The
crucifixions, the beheadings and the mass executions of men, the
kidnapping of women to be sold as wife-slaves to so-called holy
warriors, the destruction of ancient civilizations and cultures, from
Assyrian statues to Yazidi villages, and the systematic intimidation,
extortion, and murder of Christians—all have a purpose that can no
longer be ignored:
Is
the Pontiff of Peace advocating war? No, but the self-proclaimed
“Caliph” Ibrahim wants his fight to be a true holy war on both sides,
and his strategy seems to be succeeding.
Pope Francis is walking a knife edge—or perhaps,
better
said, the blade of a crusaders’ sword—as he tries to mobilize support
for Christians and other minorities victimized by the ferocious
partisans of the so-called Islamic state.
“Where there is an unjust
aggression I can only say that it is legitimate to stop the unjust
aggressor,” he told reporters throwing questions at him on the
plane as he returned from South Korea to the Vatican on Monday.
“I underscore the verb
‘to
stop,’” he told them. “I am not saying ‘bomb’ or ‘make war,’ but ‘stop
him.’ The means by which he can be stopped must be evaluated. Stopping
the aggressor is legitimate.”
The “him,” the “aggessor” in this case is the self-anointed “caliph”
whose forces, formerly called ISIS, now dominate swathes of Syria and
Iraq, and this is just the kind of reaction he’s been hoping for.
The crucifixions, the beheadings and the mass executions of men, the
kidnapping of women to be sold as wife-slaves to so-called holy
warriors, the destruction of ancient civilizations and cultures, from
Assyrian statues to Yazidi villages, and the systematic intimidation,
extortion, and murder of Christians—all have a purpose that can no
longer be ignored:
“Take
this sword and these arms in the name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Ghost! May they and it serve you in this good cause, but never may
they shed innocent blood!” Pope
Urban
Entire families
abandoned
their
professions so they could prepare for the long journey to the Holy
Land.
“The Welshman left his Hunting, the Dane his drinking party, and the
Norwegian his raw fish–all eager to join the expedition to the Holy
Land,” said William of Malmesburry.
Caliph Ibrahim, as he calls himself, wants to provoke a 21st century
crusade against his Islamic State. He wants to force his enemies into a
religious war arousing atavistic instincts rooted in the Middle
Ages—the great glory days of Islam—that linger in the hearts of many
Muslims around the world. And by every indication he is succeeding.
With each American bomb that falls and each drone that flies over the
territories the caliph has conquered, he comes a little closer to that
goal. Perhaps there really is no choice. As Hilaire Belloc, a poet,
satirist, Catholic historian, and author of a book on the Crusades once
wrote in his couplet “The Pacifist”: “Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to
fight, / But Roaring Bill (who killed him) thought it right.”
Certainly in recent days desperate men of the cloth, including some of
the highest officials in the Catholic and Anglican churches, have
played into the caliph’s hands by speaking out in support of the U.S.
military action or calling for still more to be done—thus imbuing close
air support with heavenly purpose that it probably can and should do
without.
Even before Monday, Pope Francis used language interpreted by many as
an endorsement of war.
There is a painful irony here. As recently as last month Francis was
moved to tears by the carnage in Gaza, Iraq, and Ukraine.
“Never war, never war,” he said. “I am thinking, above all, of children
who are deprived of the hope of a worthwhile life, a future. Dead
children, wounded children, mutilated children, orphaned children,
children whose toys are things left over from war, children who don’t
know how to smile. Please stop,” said Francis. “I ask you with all my
heart, it’s time to stop. Stop, please!”
[Full
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