Our perilous times

It is a sad fact of our times -- we live under a shroud of fear. Every day, we are reminded how dangerous our world is -- often by the very things that are meant to protect us. Increased national security, color-coded states of alert and government warnings of impending terrorist attacks keep Americans in a state of terror our enemies must relish. \nUnfortunately, this is not a new situation for our country. Until about 20 years ago, our country lived under the threat of what another enemy -- the communists -- might. When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, I lived under the constant fear of nuclear attack. I was very young when the Cuban missile crisis took place, but the event galvanized this country into a state of alert that did not diminish until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1991. I remember all of the schools I attended through college (my first time around, that is) had fallout shelters in them. \nBack then I understood the threat I was under was from an adversary that wanted to expand not only his territory but his political beliefs, as well. From what I knew about the Soviet Union and China, those who lived under their regimes could not hold any political ideas or spiritual beliefs other than the "party line" without fear or retribution. \nNothing I have learned in the past 20 years has shown me anything different than what I knew then. So, the fear I felt back then was not only legitimate, but necessary. I knew because I loved freedom of speech, religion and the power of Christianity in my life, I would have to endure the things that scared me. I knew our country should stand up to these things even if it meant having to go to war, as my brother did in Vietnam and my father did in World War II. \nSomehow that fear, and the fear I feel now, seem different. Today, our advisory is one as religious as we are, but our advisory practices a different religion. Al Qaeda hates us because they believe we have defiled their holy places by our presence. We hate them because of what they did to us on 9-11 and before. They call us infidels (non-believers), and we call them extremists. Although I personally could not like anyone less than Osama bin Laden and his henchmen, the name-calling seems ironic to me. \nI do not know much about the religion of Islam or its practices, But I do know the people who have carried out terrorist attacks have been called "fundamentalists" and "extremists" by many people of their own faith. It could be debated, I suppose, the basic concepts of Islam teach its followers to do these things, but I cannot help thinking that Christians and Christianity have been accused of the very same thing in world history (such as in South America).\nMy main worry these days is how we have become more religiously reactionary. Are we becoming a country that has come under control of a charismatic religious leader as Iran did in the 1980s? Some say President Bush is the de facto leader of the Religious Right in this country (Dana Milbank, Washington Post, Dec. 12, 2001). Is this a good idea?\nChrist said "My kingdom is not of this world … (John 18:36)." I wonder what two religious adversaries -- regardless of which is right -- who use their religion to control the world, might be capable of. \nIf history tells us anything, our future is at stake.