Faith, reason, and the war against jihadism : a call to action / George Weigel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weigel, George, 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Terrorism--Religious aspects.

Terrorism.

Jihad.

War--Religious aspects.

War.

International relations.

Physical Description:

195 pages ; 20 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Doubleday, [2007]

Summary:

This manifesto urges all Americans to recognize and confront the religious convictions and passions that fuel Islamic jihadism, to understand its theological sources and ideological roots, and to take its global vision of the human future with the seriousness this challenge requires. The book offers fifteen prescriptions for meeting the threat of jihadist terrorism. On the far side is the brighter prospect of a world capable of genuine pluralism: a world in which freedom, while never free, is not in retreat, but is poised once again at the cutting edge of history, and is the foundation of peaceful society.--From publisher description.

Contents:

Introduction: Deadly serious business

Understanding the enemy

Lesson 1. The great human questions, including the great questions of public life, are ultimately theological

Lesson 2. To speak of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as the three Abrahamic faiths, the three religions of the Book, or the three monotheisms obscures rather than illuminates. These familiar tropes ought to be retired

Lesson 3. Jihadism is the enemy in the multi-front war that has been declared upon us

Lesson 4. Jihadism has a complex intellectual history, the chief points of which must be grasped in order to understand the nature of the threat jihadism poses to the West

Lesson 5. Jihadists read history and politics through the prism of their distinctive theological convictions, not through the lens of Western assumptions about the progressive dynamic of history

Lesson 6. It is not "Islamophobic" to note the historical connection between conquest and Muslim expansion, or between contemporary jihadism and terrorism. Truth-telling is the essential pre-requisite to genuine inter-religious dialogue, which can only be based on the claims of reason

Lesson 7. The war against jihadism is a contest for the human future that will endure for generations

Rethinking realism

Lesson 8. Genuine realism in foreign policy takes wickedness seriously, yet avoids premature closure in its thinking about the possibilities of positive change in world politics

Lesson 9. In the war against jihadism, the political objective in the Middle East and throughout the Islamic world is the evolution of responsible and responsive government, which will take different forms given different historical and cultural circumstances

Lesson 10. In the war against global jihadism, deterrence strategies are unlikely to be effective, because it is almost impossible to deter those who are committed to their own martyrdom

Deserving victory

Lesson 11. Cultural self-confidence is indispensable to victory in the long-term struggle against jihadism

Lesson 12. Islamist salami tactics must be resisted, for small concessions in the name of a false idea of tolerance inevitably lead to further concessions, and then to further erosions of liberty and security

Lesson 13. We cannot, and will not, deserve victory (much less achieve it) if we continue to finance those who attack us. Therefore, a program to de-fund jihadism, by developing alternatives to petroleum-based transportation fuels, is a crucial component of the current struggle

Lesson 14. Victory in the war against global jihadism requires a new domestic political coalition that is proof against the confusions caused by the Unhinged Left and the Unhinged right

Lesson 15. There is no escape from U.S. leadership.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780385523783

0385523785

OCLC:

131064107

Online:

Publisher description

Contributor biographical information