SURVEY

SURVEY What do You think? George Bush and many other American observers say the war against terrorism in Afghanistan is neither a religious war, nor a clash of civilizations. Do you...

...Diane Trachtenberg, Huntingdon Valley, Pa...
...Seymour R. Appleby, attorney, Danville, Calif...
...Yet, for years bin Laden, his spokesmen, and many top-ranking religious Muslim leaders have said publicly that their aim is "to destroy Western civilization and everything it represents...
...If the Muslims who perpetrated these acts of terrorism see it that way, they may escalate it to such proportions...
...Of course it's a clash of civilizations: modernity versus fundamentalism...
...The word "civilization" implies a relatively high level of cultural and technological development...
...Then we'll see the real struggle, and that's when the fundamentalists will lose...
...The issue is not Christ versus Muhammad, but modern and liberal thought versus traditional/conservative thought in every area of life...
...This struggle will go on for decades to come...
...Roberta Kalechofsky, writer and publisher, Marblehead, Mass...
...It's too early to tell...
...Rabbi Leonard Oberstein, Baltimore, Md...
...The reason the non-Jews should not abandon the Jews is because while the haters of Western civilization may start with terrorism against the Jews (remember Munich), it does not end with the Jews Rabbi Jacob Chinitz, Jerusalem, Israel George Bush has said this a war against a civilization...
...11 was such a watershed day is not because America for the first time was attacked on its own soil, but because modern nationstates now face a new type of fundamentalism...
...Robert Sandler, retired English professor, South Miami, Fla...
...There is no question that the Islamists see this as a religious war...
...Gregory J. Davis, physician, Lexington, Ky...
...The Muslim world in general, and the Arab world in particular, must be made to recognize that the true "root cause" of terrorism and suicide missions is neither Western "imperialism" nor Zionism...
...Michael Braitman, student, Jerusalem, Israel Though it may be uncomfortable for many to hear, the Jews are at the heart of this clash...
...I just wonder whether it has been worth it to keep our troops in Saudi Arabia, and to continue the sanctions against the people of Iraq (the sanctions have appeared to hurt Sadam Hussein not at a l l )— two of the items that have irked Osama bin Laden and others so much...
...The motivation of bin Laden and his followers is rooted squarely in their extremist religious antipathy toward "infidels," i.e., all religions other than Islam, particularly those religions in the Western world...
...Let's help our leaders or get out of the way...
...The United States is not at war with a religion or a civilization...
...David Kay, rabbinical student, New York City Clearly, any war is a clash of civilizations...
...Instead, it is the willingness of corrupt, oppressive regimes across the Middle East to deflect public anger from themselves by directing it outward toward convenient straw men in Israel and America, and encouraging the most fanatical interpretation possible of the jihad against the non- Muslim world...
...I feel sorry for anyone who wants to make this a clash of religions or civilizations...
...The current war against terrorism is a war primarily against Islamic terrorism, which is nourished by religion...
...In a way, the two civilizations at war are not the West and Islam, but two parts of Islam: the modern secularists versus the fundamentalists...
...The president seems to be reluctant to attribute religious and cultural motivation for the actions of Muslim extremists...
...While this is not expressly "a religious war" on our part in the sense that we do not officially point to any particular religious principle as our motivation, the codephrase for the war is "God Bless America...
...Maria Markham Thompson, Baltimore, Md...
...Michele Lazerow, chiropractor, Martha's Vineyard, Mass...
...It appears that to the great majority of Muslims in that part of the world, it is clearly both a clash of civilizations and a religious war...
...I don't think the West wants it to be a "clash of civilizations," but the decision isn't entirely up to us...
...Unfortunately, we have been drawn in as convenient scapegoats...
...How could such a struggle be a religious war when the best of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity seeks peace...
...This is most certainly a clash of modern civilization against medieval religious beliefs that have been allowed to metastasize through the Arabian Peninsula and leapfrog to Indonesia and the Philippines...
...Do you agree Michael Schaul, Raleigh, NC...
...Our leaders are trying to steer us—and them—away from repeating the mistakes of the past...
...It's a compelling task: to repel the acts of psychopaths rather than wage war against whole countries...
...it is at war with criminals who happen to live in a certain place and call themselves by certain labels...
...There may be other factions within the Muslim world who are more tolerant of "infidels," but the Islamists seem to be in tune with the rage and sense of impotence felt on the Arab and Muslim "street...
...I further wonder how the present bombing campaign in Afghanistan, which each day winds up racking up more civilian casualties, will make us more secure...
...Many reputable historians think it is a religious war, but agree that Bush is right in trying to define it as a limited problem with some "terrorist-criminal" types...
...If Franklin Roosevelt had fought only for freedom but not against Japan and Germany, would World War ? have been won...
...It may technically not be "a religious war," nor a specifically anti- Islam war, but it would be naive—even disingenuous— to suggest that there is no theological motivation behind this or that there isn't a particular stream of targeting Islam as the enemy...
...By whom...
...Rabbi Avi Zarmi, businessman, Milwaukee, Wis...
...There is precious little evidence that the terrorists qualify as "civilized...
...What remains to be seen is whether the secularist Islamic majorities in the West, Turkey, Indonesia, and the former Soviet Union will assert themselves openly...
...Indeed, in the minds of bin Laden and his followers, "Western civilization" and "infidels" are synonymous terms...
...Our enemy has to be named by country, not by a civilization...
...If Woodrow Wilson had fought only to make the world safe for democracy but not against Germany, would World War I have been won...
...Rabbi Jack Nusan Porter, Key West, Fla., and Newton, Mass...
...By terrorists...
...Robert L. Kraus, retired, Wayne, N.J...
...The reason Sept...
...The terrorists have perverted the teachings of the Koran to support their social and political objectives...
...In the meantime, millions "in that part of the world" suffer bitterly because of terrorists whom we now hope to bring to justice...

Vol. 27 • February 2002 • No. 1


 
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