Ray Ciervo Ministries

Will Islam and the West ever agree?
During the Vietnam war, the media, the government, and the military all misunderstood the Vietnamese. Presidents Johnson and Nixon both believed they would beat the Vietnamese by attrition. However, this proved to be untrue. Simply killing thousands of North Vietnamese did not bring them to their knees - or to the bargaining table. What America collectively misunderstood was the Vietnamese resolve to win the war.

While in Vietnam, I had the opportunity to live with a Vietnamese family, and later liaison with the South Vietnamese rescue squad. I ate with them, slept with them, partied with them, and sometimes cried with them. To say it simply, I learned a lot. When South Vietnamese soldiers expressed their doubts about winning the war, I too became doubtful. Vietnam had been at war with China, the French, and then America. They fought the Chinese for a thousand years, the French for a hundred years, and we'd been there 10 years. They knew they'd simply outlast us. They also knew they had something they were willing to die for. We weren't quite sure if we should be dying for this.

Then the media simply misunderstood the North Vietnamese resolve. They also misrepresented the Vietnamese people as a whole. The media reported that the Vietnamese did not value human life. No one knows how many Vietnamese lives were given for their cause - that's another story - but the media assessment was a misrepresentation.

Currently, the media continually misrepresent "radical Islam." Today, I heard a newscaster skew radical Islam as "fascist." This is clearly another misrepresentation. The Muslims who wage war in Iraq today are fighting for a "way of life." Agree with it or not, they're fighting for a theocracy. In fact, when President Bush talks about bringing democracy to Iraq, they hear that as bringing a pagan, idolatrous government, namely democracy, to a Muslim land. For the Muslim, democracy is people-dependent, not God- dependent.

It is not helpful for the media to portray the followers of Islam as fascists, thugs, or anything other than what they are: religious zealots. Of course, there are moderate Muslims who are also targets for the radical kind. These moderates, according to the radicals, adjust to democracy by trading in - compromising - what Islam actually is. Frankly, they're right. To the Muslim, the Koran is the incarnation of God. It is more than the Bible, which has undergone critical scrutiny. The Koran has never undergone any critical scrutiny, not because Muslims are afraid to find errors, but because they revere the book as they revere God himself. True Islam adheres to the Koran. These moderates have deviated from the basic Koranic teaching.

According to an article by Dinesh D'Souza, radical Muslims are out to set things right. At one time, Islam was at the center of culture, the arts, and philosophy. However, this is not evident anymore. The Muslims have asked, "What went wrong?" The answer they've come up with is that they've stopped living by the Koran. And, there are too many non- Muslim influences on their culture, namely the West. America is the "Great Satan" who deceives and lures Muslims away from the Koran, and a holy life.

The problem with the West and Islam is that the West sees two things: an untapped market to reap lots of money, and oil. Our commercial bent keeps us seeking how we can tap into their economy. Our (America and the West) other interest in the Mideast has always been oil. We had no interest in the region until we discovered we needed oil and they had it. Unfortunately, we can't seek either without exporting our culture. Movies, music, and TV are all exported into the Mideast. This drives the Muslims mad.

Conversely, Muslims see one thing: a decadent secular culture corrupting their ability to be holy. They see us like the biker dude, covered in tattoos and piercings, sporting a Mohawk haircut, hanging out with our daughter, and perhaps getting a little bit too physical.

D'Souza points out that radical Muslims are desperate. Terrorism is an act of desperation, which finds justification only in the live-or-die mindset. Muslims want Westerners to leave their lands. They will kill for it, and as we've seen, die for it. They want isolation and will go to any end to achieve it. Suicide bombings tell the story of this mindset and worldview.

But the Muslims want more. When one radical was asked what he would do if America left Iraq, he said he would come after us here. They not only want isolation, but they want the influence of the West to end. They believe the demise of Muslim culture is due to Muslims not living by the Koran. They attribute that to "sell-outs" who have embraced Western lifestyles and the pervading decadent influence of Western culture.

There are some things that Christians must agree with. America is hedonistic. We live for pleasure. Our culture is godless, or we have marginalized God at best. Secularism is the enemy of all religions. Muslims see America drowning in drugs, promiscuity, lewd behavior, crookedness, and the rest. We'd have to agree this is an apt description of American culture. Heck, I don't want that culture influencing my life!

The invasion of Iraq may have removed a threat to "our" way of life. But Iraq is an Arab land inhabited by Arabs. We've watched Iraqis rejoice that Saddam was chased out and captured, but also say they want us out now. The radical Muslims do not want a Western-style democracy to govern Iraq. Neither do they want the West to guide or influence Iraq.

The problem is historical as well as ideological. For more insight into this, read Samuel P. Huntington's description of this problem in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. In about four pages, Huntington outlines the last 1400 years of conflict between Islam and the West. This problem with Islam has not just appeared out of nowhere. He emphasizes that Islam and the West have threatened each other's existence for centuries. One must simply recognize that this problem between Islam and the West will not just go away.

Politically, the West tries to enlighten the Muslims through democracy. We want to make them "civilized" like the rest of us. Military force is not the issue. We can defeat their armies on any battleground. What the West fails to realize is that this is not a political war, but a war of ideologies. And the war is not contained in one country or region - radical Islam spans the globe. This is not a war the West will win on the battlefield.

What can the Christian do? Simply, we must win Muslims one at a time. There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, and they are largely untouched by evangelism. However, God has been busy reaching Muslims. There are countless stories of Jesus appearing to Muslims in their time of prayer, revealing Himself as the right way to God. There are also many covert missionaries reaching Muslim people. However, efforts to reach Muslims are way out of proportion to reaching other peoples of the world. As Americans, we can fear the hatred Muslims have for us. But as Christians we must find ways of reaching the Muslim world.

On a social note, I believe we can agree with Muslims that America is hedonistic and secular as a culture. We can also agree that most western Christianity is tepid and shallow. It is self- serving and lacks the power the gospel promises. For most of us, we can repent and call the church to follow Jesus into the mission field. Not unlike the people we tend to fear and misunderstand, Christians need to live by the Book.

Will Islam and the West ever agree? I don't believe so. The two ideologies are incompatible. Radical Muslims are not about to go away, not unless their ideology changes.