reply to bisvas

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), Aug 16, 2006 at 19:52

I do not hold that the United States is an "innocent lamb of God"--in my religion, that title is reserved for Jesus Christ alone (see the first chapter of the Gospel of John), and refers to his role as the sacrifice for our sins. This being said, I certainly hold no candle for Islam!, whether militant or other--and I believe that elsewhere in this blog, I have made it plain that I believe that the solution to radical Islamicism is not moderate Islam, but the widespread conversion of Muslims to Christ. I do indeed see Islam as a problem--but my religion does not countenance conversion by force; so my solution has to go for the long haul.

Indeed, I did not intend to suggest that the actions of militant Islam are at all excusable. However, I stick by my account of things. The Soviet Union was a great danger--and the hostility it and other Communist powers met from the USA was richly invited. Further, its power and population base were such that it could have easily launched a Third World War if not constrained by fear of American nuclear retaliation. In the case of Islam, we have dozens of states and sects, not one of which is capable of forming the nucleus of a credible, global threat (albeit their regional threats are very real).

Granted, Anatolia, from Mt. Ararat to the Aegean, and Eastern Thrace were conquered from the Armenians and Greeks. Certainly the late 19th and early 20th century massacres of Turkey's Christian minority peoples was a great blot and crime--especially since the overwhelming majority of these people were politically loyal to the Sultan when the massacres occurred. Yet, there is no doubt that today, the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of Anatolia and Eastern Thrace identify themselves as Turks and Muslims; and, if by some miracle of divine grace, sixty-plus millions of them were to convert to Christ overnight, they would identify themselves as Turks and Christians. If we were to declare that all conquered lands ought to be returned to their "original" owners, Aryan South Asians would have to move back to the Danube region and leave the Ganges and Indus to the Gonds, Santali, and Kurukh--while, if we're going to bash the Muslims, 'Eretz Yisrael would be left as is, or possibly enlarged, as land to be quarreled over by the Jews and Samaritans.

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