We still live in the shadow of 911. That shocking day in September 2001 confronted America with a challenge to examine who we are and what we believe in the face of a powerful ideological force that seeks to destroy us. 25 years later our response to the challenge remains as confused as it was then.
We did go to war against our attackers, but it was the wrong war of wrong means against a wrong target. The real war is against Islamism, not against individual Muslims who need a Savior as much as anyone else. Muslims are trapped in a religious ideology that single-mindedly pursues total indoctrination of the submissive and total domination of those who resist. The word “Islam” literally means “submission” or “surrender”. In a religious context the surrender is to Allah; in a social-political context, Islamism is an ideology that seeks to impose a strict interpretation of Islam on the whole world, and governance by force.
Islamism will not be defeated by guns and bullets, nor by good intentions about diversity, equity and inclusion. The only acceptable “inclusion” is complete submission to Allah. Or death.
An ideology this strong can only be defeated by a more powerful ideology—in this case, a choice between soul domination or soul liberty.
At the heart of everything American lies the irresistible idea of “freedom” deriving from the glorious truth that God, not any government, ideology, or edict of man, has made us individually free (John 8:36). It is not the freedom of license, but a more vital liberty of a soul set free from sin and spiritual death by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, offered as a gift to anyone who will receive it. Our founding documents flow from that extraordinary truth, and the meteoric rise of America as a peaceful, prosperous and powerful world leader underlines the truth of the Gospel.
But our allegiance to Christ and soul liberty has weakened to the point that it is nominal at best for most Americans, setting us adrift on a flimsy raft of magical thinking buffeted by a sea of uncertainty. It is a useless defense against Islamism (and its twin ideology, Marxist Socialism) and therein lies our inevitable defeat if Jesus tarries His return.