As I was thinking of the culture war between the secular west and Islamic fundamentalism, I thought about the beginning of the book of Habakkuk, one of the prophetic books of the bible. The situation was that there was rampant corruption and oppression among God's people (Israel). The prophet Habakkuk complained to God about this situation, asking God to rectify it- destroy the oppressors, bring justice. God's response was shocking. He would bring out the Babylonians- an idolatrous and violent people, to destroy Israel. 

     My sense of what the future holds reminds me of the dialogue between Habakkuk and God. Many religious people decry the moral decline of the secular west, that seems to move farther and farther away from God's revelation of what is right and wrong. However, coming on the horizon is the increasing power of radical Islam. As the west faces declining populations, it seems inevitable that the radical Islamists will soon have the upper hand.

     I want to reflect on Habakkuk's shock and disapproval of God's plan of fixing injustice. Many people see the secular west as the good guys, the promoter of tolerance and freedom, and the Islamic radicals as the bad guys, promoters of hate and moral rigidity. However, anti-semitism is still alive and well in the west, which is supposed to be a bastion of tolerance. This is not to mention the name calling and misrepresentation secular ideologues engage in when confronted with opposing views that seek to preserve traditional values. 

     The point is we engage in black and white thinking. There are good guys and there are bad guys. We want the bad guys punished, rightly so. I can remember thoughts of indignation after the Newtown Conn. incident, or the gang-rape of a woman in India. God built a sense of justice in our hearts and it is natural to wish harm on those who do evil. It is right to bring criminals to justice because there is still crime in this age. In fact, it should bring us sorrow, not joy, that we have to impose justice because it shows that evil still has influence in our world.

     However, our thirst for justice should be tempered by the realization that evil is within all of us. The lust for power and controll, uncontrolled rage, etc. are also tendencies within us- from the seemingly innocent and helpful child to the criminal in death row. That is why, in Chrisitan theology, God destroys evil not by setting up two camps of people, one group to vanquish another. Instead, God took on humanity upon himself and brought all of humanity under judgment through his body. Therefore, as we relish in the destruction of evil, let us look at the broken body of the one whom Christians claim to be God incarnate. It is there where evil is dealt with, including our own evil. He died to put our bodies with its evil tendencies to death. That is the spiritual reality behind the death of Jesus and may we unite ourselves to that body, instead of setting ourselves apart from sinful humanity.