgences from more sainted entities.

Modern Christianity may call for man to walk in the footsteps of his savior, but also says that there is no greater glory in living the ascetic life. God wants you to be affluent! Surely that bit about the meek inheriting the earth is just metaphorical.

These adherents have no understanding of deferred gratification. They take the dominion over the land and beast part seriously. The radical Islamists do not share in such temporal material revelry. Mohammed never met a Calvinist or Presbyterian.

So if not via force, how does America best countenance the problem of the actual terrorist threat posed by al-Qaeda? We lack their ideological fervor, regardless of how arrogantly we believe we are in the right. Because of our milder engagement, they have the better claim to victory on the battlefield.

Some possible ideas:

[1] Keep our Armies off their sacred ground.

[2] Realize that not everyone can be bought and sold by Mammon.

[3] Monitor extremist mosques via police and intelligence on a coordinated worldwide basis.

[4] Hold the real radical Islamists to task -- even if they are in the royal family of Saud.

[5] If it is a time of war, then isolate U.S. borders and protect the homeland from the threat.

[6] Do not allow Islamic individuals to fly in groups on any domestic flight. Surely not without an air marshal aboard. This is surely inconvenient, but then again, so was 9-11.

[7] Establish economic programs to purchase petroleum without trying to dominate their societies. In effect, security trumps phony unrealistic calls to democracy.

These people live in a tribal space and time that is not in sync with U.S. realities. They do not prioritize here and now, and their loyalty is otherworldly. Isn't this something that a Christian President with a higher father should understand?

--Jim and Lisa