Mocking but Missing the Point
Unfortunately, Warren Kinsella has (possibly) missed the point. And it's a big one to miss. And he's missed it the same way those he's mocking did, as well.
Kinsella mocks the confession that Tony Blair considered God in his decision to invade Iraq. His mocking is not directly about considering religion in one's political decisions, but that the belief in WMD was so ludicrous that one might be considered crazy to have believed in their existence. However, if Kinsella wanted to consider reasonably the merits of that belief, then why bring up Blair's recent admitted religion? Methinks Kinsella is most interested in poking fun at those who think religion could be involved in political decisions. If this is the case, and I remain open that it might not be, then Kinsella has missed the same point that Bush and Blair missed, as well: 9/11 was extremely religious and its solution must be religious, as well. That being said, to the extent that Blair and Bush did consult God, then they did the right thing, though perhaps with the wrong outcome. But to the extent that Bush and Blair believed a secular solution (development and promotion of Western democracy) was the answer, then they themselves disregarded the motivations of the attackers and missed the point. This disregard that perhaps the attackers did in fact take their religion seriously, rather than simply being extremists/terrorists, ultimately removed religion from being part of the public solution. (So, we had military answers to those pesky Christians who went and got themselves captured.)
Anyway, I think the ridicule of those who purport to take their faith seriously is the same mistake as those who disregarded religion in the problem to begin with. I also think the result is fundamentalist atheists (Dawkins, Hitches, etc.) living and writing in this religionless world, but that's a little tougher to flesh out.
Kinsella mocks the confession that Tony Blair considered God in his decision to invade Iraq. His mocking is not directly about considering religion in one's political decisions, but that the belief in WMD was so ludicrous that one might be considered crazy to have believed in their existence. However, if Kinsella wanted to consider reasonably the merits of that belief, then why bring up Blair's recent admitted religion? Methinks Kinsella is most interested in poking fun at those who think religion could be involved in political decisions. If this is the case, and I remain open that it might not be, then Kinsella has missed the same point that Bush and Blair missed, as well: 9/11 was extremely religious and its solution must be religious, as well. That being said, to the extent that Blair and Bush did consult God, then they did the right thing, though perhaps with the wrong outcome. But to the extent that Bush and Blair believed a secular solution (development and promotion of Western democracy) was the answer, then they themselves disregarded the motivations of the attackers and missed the point. This disregard that perhaps the attackers did in fact take their religion seriously, rather than simply being extremists/terrorists, ultimately removed religion from being part of the public solution. (So, we had military answers to those pesky Christians who went and got themselves captured.)
Anyway, I think the ridicule of those who purport to take their faith seriously is the same mistake as those who disregarded religion in the problem to begin with. I also think the result is fundamentalist atheists (Dawkins, Hitches, etc.) living and writing in this religionless world, but that's a little tougher to flesh out.
posted by Aaron Perry at
11:39 AM
2 Comments:
Interesting perspective about it being religious and not using religion to solve it. How do you think a religious approach could of dealt with the issue instead?
Hi Rob,
Please note that some of this is new thought for me and that it bears a change in previous opinion. So, some stuff may be half baked... I think part of the solution would have (and does) include the following:
1. Less rhetoric about this being a war about freedom and hating "our way of life."
2. More concern with the financial prosperity of the country that produces pornography and markets promiscuity and how this comes across in an Islamic worldview.
My brother Tim said that a recent book called "God's Judgments" (IVP, 2007) has some thinking of this line in it, but I haven't read it.
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