Religion's View of Terrorism - Essay Example

Rachna Jalan Academia-Research English 28 March 2008 “Our response [to the September 11 attacks] is to continue living in a manner that witnesses to our belief that the world was not changed on September 11, 2001. The world was changed during the celebration of Passover in 33 A.D.” Stanley Hauerwas In view of the brutal attacks of terrorism on God-gifted human life on September 11, 2001, the above statements made by the popular theologian, Stanley Hauerwas are not truly convincing. Placing the traumatic issue of September 11, 2001 in front of the pacifist Christian would solely indicate praying for peace in the face of terror. Hauerwas has put forward his opinion on the basis of Biblical history. By mentioning the transformations the world underwent during the celebration of Passover in 33 A.D the pacifist points out the crucifixion death followed by renaissance of Jesus Christ along with the celebration of God’s grace. Hauerwas reveals his perspective that God’s people could be redeemed from slavery through sacrifice and not through violence. The theologian is of the opinion that as Jesus’ teachings were based on love and non-violence the September 11th tragedy should be resolved through the adoption of non-violent techniques. However, it is important to primarily understand that the God-planned incident of Passover in A.D. 33 is a completely different issue which can hardly be linked with the terrorist-planned malevolence of September 11, 2001. The malevolent attack of Sep 11, 2001 brought about death of men, women and children from nations all around the world. It was the shock of this heinous crime which introduced a new dream into the eyes of every human – a dream of safety and peace by an indomitable win over terrorism, the invisible enemy. The cause for planning such scaremongering acts to challenge the will of mankind was all in vain as it only brought about the wrath of the civilized world. Hence, the biblical reference made by Hauerwas does remind us of the sacrifice made by Jesus for the emancipation of his disciples from slavery; this however, does not suggest us to abandon our intellect gifted by God to protect ourselves from the brutal acts of terrorism. According to the popular essayist, Alan Jacobs, “sin, like the more communicable diseases, transfers easily to other people; few of us have strong immunity to its ravages.” (Jacobs xiii). Terrorism should be considered as a sin which must be dealt with sternly before its effects start spreading like a disease. According to Christianity we are still paying for the first sin committed by Adam who disobeyed God’s order and brought death for each one who comes into the world. In this way we are sinners from birth (Jacobs 31-32).Terrorism is associated with destruction of God-gifted life and is next to committing a sin. But this time we are not going to pay for someone else’s sin. In expressing his views, Hauerwas is right to some extent, but the pacifist has completely overlooked the right provided to us by Almighty – ‘the right to live’. We have been sent to live our lives on this earth by God and only He has the right to control our destiny. Anybody insane cannot just be allowed to decide our fate simply by pressing a button of obliteration. God has gifted mankind with intellect to manufacture airplanes to fly like birds, electricity with which night’s darkness can be converted into light like the sun and medicines with which even incurable diseases can be cured. Rather than utilizing this precious gift for the advancement of human-life, these malevolent terrorists, using Creator’s gift for pursuing evil acts, are a curse for mankind. Knowledge is being utilized for manufacturing explosives, airplanes to drop bombs on fellow humans with the sole mission of destroying the earth (Wright 87-93). We do pray that the “kill or die” motto be replaced with the “live and let live” maxim, but the existence of the “survival of the fittest” dictum reminds us that aggressive counter-terrorism actions are mandatory for protecting our existence from slipping into the hands of vicious opponents and fading away into silence. God has given man wisdom to differentiate between the good and the bad and man’s ability to do so results in sin and hence, even a child is considered sinful (Gaiser 64-71). Terrorists are atrocious murderers who are complete failures in using their intellect in identifying the good from the bad. By taking away tolls of lives of the innocents these, no matter how clever militants are actually mindless in understanding the right and are hence grossly sinful. By succumbing to their mission easily we would become equally sinful for not using our intellect gifted by God to safeguard the good. Terrorists groups are primarily provoked by religious concerns. Unfortunately, because of the focus of terrorism, to make the general population feel unsafe and thereby bring attention to their cause, fighting this vengeance with tenacious efforts is inevitable. Life is the most precious gift of God and to protect this priceless gift it has become mandatory to join hands and raise a voice against terrorism to battle out together for peace and liberty. Almighty’s man just cannot become vulnerable at the hands of the destructors of His creation by sitting quietly and settling down for peace, thereby encouraging such demolishers. Eyebrows did get raised at the U.S. army and intelligence team but could do nothing to demoralize the benevolent endeavors of perpetual investigation. The response of God’s men to the September 11 attacks should be encouraged to eradicate all such brutalities that stand in the way of the mankind’s emancipation. Nik, in his theology expresses that man’s argument for committing sins for the sake of survival cannot be completely justified (Nik, 38-44). He might argue that God has given him the strength to commit sin and the strength to reason and without God’s willingness he can never commit any sin (Nik, 38-44). But in doing so he tends to forget that God has also given him intelligence over all other organisms to differentiate between the good and the bad and therefore God expects man to utilize this intelligence to protect himself from committing sins (Nik, 38-44). Also, in spite of knowing that evil results in death he tries to console himself that he has to die one day irrespective of not committing any sin (Nik, 38-44). This mindless belief can be observed to a great extent in the terrorists’ psychology. Perhaps, this is the reason why they are unable to use their intelligence for differentiating between the good and the bad. Through the character, Ivan, Dostoevsky has portrayed the rebellious nature of an ordinary man who witnesses a lot of unwanted sufferings (Dostoevsky, ch 4). “To my thinking, Christ-like love for men is a miracle impossible on earth. He was God. But we are not gods.” (Dostoevsky, ch 4) Similarly Christ’s sacrifice to evil during the Passover in 33 A.D. cannot be repeated in this 21st century when evil is once again attempting to crush the innocents. We are not Gods. The nasty attack of the bloodthirsty terrorists on non guilty men of God deserved to be replied fiercely. Ivan says, “I must have justice, or I will destroy myself. And not justice in some remote infinite time and space, but here on earth, and that I could see myself.” (Dostoevsky, ch 4) Hence, the only response to the September 11 attack is revenge. Indeed, we are rebellions now because we now know that if peace cannot be attained by taking revenge, nor can it accomplished by forgiving these murderers in the camouflage of men. These merciless destroyers of innocent lives must be taught a lesson so that they can never think of eyeing God created lives again. In the light of the above discussion it is clearly evident that the remark made by pacifist Hauerwas does not hold completely true in the present practical world. It cannot be denied that after the series of traumatic incidences of terror, every common man is shaken. Each of us is living with an embedded fear of losing our lives, losing our dear ones, losing our identity as the most beautiful creation of God. Jesus sacrificed his life for the deliverance of mankind. Then how can mankind sacrifice its existence for the triumph of sinful terrorism? Hauerwas’s expressions do keep us well-linked with the principles of non-violence, forgiveness and peacefulness. However, adoption of these principles primarily demands our survival, which at the moment is at the door of challenge. Works Cited 1. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. “Rebellion”. The Brothers Karamazov. Barnes & Noble publishers, 2004. ch. 4. 2. Frederick J. Gaiser. Paul Ricoeurs Myths of evil in biblical perspective. Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd, 2007: 64-71. 3. Jacobs, Alan. Original Sin. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008: xiii, 31-32. 4. Nik, Ansell. The Call of Wisdom/the Voice of the Serpent: A Canonical Approach to the Tree of Knowledge. Gordon College Press, 2001: 38-44. 5. Wright, N. T. Evil and the Justice of God. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2006: 87-93 Read More