The idea of Earth being invaded by aliens from another planet has always made people uneasy. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welle’s produced the radio show “War of the Worlds”, which dramatized an alien invasion of Earth so frightening and so believable that it caused a near panic in cities across America.

Fifteen years later, “War of the Worlds” was on TV and the people who “survived” the radio version were stunned again by the world-to-world conflict in all its visual horror.

And now, we are awakening to a 2007 version which is unique in several ways. This time it is not a cinematic extravaganza. This war is REAL, where bombs, bullets, and blood can’t be washed off and put back on the prop shelf, waiting for the next scene.

This war has no end. It has been going on for millenniums and will go on for many more millenniums. But this war has nothing to do with aliens, or galaxies, or other worlds. It is taking place right here on Earth, right now. Today.

I’m speaking about the “The War Between Civilizations”, as explained in a profound article by Professor Moshe Sharon, a historian who teaches Islamic history. I will stress some points from Sharon’s article because as one critic put it, “This is written by an Israeli, but the thoughts are well constructed, and I believe it has applicability with what we are confronted with by the war on terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Try to avoid reacting against it because you don’t want this to be true. Instead, measure it against the facts you actually know about this Islamic clash with the west. The result won’t thrill you, but you’ll understand more of what is going on in the world today.”

Here’s how we interpret Sharon’s article:

The western world is in a perennial state of war that exists between two distinct cultures; people whose beliefs and interpretations about God or a Supreme Being are drastically different from each other. So different, if fact, that as far back as we can see in history they have never been reconciled to each other, and probably never will be.

So it is not inaccurate to say that we are not talking about a “physical” war, with a beginning and an ending, but a SPIRITUAL war, with its beginning lost in antiquity and its ending obscure and unforeseeable. The driving force behind this spiritual war is, of course, religion; and the two religions that have been in conflict, with no end in sight, are Islam and Christianity.

As we are finding out, Islamic theosophy is prevalent in dozens of countries around the world; but then, so is Christianity. And this is especially true in the Middle East--- presumably the heart of civilization--- where the birthplace of Christianity and Islam took place. If religious beliefs, such as Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, etc. manage to reconcile their differences and respect each other, why is there no end to a war between Christians and Muslims?

That question has an answer, and although there are many sides to it, the main reason can be found in the singular precept of each religion:  One God with Salvation for Christians; One God with World Rule for Muslims. World rule, as defined by Islam, is that they have the WHOLE truth about God; whereas Christianity has only PART of the truth. God (Allah) gave Mohammed the “true” religion so that the “truth” will overcome all other religions.

If Christians or any other “non-believers” refuse to live under Islamic rules, then Muslims have a right and a duty to fight these “infidels” to the death, and this fighting is called Jihad---now you know what that word means.

Looking at it another way: the Koran sees the world in two parts: the House of Islam and the House of War (with non-Muslims), This House of War has to be conquered, even if takes until the end of time. Most Muslims believe this, and even are willing to martyr themselves for it---don’t we see that today? In a nutshell, then, whether we acknowledge it or not, we are fighting a War of Civilizations that, in many ways, is worse than a “War of the Worlds.”---which, ironically, did have an ending.

Not so with the War of Civilizations. This war has ebbed and flowed through the centuries, and throughout most of Europe and Asia----Islam winning battles for a time, then the Christians (the Crusades) fighting to take the land back, then the Islamic Muslims retaking it again, back and forth, in a hopeless, eternal conflict of cultures.

As Professor Sharon writes, “The Christian civilization has not only been seen as a religious opponent, but as a dam stopping Islam from achieving its final goal.  Islam was created to be the army of God (Allah). Every Moslem is a soldier in this army who will die for the spread of Islam. This is the eternal word between the two civilizations. It’s not a war that stops. This war was created by Allah. Islam must rule. This is a war that will not end.”

When I think about American troops in more than 130 countries around the world, many with a heavy Muslim population, I get very uncomfortable.  And when I think about the disastrous military action we keep escalating in the Middle East countries, most with huge Islam populations, I get very angry. And when I think about this perpetual war between civilizations that this administration has gotten us sucked into, I damn near cry.

The bottom line is, we are not in that overworked cliché: “a war against terrorism.” Theoretically, we aren’t even in a war with Iraq or Afghanistan. We have idiotically involved ourselves in a war between cultures. A war that has no end.

So, before we rush more of our young soldiers into Islamic countries, and continue to fight an endless war, we Americans should think long and hard about that. And while we think about that, think also about this:  whatever is the cause of this endless war, American should not be over there to begin with.  Our founders told us in 1776 to stay out of foreign entanglements.

How many times must we be told that before we get it? 

NOTE Since writing this article I have been informed by a “Bible” reader that although we may be fighting Muslims we are doing it at the behest of Jews, who are in fact, using America’s power to subdue their sworn enemy: Islam. Whether this is true or not is not at isssue here. The article was written only to emphasize the fact that this is a “culture war,” between two civilizations.

James T. Moore
http://jamestmoore.us/