Sunday, February 06, 2005

prelude to thoughts on the war

Read an interesting article by Andrew SullivanThis Is a Religious War. Not sure if I agree or not. Worth reading though he has a very unique perspective.

1 comment:

Keith Paul said...

Ben, I would argue we are indeed in the midst of a religious war. Some hawks would likewise argue we're in it to establish and preserve democracy through the world. I think that's a cover-up for our gluttonous oil habits.

But the Middle East is a desperately religious part of the world. Jews, for a variety of reasons all sound, have and want a homeland. That homeland, though, is home to the 3 major faiths. Christians by and large don't care. Muslims, though, have the hajj. That pilgrimage mindset gives Muslims the sense of a place, of belonging, or of tradition. I think that, aggravated by our foreign policy, fuels a desire for a religious homeland. Many will point out the existence of 22 Arab states in the Middle East. I think the point is lost that many Arabs are not Muslim and many Arabs (Christian and Muslim) live in Isreal.

Good work!