Q: One of the things that you've done in the furtherance of this theme is to build a case for the parallels to acts of terror on the Muslim side from Christian and Jewish perspectives. You bring up the Zealots, the Crusades, and several other modern examples. However, a bystander may look at that and say "Well, I read and hear about the Muslim acts of extremism, but I don't really hear much of the others."
A: The argument of the book is that al-Qaida and the larger jihadist network that buttresses these transnational militant movements in the Muslim world are fighting a cosmic war of the imagination. There's no political, economic or social agenda that actually fueling this movement, but it's really a war that in their minds is taking place on another plane. The fact of the matter is that this is by no means exclusive solely to Muslim groups. The idea of cosmic warfare actually has its roots in the Hebrew Bible. In the book, I go deep into the Old Testament and talk about the ideas of religion and violence and the way they were developed in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
You're right, though - the fact is that because of the issues that are taking place in the world right now, most people are only familiar with religious violence insofar as they exist in the Muslim world. But of course, these are ideas and impulses that are just as prevalent among right-wing Jews inIsrael United States
But the larger issue here is that the problem with the "cosmic war" is that because it is not fought for land or territory or any kind of economic gain, but rather for the purpose of ridding the world of evil, that this is a war that cannot be won. It is a never-ending war.
The criticism that I have of the "war on terror", and why the subtitle of the book is about the end of the "war on terror", is that the Bush administration, by essentially adopting the same religiously polarizing language and cosmic worldview as those people who attacked the United States on September 11, essentially transformed the "war on terror" into a "cosmic war". We are essentially fighting the same war of the imagination as the jihadists themselves are fighting, which is precisely why the so-called 'war on terror" has been so absolutely appalling in adequately confronting these radical and extremists in the Muslim world.
Related: Perebutan emas di Perak, letih dan MEMBOSANKAN!
A: The argument of the book is that al-Qaida and the larger jihadist network that buttresses these transnational militant movements in the Muslim world are fighting a cosmic war of the imagination. There's no political, economic or social agenda that actually fueling this movement, but it's really a war that in their minds is taking place on another plane. The fact of the matter is that this is by no means exclusive solely to Muslim groups. The idea of cosmic warfare actually has its roots in the Hebrew Bible. In the book, I go deep into the Old Testament and talk about the ideas of religion and violence and the way they were developed in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
You're right, though - the fact is that because of the issues that are taking place in the world right now, most people are only familiar with religious violence insofar as they exist in the Muslim world. But of course, these are ideas and impulses that are just as prevalent among right-wing Jews in
But the larger issue here is that the problem with the "cosmic war" is that because it is not fought for land or territory or any kind of economic gain, but rather for the purpose of ridding the world of evil, that this is a war that cannot be won. It is a never-ending war.
The criticism that I have of the "war on terror", and why the subtitle of the book is about the end of the "war on terror", is that the Bush administration, by essentially adopting the same religiously polarizing language and cosmic worldview as those people who attacked the United States on September 11, essentially transformed the "war on terror" into a "cosmic war". We are essentially fighting the same war of the imagination as the jihadists themselves are fighting, which is precisely why the so-called 'war on terror" has been so absolutely appalling in adequately confronting these radical and extremists in the Muslim world.
Related: Perebutan emas di Perak, letih dan MEMBOSANKAN!
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