BY WILLIAM G. JOHNSSON
he United States today faces a greater threat from religious
extremists than at any period in recent memory.
In a manner totally unforeseen and unanticipated, religion
has come to the fore in the modern world. A generation ago students of history
were dismissing religion as a significant element for the future of humanity.
Science now was king.
How wrong they were! Their pronouncements utterly missed not
just the return of religion as a significant social and political factor, but
the reappearance of religion of an aggressive, fundamentalist stripe:
The overthrow of the shah of Iran by radical Muslim clerics
should have alerted the world to what was coming.
In India, for the first time a strongly nationalist Hindu political party
was elected to form the central government.
Across the countries of the Middle East and in Indonesia fundamentalist Muslim
groups, of which al-Qaeda is best known, gained a following and exerted ever
stronger influence on governments, at times resorting to acts of violence and
terror.
In Israel itself control of the government shifted toward those favoring a
hard-line stance against the Palestinians.
These developments may seem a long way off to people in the
United States, but they are not. During just the past few years the United States
has undergone profound changes. Storm clouds loom dark on the horizon.
The catastrophic events of 9/11--the diabolical attacks on
New York City and Washington, D.C.--startled and shook the nation. As leaders
of government rushed to try to prevent further attacks, Congress moved quickly
to draft corresponding legislation. Faced with warnings from leaders that more
terrorist activities were not just likely but certain, and learning to live
with Yellow, Orange, and Red Alerts, members of the public accepted restriction
of liberties. They did not protest the detaining of suspected terrorists for
long periods without access to legal counsel or trial; they expressed little
outrage at the abuse of prisoners held in detention in Cuba or Iraq.
Rarely does a single event open the door to sudden, major shifts
in perspective. But what happened on September 11, 2001, did just that. With
this change religious extremism finds fertile soil.
A potent factor in the American political scene is the role
of Israel in evangelical/fundamentalist Christian thought. A widely held interpretation
of biblical prophecy concerning the end time sees Israel playing a key part
in events leading up to the Second Coming. Thus, the Christian Right, which
increasingly has organized itself to flex political muscle, seeks to influence
the United States government--regardless of the party in power--to support the
interests of Israel. Forget about attempts to negotiate between Jews and Arabs
with an even hand: Israel must be given priority, because of its role in
end-time prophecy.
This coupling of religion with a political agenda bears the
seeds of ill will for the future. History makes abundantly clear that anytime
church and state team up, bad things happen for people of conscience.
Another factor bedeviling the American scene is the rise of
the "values" issue in the fiercely contested presidential election
of 2004. Especially the efforts to widen marriage to include homosexual relationships
hit many voters in the gut.
The future seems loaded with uncertainty. We can expect that
the Christian Right, which strongly influenced the outcome of the past election,
will not quietly retreat to a corner. They will demand political results, and
will be even more aggressive in future elections.
Significantly, the broadest alliance of Christians ever has
recently been formed in the United States. Evangelicals, mainline Protestants,
Roman Catholics, and minority groups (but not Seventh-day Adventists) have hooked
up as "Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A."
In the 2004 elections the Democrats were hurt by the powerful
machine of the Christian Right. Expect them to try to adjust to the new realities.
Suddenly the sweet land of liberty seems ripe for religious
extremists to try to enforce their will. Which is exactly what Adventists have
said would happen before Jesus comes back again.
"What I say to you, I say to everyone," Christ warns:
"Watch!" (Mark 13:37, NIV).
