10th Anniversary Challenge

International Center for Religion & Diplomacy 3
 

September 7, 2011

An Anniversary Call to Arms
Douglas M. Johnston

ICRD 911

 

       With the 10th Anniversary of 9-11, comes the opportunity to
determine how it should be honored. Clearly it is an occasion to salute
the memories of those who fell victim to the attacks, the heroism of the
passengers on United Flight 93, the first responders who courageously
braved untold hazards to rescue those in need, and  everyone else who
put their personal safety at risk for the sake of others. Now that most
of those who planned this onslaught have been brought to justice in one
form or another, it also becomes appropriate to leverage this moment as a
“call to arms” for us to wake up and develop a thoughtful strategy for
preventing future attacks.
    

        Beyond our military interventions, the U.S. response in
countering religious terrorism has thus far focused on addressing
symptoms rather than causal factors. We have taken a number of defensive
measures to protect the homeland–improving the security measures for
our aviation system; taking action to protect critical infrastructure;
increasing the nation’s preparedness for a disaster; and enhancing
information-sharing among federal, state, local, and international
partners. Numerous other steps have also been taken, especially in the
areas of intelligence and counterterrorism.

        Despite the obvious need to address underlying cause, how to
do so remains a puzzle for most policymakers. Respectful engagement with
other cultures and countries only takes one part of the way, since that
has more to do with good manners than with religious faith. Its own
religiosity aside, America’s proven inability to understand and deal
with the religious motives behind extremist violence has already led to
uninformed foreign policy choices in such places as Iran, Lebanon, and,
most recently, Iraq. To avoid similar mistakes in the future, we need to
move beyond the rational world view that has governed our practice of
international relations for most of the last century to a process that
includes religion and other so-called “irrational” factors. It will also
require that we broaden our basis for understanding the religious
dynamics at play and optimize our opportunities for responding
effectively. To continue discounting the impact of religion in the
affairs of state when it provides the principal source of identity,
meaning and purpose for 84% of the world’s population would be foolish
in the extreme.

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        How to give religious motives and imperatives their just due in our conduct of foreign policy is explained in some detail in our new book, Religion, Terror, and Error: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Challenge of Spiritual Engagement. Among other measures, it calls for (1) determining which of our existing assets can be usefully redirected to help deal with the problem, and (2) developing whatever new capabilities are required to bridge the remaining gaps. It then examines each of those assets and capabilities as pieces of an integrated whole.         Like other religions, Islam has its extremist elements. It also has an illustrious history, which includes numerous contributions to the civilization we enjoy today. The terrorist attacks of 9-11 are no more representative of Islam than are those of the Ku Klux Klan of Christianity (the onerous deeds of the so-called Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda also come to mind). And just as Osama bin Laden rallied his followers by quoting religious scripture out of context (e.g. “slay the infidels wherever you find them”), so did the Dutch Reformed Church do precisely the same in justifying the practice of apartheid in South Africa. Religion is a double-edged sword that can either cause conflict or abate it. To focus on the former, while ignoring the latter is to deprive one’s self of a critically important asset in countering religious violence. To my way of thinking, the best way to deal with Islam is to make a concerted effort to understand it, first of all, by getting to know a Muslim.

        The occasion of this tenth anniversary of 9-11 should serve as an inspiration to build bridges, rather than walls; and here, it is important to note that attitudes toward Muslims are markedly different (better) for those who actually know a practicing Muslim vs. those who do not. In the absence of such exposure, it becomes easy to dehumanize the entire community. To buy into the uninformed Islamaphobia of late-night radio talk shows is to do a disservice to one’s self and to the country more generally. Perceptions of the American Muslim Community as being either a persecuted or marginalized community play directly into the hands of the terrorists.

 

     

 

        In a context in which religious legitimacy trumps all (as it does for those committing terrorism in its name), the best antidote for religious ignorance is religious understanding. It is encouraging to note that the State Department is at long last waking to this need through its incorporation of new training programs on religion at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute  where it trains its senior and junior diplomats. While a positive development, this training is voluntary and therefore unlikely to have a deep-seated impact on how Foreign Service Officers think about and deal with religion’s influence. The Department is also putting an increased emphasis on promoting and enforcing international religious freedom. While a highly important end in its own right, religious freedom is generally perceived by others as an American agenda (despite UN endorsement)    and in any event represents a very narrow slice of a much larger pie.           So here we sit, ten years after our wake-up call, with a response that can only be described as too little, too late. With religious identity clearly on the ascendance, continuing to downplay its influence will only subject us further to the law of unintended consequences. Bombs and bullets are clearly insufficient to the task, and the stakes are simply too high to continue operating with one hand tied behind our back (as the continuing spectre of religious extremism married to weapons of mass destruction reminds us). The task of acquiring a sophisticated capability for dealing with the misuse of religion more than merits whatever urgency we can give it.
With best wishes,

Doug
Doug Johnston
President
ICRD
1625 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 601
Washington, DC 20036
tel: (202) 331-9404
fax: (202) 872-9137
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