Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism
http://www.fpri.org/enotes/20080204.weigel.faithreasonjihadism.html
By George Weigel (Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center)
Reviewed by James L. Abrahamson

In this Foreign Policy Research Institute "BookTalk," George Weigel, the author of Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism, describes the 9/11 attacks as evidence that: "War had been declared upon us by an enemy whose motivations were utterly alien to the 21st century sensibility of the West." Any failure to grasp the implications of that war and its "multiple, interconnected fronts," he writes, will undermine Western civilization's chances of prevailing against those willing, even eager, to die for their very different notion of the world's future.

Offering 15 lessons designed to strengthen the West for the struggle ahead, Weigel began by warning that Westerners must take theology seriously - both theirs and their enemy's. He rejects claims of an easy affinity between the Judeo-Christian faiths and Islam, which, until changed, may be incapable of providing a religious basis for a just, pluralistic society. More dangerous yet, the jihadist element within Islam feels driven to compel the world's submission to its beliefs, a drive facilitated by the lack of faith in many parts of the West.

If Western civilization is to survive, it must recover its "cultural self-confidence," avoid concessions in the name of a phony tolerance, and stop financing those who attack it. Refusing to be intimidated by Muslim charges of Islamophobia, it must speak the truth about Islam and engage in genuine interreligious dialogue.

As begun in Iraq, the West must also pursue the emergence of "responsible and responsive government in the Middle East." Though possibly an effort of generations, Weigel accepts that as a realistic goal because Islam contains traditions that can lead to a Western concept of freedom as well as to jihadism. As in the Cold War, the United States must form a new domestic political consensus committed to the defeat of jihadism and accept the fact that it alone can lead the way.

Weigel has written a stirring call to arms - one as spiritual and political as military. How the United States or the West responds will likely determine its children's future.