HOLY WAR!

Just when I'm coming around to the Pope's way of thinking regarding the war in Iraq, I've got to go and find this...



Needless to say I am offended, but more importantly I (and all Catholics) are being singled out as targets of an Islamic holy war. This is not the same as terrorists targeting "America". Sure I'm an American and I like to think that I'm patriotic, but there are many differing opinions on every subject in this country. There is no longer any identifiable common philosophy that unites all Americans. So when terrorists target "America", we can each take some degree of false comfort in the fact that the terrorists must be angry with, "those other Americans".

This is simply not so with my religious beliefs. There are no "other Catholics" for the terrorists to target. When Yunis Al-Astal threatens the Catholic Church, he is threatening me personally, along with my family, friends and community. I choose to be Catholic because I believe the Church's teachings to be the truth. I am always open to discussion on matters of theology (although I'm certainly no expert) and I condemn no one for their beliefs in other religions. Likewise, the Catholic church is always open to theological discussions with other religions and engages in such discussions frequently. To the contrary, Islam is saying to Catholics (indeed all "infidels"), "Convert or die!"

Does this ultimatum really leave us any choice? On one hand, I hate the thought of any more of our young soldiers suffering the same fate as Joseph Richard and the thousands who have lost their lives before him. On the other hand, I find it hard to cling to the notion that "engaging in positive dialog about multiculturalism" will keep a growing, borderless nation of Saladin wannabe's from taking this fight to my children's doorstep.