Editorial -- Islam & terrorism
Achieving a minimal level of civilization
The outpost of Muslims here in Alaska is small. As described on page one, they avoid controversy, mind their own business, and are little known among the rest of the population.
We Alaskans are insulated from the conflicts that challenge humanity. It seems that the clash of civilizations is distant. But that is an illusion. Global conflicts strike us here, only in more subtle forms (by exporting the harm that we do, or by harming ourselves psychologically).
Ten percent of Alaska population and economy is military. Fifty percent of our federal taxes support the war machine. And much of these resources are now being used in the war in Iraq.
Our peace is the product of force. The peace we can envision is the result of understanding and compassion. We should see the outpost of Muslims in Alaska as one thousand representatives of a civilization that is one billion strong. Their existence here presents an opportunity to resolve a terrible problem in a great way.
It is true that fanatics have co-opted a peaceful culture, twisting and turning nonviolent religious precepts into hate. But this violent sector is only the corruption of an ancient culture that is under assault. The culture itself is good.
Let it be known: Islam is a wisdom tradition. It contains a storehouse of insight about how to organize society and about what makes life worth living. If you don’t understand this, you cannot know what divides humanity, and there can be no hope for lasting peace.
The resentment and despair in Islamic culture is a result of the assault on their tradition by a global culture that is so powerful and so seductive that spiritual truths have no chance. Islam is a wounded culture that grieves for a way of life that it doesn’t know how to protect. It is defending tradition, family, respect, and reverence. It is opposed to materialism, indecency, vulgarity, moral relativism, imperialism, and other plagues of modernity and the West.
It is a tenet of the most minimal level of civilization that at least as much money be spent on understanding as on violence. The failure to do so puts us in the territory, simply put, of brute power. That national policy is made in Washington is no excuse. Our tradition of freedom cannot survive the destructive impact of our expenditures.
We are not claiming that the war in Iraq is unjustified. Our point is that to balance the use of force we must spend equal sums on understanding. Imagine what billions of dollars could do: public gatherings, festivals, conferences, and seminars that cultivate and celebrate our wisdom traditions, both here in Alaska and all over the world. If nothing else, these forums could begin to heal our own psychological damage.
In addition, until the war in Iraq is over, every one of the three hundred churches in Anchorage should begin their services with an honest and positive accounting of Muslim views.
Can we aspire to the most minimal level of civilization? It is not a brilliant concept - it is the least that a decent state could do.