by Chris Alexion, Copyright September 02, 2007, all rights reserved. 46 views
I've been reading some of Daniel Silva's spy novels recently, and have found them entertaining and ably written. But Silva's latest book, The Messenger, actually indulges in some interesting philosophical speculation. In the following scene, Israeli master spy Gabriel Allon is speaking with the fictional Pope Paul VII about the threat of radical Islam. Silva raises some critical questions.
The Pope begins by denouncing the American war in Iraq, reminding Gabriel that he'd warned the US President against it. The Pope had warned that "war would be seen by the Muslim world as a new Crusade by white Christians. That terrorism could not be defeated by more terrorism, but only through social and economic justice."
Gabriel responds that "the forces of radical Islam have declared war on us–America, the West, Christianity, Israel. Under God's law and the laws of man, we have the right, indeed the moral duty, to resist."
"Resist the terrorists with justice and opportunity rather than violence and bloodshed. When statesmen resort to violence, it is humanity that suffers."
"You seem to believe that the problem of terrorism and radical Islam can be swept away if they were more like us–that if poverty, illiteracy, and tyranny weren't so prevalent in the Muslim world, there would be no young men willing to sacrifice their lives in order to maim and kill others. But they've seen the way we live and they want nothing of it. They've seen our democracy, and they reject it. They view democracy as a religion that runs counter to the central tenets of Islam, and therefore they will resist it with a sacred rage. How do we deliver justice and prosperity to these men of Islam who believe only in death?"
"It certainly cannot be imposed on them by the barrel of a white man's gun."
"I agree, Holiness. Only when Islam reforms itself will there be social justice and true prosperity within the Arab world. But in the meantime we cannot sit idly by and do nothing while the jihadists plot our destruction. That, Holiness, is immoral, too. . . ."
Daniel Silva, The Messenger (New York: Putnam, 2006), pp. 28-29.
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