The recent terrorist attack in NYC was such a manifestation of evil. People just out for a bike ride on a beautiful day were mowed down without any warning. It’s just horrendous! My greatest question is always why? What purpose did it serve? Have you wondered that too?
In WWII, the French Resistance constantly carried out all sorts of attacks against the Nazi occupiers. They blew up railroads or locomotives, they set fire to buildings, they killed German soldiers or disrupted their activities any way they could. It was violent and probably savage, but there was a purpose. The Nazis had invaded their country, so they were trying to make it difficult for them. They didn’t want it to be easy for the invaders to profit from what rightfully belonged to the French people. Their violence was warranted, because they were in a war.
But what purpose are these Islamists pursuing? What do they hope to accomplish by their senseless killing? Do they think that by mowing down innocents on a bike path, they will get more Americans to embrace Islam? Do they really think that, now every American’s bound to say, “Wow, what a religion! They kill and maim people! Where do I sign up?! Obviously, Islam would make for a much better world!?”
Muslims are commanded in the Qur’an to bring the world into subjection to Allah’s rule and reign, right? Well, I’m sure millions of Americans are now willing to submit! Just crush innocent people under the wheels of your rented truck, and we’ll come over to your side in droves! Not! When have people ever responded to such tactics? Oh, I suppose if they kill enough of us, some will submit outwardly, out of fear for their lives. But really, does anybody think the world will be “Islamized” by these bloody, ruthless tactics? Doesn’t even the most basic understanding of human psychology clearly show people tend to resist anything that’s forced upon them against their will?
This young Uzbek has ruined his own life forever. He was shot in the hip, and will spend his life in prison or maybe face execution. Not only that, he has ended the lives of 8 people and seriously harmed many others. These peoples’ families and friends will never be the same. They will suffer and cry because of one man’s maniacal enthusiasm for his misguided and false religion. What was it all for?
Maybe Muslims just see us as infidels, the Great Satan, the enemy, so disrupting our lives is the goal in itself. They just want to diminish our power, our peace, our well-being? Okay, maybe that makes some sense. But at the same time, when they do these things to us, we get stirred up and take political and military action, which ends up being very detrimental to their cause. We bomb them, hunt them down, harden their targets, so it’s more difficult for them to cause mayhem. If they just left us alone, wouldn’t they further their own cause a lot more?
I ponder these things often, and frankly, there are no good answers. But there are obviously lots of folks out there who believe in this course of action. These attacks are proliferating all over the world. Even entire nations, like Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, believe in this sort of thing to the point of sponsoring it. What is their goal? What do they hope to gain? Why would human beings act like this? Doesn’t everyone just know instinctively that such violence is evil, is grossly wrong, and cannot produce anything good? Doesn’t everyone just want peace and prosperity, and want their life to count for something good, to contribute to a positive outcome for the world, even if only in a small way? How can so many possibly be so deceived as to thinking this is the way to a better world?!
I happen to be reading a book called God at War, by Dr. Gregory Boyd. It’s a terrific read I recommend, if you can handle the great detail and scholarly approach. Dr. Boyd says we have to understand the world in the light of cosmic war. We have to understand that what we see is not all there is. Behind the material world is an invisible world populated by hosts of spiritual beings, many of which are hostile to God and His program for the world. They oppose God and all that He has created, all He intends or wants. God created human beings, and He has a purpose for us. His purpose and intent is easily seen in the account of Genesis, where the first couple was placed in a Garden paradise where love and wisdom prevailed, and all was beautiful and orderly.
When we think about the world as a cosmic battleground, all of a sudden, the reason behind Islamic terrorism or the massacre at Las Vegas comes to light. All the chaos, the violence and suffering, the miscommunication and misunderstanding, all that is wrong and evil in this world, doesn’t make any sense at all from the standpoint of human reason. It doesn’t make any sense if we believe there is an Almighty and totally good God who made this universe. It only makes sense if there is a malignant and hateful being, working through hosts of evil spirits, who wants to harm and diminish and distort and destroy all that God loves.
This misguided Uzbek (and the millions of other Islamists like him), may think he/they are doing the will of Allah, the will of God. They may think killing these innocents earns them points and brings the world into subjection to Allah, and they’re right. It’s just that Allah is really the devil. He’s a god alright, but with a little “g,” the god of this age, Satan (a word meaning adversary).
If they want to bring the world under the influence of what they think is a better system of life, a superior ideology, their methods are the absolute worst for accomplishing it. You’d think they would be able to see that. But of course, they can’t. Neither can they see that their ideology has been tried for over 1400 years, and the parts of the world where it dominates are hell-holes, places of misery, poverty, and oppression. That’s why so many of them flee those places and want to come to Europe or the US. They realize life is better here, but they don’t realize why. If they did, they’d cease their horrendous and murderous attacks. Their murders will never accomplish anything good for mankind. But that very fact is what reveals the true agenda behind them.
If you want a better world, Islam is not the way to achieve that. But if you want to ruin the world, steer it in a course far from the intent of the true Creator of mankind, the Islamists’ tactics are a great way of doing just that. If you want to steal joy and peace from human beings, or kill or harm them, and diminish their potential for anything worthwhile, Islamic violence is just the ticket! Or if you prefer, there’s gang violence or drug addiction or criminal activity of any kind or racism or division and hatred. Those all accomplish nothing good for mankind, they don’t further anyone’s agenda for good. All they do is keep people far from God and far from truth and order and peace and joy. If you want people to be confused and depressed, if you want them to live in poverty and anguish, then these sorts of things are the perfect tools for accomplishing that sort of goal.
What are Islamists trying to accomplish? Why do they do what they do? I’m sure they must think what they’re doing has a good ultimate purpose, but it seems to me, any reasonable person can see they are terribly misguided and deceived. Which proves there has to be another agenda, something working behind the scenes to promote all this violence and murder. For those who have eyes to see, Islamic violence, or the horrendous slaughter that happened in Las Vegas, or any of a host of other evils in our present world, clearly expose the forces of darkness working behind the scenes on this planet. We all have, as Martin Luther’s hymn puts it, an “ancient foe” who without a doubt, “seeks to work us woe.” The horrors we’re seeing so frequently now make no sense unless we realize there really is a devil, who clearly is “the god of this age,” and what the Bible says is really true, “the whole world lies in the power (under the influence) of the evil one.” (1 Jn. 5:19)
No other explanation makes sense, so the interesting and ironic thing is, even these terrible and very evil things happening in our world today point to the truth of God’s Word. And the darker it gets, the more I want to seek God’s light. And I’ve got a feeling lots of other people are going to do the same. As has so often been the case, the devil seems to be overplaying his hand! I thank God that his days of domination over the earth are numbered, and someday soon, Christ will totally vanquish him and throw him into the lake of fire forever!