Catholic Military Saints and Militant Islam

Before I go into this post let me make my views clear. I am no radical far right person that looks at our current struggle as a Battle with all of Islam. That is what Bin Laden and those like him want to happen. They want some horrific World War III where they imagine it is fate they will be victorious. I have no interest in playing his game. I have no interest in making American Muslims the enemy. I want them to assimilate and to have their kids playing football and working with me at the Lions club.

We need to remember the vast majority of Muslims do not follow that line of thought. In fact in Iraq they are rebelling against it with their lives. I also think we need to get a little bit more sophisticated with our analysis. A lot of what we see on TV has precious little to do with Islam but just raw power. When we get to certain factions outside AQ in Iraq, American soldiers are constantly making this observation. They also make that observation in Afghanistan. Radical militant Islam is in the mix , but we need to separate it from other factions so we can deal with it.

Americans are largely ignorant of the fact that our first foreign engagement was with a Islamic power way back at the beginning. The following really happened:

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson, then the ambassador to France, and John Adams, then the ambassador to Britain, met in London with Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the ambassador to Britain from Tripoli. The Americans asked Adja why his government was hostile to American ships, even though there had been no provocation. The ambassador's response was reported to the Continental Congress:
That it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman [Muslim] who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.[6]

I suspect in the end the motivation of these "terrorist" had little to do with Islam but just money. Still that line of thought that is there comes up with a vengeance it appears every couple of centuries.

There is battle taking place and it will be a long one. Like the Cold war, it will be long and often not fought on the battlefield. That is one reason why I see the Iraqis as our allies just like the British and Australians and the Poles to name a few. That is one reason why I am excited about counties like the UAE and Qatar, and Algeria to name a few. We need most desperately to keep a balanced view and realize that every day Muslims are fighting this evil. I have little patience with out of control of Muslim bashing. First it is UN Christian. We must constantly fight to make a whole group of people the big "them" and thus as a side affect rob them of human dignity in our minds. Second it makes Little political sense and ignores realities. The whole way American politicians took advantage of that whole Dubai terminal lease deal a couple of years ago is a prime example of something that made no sense and went against our aims in the WOT. Emotion must be kept in check. That does not mean though we go to the other extreme and ignore real threats and trends. There is no doubt that we are in a major battle here.

Americans are pretty much ignorant of much their history. Today to say the least European history and various Catholic aspects are really misunderstood. This has a lot to do with our English history and the whole England GOOD/ Spanish are Dark and Devious.

For the Greater Glory had a post today called Can Christian Kill? that interacted with some post at another Catholic blog. This post reminded me of this great article that people should read at Chiesa called How the Eight Hundred Men of Otranto Saved Rome. The martyrdom of these eight hundred men took place in 1480, on August 14 and, we celebrated it with a liturgical commemoration on that day. They are Saints because after they were captured they refuse to renounce their faith. But make no doubt they were fighting off the Ottomans before they were captured. That included killing. These men are Saints just like anyone else. They died with the Hermits , the Priesst , and civilians also. That date is pretty shocking because it seems so late. Just 12 years later Columbus was over here "discovering " America. But it happened. Yesterday posters at Vox Nova were talking about the Sunday readings that included the stirring story of Jeremiah here and here. The Church honors both the exploits of Jeremiah and the exploits of the people at Otranto and sees no contradiction. I suggest that is because the the ideas and teaching regarding Just War, War ethics, the right to self defense, and overall Christian morality cannot be put on a bumper sticker.