TheDuke's Domain

Unless one has lived under a rock completely disconnected from the rest of the world, then any reader to this blog is already familiar with the London bombings last week. I think it interesting that the only really violent terrorists out there are mostly Muslims. Europe and to a lesser extent, the United States are experiencing growth in Muslim populations and I don't think that is healthy for any society, especially societies with a Christian heritage. These bombings probably will demonstrate that what we as Christians are fighting is not just people and mere ideologies, but against principalities and powers that cannot be seen.

Securing our borders and monitoring Islamic groups can get us only so far in this conflict. Islam needs to be broken down at its most basic level. It is a religion that challenges the reign of Jesus Christ. We must ask God to tear down and to triumph over this pagan religion and we must fight this battle with faithful preaching of the Word, faithful administration of the Sacraments and a lot of prayer and faith in God's sovereignty over all of creation.

With that thought in mind, I think a proper perspective about Congressman Tancredo's remarks about bombing Mecca should the U.S. have another terrorist attack in this country. On a base level, I would favor such a move because of my desire for revenge and because the majority of Muslims have yet to clearly define what is acceptable behavior in regards to conversion, political aims, etc. I realize that this would be a mistake infuriating some billion Muslims and would serve no purpose at all in the GWOT. Realizing the stupidity of the geo-political situation is one thing, but on a deeper, more fundamental level, is the fact that the ultimate destruction of Islam is going to come through the church and not the state. Can God use our military might to strike at competing religions? Yes he can, but the ultimate power will come only from the movement of the Holy Spirit through all nations, tribes and tongues. That is the Congressman's biggest blunder. The proper role for the military and our government is to deal with the flesh and the blood of bloodthirsty individuals. The proper role of the church is to deal with the principalities and powers behind the people. When we keep these roles in their proper perspective, then we will begin to see the solution to the problem of terrorism.