Austin's Blog How’d We Get In This Mess?
Do a web search on the title of this blog, “How’d we get in this mess?” and you’ll find many references to the economic quagmire inspired by greed in the mortgage industry. But those words—that question—could just as easily apply to the war situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last week’s blog had some wonderful comments from readers as we considered alternatives to war. My son Andrew proposed that we try a new alternative — to love and educate Muslims. It’s an alternative that’s worth a try.
In this week’s Lesson 11 of my class on Understanding Islam, we delved for a brief half hour into a history of the Crusades. While it’s a difficult period of history to understand, and a murderous period of history on both sides of the conflict, the Crusades have something to teach us about today’s wars in the Middle East.
15th century painting of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, where he preached an impassioned sermon to take back the Holy Land. Source: Wikipedia
In the year 1095, Pope Urban may have well asked the same question “How’d we get in this mess?” Over 400 years earlier, Muslims had seized control of Jerusalem in 638 AD, and in recent months before the Council of Clermont, Muslims had destroyed 30,000 churches across what is modern day Israel and Turkey. Thousands of pilgrims had died as they headed to the Holy Land, tens of thousands of Christians were displaced, and the Byzantine Empire was set upon by deadly attacks from the fierce Seljuk Turks. Pope Urban, seeking to unite Europe under the banner of Christianity, called for a military response to save those who had been persecuted and expelled. Much like our response to 9-11, for example.
196 years later, Crusaders finally abandoned the Middle East after a protracted series of battles, truces, assaults and massacres… death and deceit on both sides of the conflict. As French King Louis IX walked away from his captivity near the end of the Crusades, he well may have wondered “How’d we get into this mess?”
I have two theories about the Crusades and today’s wars, one in response to his question, and one looking back at what history has shown us.
First, we’re “in this mess” because we chose to take the battle to the Middle East instead of letting the battle come to us. Muslim extremists brought an attack to our soil, the first since Pearl Harbor. We had a choice of waiting for the next attack or taking the war back to where the evil of 9-11 originated. When the Byzantine Empire and the Christians of the Middle East called for help, Pope Urban may have seen his options in much the same way—wait for the onslaught, or take the battle back to the perpetrators. Indeed, the first Crusade succeeded in liberating Antioch, the first Christian city, and then Jerusalem, but at a terrible cost. Our wartime actions, liberating Afghanistan from the grip of the Taliban and Iraq from Saddam Hussein, have also come at great cost to both sides. While America’s action in the Middle East is not a repeat of the Crusades, the results and the lessons learned pose striking similarities.
The Siege at Antioch; Source: Wikipedia
Pope Urban took the war to the Middle East. In so doing, many historians judge that the Crusades forced the Muslims to “focus on their own backyard,” and thus prevented the spread of Islam into Europe. Whether or not we agree on war as the proper option, President Bush also took the battle to the land of Islam. Since 9-11, we have successfully defended our homeland from any more attacks. Are these current wars and the loss of lives — American and Muslim lives alike — worth the cost? History will have to decide. We are “too close to the action,” so to speak.
We’ve had 800 years since the end of the Crusades to consider their cost and their value. My second theory is this: While the Crusades were horrific in their scope of loss of life, there was a distinct advantage to taking the war to the Muslims. In so doing, Europe had the opportunity to unite under the banner of Pope Urban’s call to arms. Europe was able to mature and to flourish without defending against the onslaught of the Islamic forces that had been turned back at the Battle of Tours in France, and at Vienna. Europe emerged as a political, scientific, and artistic power, and prospered to be the progenitor of colonization that led to the establishment of the United States of America.
If Pope Urban had not taken the fight to the Middle East, would there be a mosque in the place of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome? Would they teach the Qur’an and Shari’a law as the basis of jurisprudence at Oxford? Would America have been settled, or if it had, would those early colonists have worshipped Allah instead of Jesus Christ?
I submit that, whether or not you appreciate the value of the Crusades, today’s Europeans and Americans are beneficiaries of Pope Urban and his successors, and the blood their “soldiers of the cross” shed in the sands of Islamic lands. Europe took the battle to Islam, and later emerged as an economic and political power. America was founded on Christian values because of the vision and energy of European Christians. Thus, if we can trace our lineage in part to the Crusades, we might also trace the good tidings of future Christians to our nation’s current wartime action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It’s possible, horrible as war is, that taking the fight to Islam makes it possible for us to survive as a Christian nation, and flourish as Europe did. Chew on that for a while, and then ask yourself. “Is it worth it?”
Is it worth today’s cost of lives and dollars in order to defend a future America? I have a son I dearly love who will leave for Iraq in a few months. This war is personal to me, as one who served in the first Gulf conflict, and the father of a warrior headed into combat. Like my son Andrew, I abhor war. Nevertheless, despite the personal and national cost, I believe that history might one day say that “it was worth it”… a horrible but worthy cost in order to advance the cause — and future — of America’s freedom.
I found it interesting that Pearl Harbor was mentioned in the article. It is true that the first attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor was 9/11. Just stopping and thinking about that makes me feel so incredibly blessed. People in so many countries live in fear of violent attacks such as suicide bombings or even invasion. I was talking with my friend the other day about how every country has their time of downfall. It seems so mindboggling to think about the day when America will likely get invaded for real on a large-scale. If America failed to retaliate when attacked would that speed up the downfall?
I must say that I am confused by the use of the rhetoric “taking the fight to Islam.” Is the war we are in against Islam, or terror? I definitely support our troops, and what they are doing in the Middle East, and it is a personal war to me as well. Yet, I don’t think that America should/is fighting against Islam. We shouldn’t construe this into a “crusade” when we are fighting terrorism.
For a research project I am working on, we are studying Muslims in the American military, and many of them say that they are fighting the war on terrorism because 9/11 affected them just as personally as it did other Americans. Certainly the fact that there are several thousand Muslims in our military (estimated between 3,000 and 4,000), shows that we are not fighting a crusade against Islam to protect our Christianity, but a war against an extremist faction of terrorists to protect our nation from terrorism.
It is true that with time history is often viewed very differently than when events are actually occurring. The great follies and brilliant successes of history are not often well seen through a zoomed in lens. How would this chapter of world, American, Christian, Middle Eastern, or Muslim history look from the wide angle lens of an expanse of time? I would like to know but I’m not sure we can capture that perspective.
When asked whether or not it is worth protecting a Christian nation the answer is undoubtedly yes. No matter whether we flourish as Europe did or do not, the fact that Christians in the United States have preserved is important. Although war is cruel and abhorrent, it provides protection for those persecuted. As long as the fight continues for the original reasons, there is complete justification.
Having the US be a Christian nation and against other religions is against the Constitution isn’t it? Where is the freedom to choose then. If we want this country to be a majority of Christians then how can we say that here is a place where people have religious freedom? Pope Urban did what he saw was right and I am not saying that he was wrong but think of it this way. Christians are the minority and we live in a nation that people are majority Islamic, if we start to evangelize they try to kill us. How would you feel at that time? Any means of killing and suppressing others seems wrong to me.
If the United States had not taken action after 9/11, what would have happened next? Would more invasions occur to the point that Americans do not feel safe on their own soil? To be honest, no one fully knows why the attack on the twin towers occurred, but there is a large majority that felt some action needed to be taken after the strike. Whether it was right to begin a war that has been expensive and cost many lives can be argued, but the intention of preventing terror on a nation cannot be denied.
This a dangerous, but compelling topic Austin. Could you elaborate on what you meant by taking the battle to [ ]?
I don’t agree that we are “advancing or protecting” our freedom. it was never in question. I find what you write to be interesting, but I do not agree with your statement that, “We had a choice of waiting for the next attack or taking the war back to where the evil of 9-11 originated.” This is misleading and gives the impression that either Iraqis were behind 9/11 which is absolutely false- none of them were from Iraq, most were from Saudi Arabia. And it also sounds like you are saying that it was either originating from Iraq or that the middle east and Islam were the causes of 9/11 and those are dangerous assertions to make. I’m sorry your son is going to Iraq. I wish him my best.
I feel that after 9/11 some type of action had to take place. For Americans to feel safe we needed to defend our homeland. As of now it is hard to see how the war in Iraq is defending our freedom. I feel that we have lost the reasons for going to war in the first place. It pains me see the people who have lost their lives on both sides, I just hope that it is worth it in the end. I hope the best for your son.
I can’t help but read these posts and wonder: (1) what God is thinking all of us talking and speculating (my guess is he gets a kick out of it!) and (2) what God would do if he was in our or our president’s shoes…
I think the question “is it worth it” is one of the most difficult questions we could ask at this time. It makes me think, if I were to sacrifice my life for God’s will, then the answer would be yes. I can’t imagine the struggle that today’s soldiers are going through, and my heart goes out to you and your son.
It is very interesting to see the correlation between the crusades and our current war with Iraq. Although they are different, the methods behind posing war are similar. I like the point Austin brought up regarding the choices Pope Urban made impacting our entire religion. As I think of our war today, I many times wonder what the outcome of it all will be. What will individuals be saying about the impact of this war 1,000 years form now…
Obviously the topic of 9/11 and our war in Iraq is a sensative topic to many. However, it is hard to imagine where we would be as a nation if no action was taken after the attacks on America. Although sometimes I think we are going overboard in Iraq I also believe that this is something we can’t “half-ass” (sorry for the language!). I believe a war like this is either an all or nothing type thing. I am personally so proud of our men and women in the Armed Forces, they are the true heros of our country!
I still feel that people aren’t meant to fight each other. Sure, we believe different things, such as my fiance leans towards democratic beliefs, and I lean toward republican ones. We don’t bicker or argue about who is right, because when it comes to choices like that, there is no right or wrong, it’s just opinion. We respect one another’s beliefs, no matter what.
That’s what I think everyone in the world should do. There is a boy in one of my classes, that whenever a professor or fellow undergrad states a belief contradictory to his own, he says,” I respect that.”
Think about it, if the first response of everyone in the world was to respect each other, rather than trying their best to prove themselves right, then we wouldn’t even have a need for wars. I think we would also have a lot less racism and hate.
See, I admit when I’m wrong, but I have the feeling that many people don’t want to do that. They will continue doing what they are doing, just to squash down any opposition of their being right until there is no one left, even if they know they are wrong. People aren’t taught to back down when they find out they are wrong, and therefore a small mistake (such as trying to fight the muslims in the crusades rather than embracing them, or attacking Iraq instead of trying to target the Taliban) can become a large one that costs a large price.
I agree that it is often hard to see how choices made now will affect the future. It’s true that we can look back and perhaps find good in events that were somewhat horrific at the time, such as the crusades or other things, but can we really know what would have happened otherwise? I believe that God can use things that are bad or were done badly and use them for good. But that is not to say that He planned for them to happen. He of course knew that it would, because He is omniscient, but that doesn’t mean to say He designed for it to happen. I think God works with us and our slip ups because He loves us and cares about humanity. But we will never know what would have happened. And does that justify doing something that may be wrong (and I’m not condemning anything specific here just bringing up a point) because it may lead to good? What would happen if God was able to use our good actions for his plans instead of our mistakes.
War is not a pretty thing at all. The war we are in has a purpose though some might not think that. I feel too that the media portrays it as a bad thing that is happening. We need to focus on the positives and the outcomes of our actions. I don’t think we should have waited for another attack. We are defending oursleves as a country and what we stand for, and preserving our future.
The War on Terror is one I think that people in the future will reflect upon as a needless war. The war has taken many lives that did not need to be taken. The War on Terror will never end and American’s freedom is not on the line. To me it makes no sense to go all the way over to the middle east and search for men in caves, it is a wild goose chase. I think US should have gotten its ducks in line and prepare to let them come to us, instead they chose to spend billions upon billions of dollars and we still have not won the war. To me it proves this war was and never will be a just cause to have gone over to the middle east. I pray everyday that Jesus will watch over the men and women in Iraq, and keep them safe so they can return to their loved one’s and enjoy life again.
Could the War on Terror have been avoided in the absence of 9-11, i.e. if President Clinton had jumped on his chance to neutralize Osama Bin Laden and thus weakened Al-Qaeda?
I think that if we stopped trying to defend Christianity with weapons made with human hands we would have a much more solid testimony to the world about what it truly is that we value and the power and grace of the God we believe in.
As i read this post and the responses I cannot help but think about the voices of the soldiers that we rarely hear. We hear about some soldiers who are really just out for a fight, however I believe that they are actually in the minority. We also hear about the very patriotic soldiers who have devoted their lives to our country. But I want to hear the voices of the soldiers who put there life on the line not just for the U.S. but for people everywhere. As i think about what Jesus would do, I know that He would want peace. However, wouldn’t he step between the innocent and their attackers? A part of the military that I believe often gets overlooked is the units who’s main goal is to protect the lives of the innocent and to equip them with the power to protect themselves in the countries that they enter.
Austin, thank you for assisting our Islam and the West class this semester. Your thoughts and insights have contributed greatly to this important dialogue between two distinct faiths and cultures.