The danger isn't generic terrorism; it's Islamic terrorism

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 25, 2015

After another suicide bombing by Islamic radicals, this time in Tunis, the director of the Pontifical Mission Society in Tunisia insists: “We can not speak of a clash among religions. The victims of Tunis are all Muslims.”

True, it’s an oversimplification to say that we’re caught up in a worldwide struggle in which Muslims are killing Christians. Muslims are killing other Muslims as well. Moreover it is not a religious struggle in the ordinary sense because it is one-sided. While some Muslims are intent on the indiscriminate slaughter of Christians just because they are Christians, few if any Christians (and needless to say, no real Christians) are intent on killing Muslims simply because they are Muslims. Father Jawad Alamat, the author of the quote above, is an excellent example of the many clerics working assiduously to stem the spread of the notion that Christianity is at war with Islam.

Again true, Christianity isn’t going to war against Islam. But Islam—or at least an important and growing faction within Islam—has gone to war against Christianity. The fact that these same Islamic extremists are also at war with their fellow Muslims does not change that reality. The challenge we face is not some amorphous force called “terrorism;” the challenge is Islamic terrorism. The sooner we face that reality, the sooner we can make appropriate plans to defend ourselves.