Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, we have lived with the growing threat of terror from Islamic extremists. It has mutated, changing organizations, flags, countries of origin, and processes.
But in the end, it remains the same: an evil agenda perpetuated by the worst kinds of people - fanatics with nothing to lose and the oligarchs who fund them in the name of abhorrent theology. Our secular, liberal sensitivities might make us balk at the term, but there's no denying that we are indeed in a Holy War.
There is a danger in our materialist mindset as a culture. Ultimately, modernity rests on the idea that people fear violent death, that they are unwilling to die for invisible beings that may or may not exist, and that they can be coaxed or coerced on a material basis.
The West fought its wars of religion and learned that such bloodlust is unquenchable; after the peace, we invented our modern state system, and withdrew all coercive powers from our churches.
Secularism was the new morality.
Let me state this unequivocally for people in denial of the facts of the matter: the regions containing the most Islamic extremists and their subhuman activities are also those places that cannot find any similarities in their norms, customs, or histories with the summary I've written above.
And even in the few places where there has been stability, almost all of it has been at the behest of a strongman or dictator, and not the result of positive rights or constitutional development.
Why does this matter?
Because whether it's politically correct apologists at best or militant solipsistic leftists at worst, far too many voices cry out a false prophesy about the threat we face: that this danger is our own fault and that it can be appeased by submitting to its demands which are reasonable in light of our past sins.
This is utter lunacy, making other historical sympathizers and traitors look like sincere patriots or kindly saints by comparison.
But many fail to grasp why these fifth columnists and brow beaters worthy of the Ninth Circle are so incorrect.
Ultimately, they are arguing from a materialist standpoint: whether they are Marxists who simply see militant Islamism as a violent but necessary means to paradise on earth or they are just the lukewarm who believe enough booty will satisfy these awful renegades, they are wrong.
My choice of the words "holy war" are not in vain.
It is being fought on principles that cannot be materially quantified or rebutted.
The people who are conducting this heinous campaign of violence are not interested in cash or even esteem; they cannot be appeased precisely because they are on a holy mission to utilize any means necessary to make the world submit to "God" in mind, body, and soul.
So, what is the answer?
Luckily, we have been here before and it might surprise you that there are actually two paths.
The obvious one is to strike back with as much vehemence and conviction as our enemy has for us - we called these Crusades.
But there is a merciful path available as well: converting one's enemy by argument and acts of charity as Saint Francis of Assisi attempted to do in the Middle Ages.
I'll dwell on the latter as it is certainly the less well-known solution. St. Francis wanted the Crusades to end, as he had respect for all human life.
He mounted a one-man mission to meet and speak with the Sultan himself, hoping to convince him of the truth of Christianity to end the bloodshed.
Of course, this did not occur but the Sultan gave him safe passage back to Christendom, probably out of respect for a man so convicted by his beliefs he had gone right into the lion's den to preach to it.
Thus, we come to the crux of the argument.
Violence has only begotten violence, and to meet force with force, while truly justified, can never be the enduring solution to this problem.
Only when our enemies understand that God is not so weak as to desire people to submit via coercion but rather to be redeemed by love for one another and for their Creator, will they turn their AK-47s into ploughshares.
Perhaps this is the answer that has eluded us all along. Christ commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
It follows that holy wars can only be won with holy weapons.
