Victory in Afghanistan means that now more than ever Americans need to treat US Muslims with respect and kindness. Reach out to them. Know what they believe.
In America, religious tolerance means that all people are free to hold whatever faith they choose. Even if these faiths contain opposing points of view we are free to argue peacefully for our viewpoint without fear of oppression or retribution. In Saudi Arabia 14 Christians are now in prison for holding a Christian worship service in their home. In America we must allow our Muslims to live without prejudicial treatment. In Iran it is a punishable offence to say that you believe Jesus Christ is divine. Here a follower of Islam has the liberty to show you his Koran but in Yemen you can be arrested for giving away a Christian tract. In the USA we give social security benefits irrespective of religious preference but in Sudan the Muslim government sends its air force to strafe Christian villages in the South. In Somalia kids are in training that calls for loyalty to the Koran and the AK 47. Something is very wrong.
What of Iraq, Indonesia or Pakistan where Islam influenced governments passively allow persecution of people of other faiths? Is all of this is a perversion of the religion of Islam? That name means "submission". Compare Jesus' words "Love your enemies and do good to them that hate you" to those of Mohammed "fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them. And seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them." Christians have been guilty of oppressing opponents with the sword but at least concede that they did so against their Founder's teachings. Muslims are persecuting and killing people in harmony with their holy book.
I ask all that read this to redouble their efforts to act lovingly towards their Muslim neighbors. I call for tolerance in the best traditions of our land. However that must not blind you to the struggle between ideas. When the Koran says in Surat Al-Maidah 5:51 "take not the Jews or the Christians for your friends and protectors" ardent Muslims take those words seriously. When their scriptures say "fight against those who believe not in Allah until they pay the Jizyah (a tax on those who will not convert to Islam) with willing submission and feel themselves subdued" young hotheads hear that as a license to fight. It's the ideas motivating the combatants that evaluate the justice of warfare.
While there are no differences in the worth of people, there are dangerous ideas. These should be opposed. A basic component of religion is sets of character and behavior influencing ideas. This includes atheistic ones like communism. Judaism added rule of society by codified laws. Christianity brought freedom, under law, of individual conscience. Secular humanism says if it feels good and hurts nobody else it must be right. Communism teaches that the state is of more value than the individual. Ideas lead to convictions that play out as deeds. Ideas took aim on September 11. Be bold, challenge those ideas.
Appeasement at all costs motivated by moral fuzziness shies away from confronting dangerous ideas. Get it right: loving someone doesn't mean you agree with all they say, do or believe. 2002 is a time to call upon Americans to evaluate ideas. Its time to return to the concepts that made America the leader of the free world. They are found in the Bible.