Paul L. Heck (June 22, 2015)

ISIS. The Cross. ISIS and the Cross. The Cross? Yes, that one. The Cross of Jesus Christ. How many of you have been thinking of the Cross lately? ISIS has. ISIS? Why?

First things first. This will be the most important article you read about ISIS to date. Are you ready? It starts bleak but gets better. Read the whole thing. OK?

Before we get to ISIS, we have to say something about Salman al-Ouda. He’s from Saudi Arabia. He led the Awakening. Not the one where Petraeus mobilized Iraq’s Sunni tribes against insurgents. The one in Saudi Arabia amidst the First Gulf War. (Remember that one?) Saddam occupied Kuwait in 1990. The US ousted him and also sent a bunch of troops to Saudi Arabia. The House of Saud apparently asked for the protection. US boots on the ground. Many saw it as a defilement of their Holy Land. Infidels in the land of the two shrines! (The two shrines are Mecca and Medina.) These citizen believers used it as religious leverage to demand reform from the House of Saud, and Salman al-Ouda was the key figure. He ended up in jail for a good chunk of time (1994-1999). When he got out, he had changed his tone. He no longer criticizes the regime directly, but he does call for limits on power. The association of Islam with authoritarianism has been a disaster in his view. Hard to disagree. He went on to develop a media empire and now has a following in the millions.

Of his countless articles, one recently appeared in Renewal (June 16, 2015, p. 10). Renewal (Tajdeed) is the Islamist newspaper in Morocco. Entitled “The Green Crescent,” the article lambasts the current bloodshed among Muslims. To make his point, al-Ouda refers to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. “Our crescent has indeed become red with the color of blood.” He goes on from there to lament the slaughter. But he can’t resist taking a potshot at the Red Cross: “The Cross is a symbol of polytheism. It’s a baseless allegation.” It’s a simple flip-off. Like the way people used to speak of Jews. No one gave it a thought. A fact beyond dispute. That’s the way they are. And that’s the way it is. “The Cross … a baseless allegation.” The end. No need for discussion.

Three points. First, a question: Is it remarkable that a leading religious voice in the Arab world calls the Cross a symbol of polytheism? His point? Christians worship the Cross. They don’t worship God alone. Polytheists. Hence, the Cross is a symbol of polytheism. In fact, see that guy on the Cross. He’s not Jesus. Just looks like him. That’s the big Christian hoax. A baseless allegation. Second, the fact that al-Ouda can refer to this idea in passing, knowing it will not raise an eyebrow, makes one wonder. How many Muslims view Christians as polytheists? Third, aren’t polytheists supposed to be fought?

It’s not as bad as it all sounds. Lots of people apparently consider lots of other people polytheists. Some Protestants think Catholics are polytheists. Some Muslims think other Muslims are polytheists. What’s a polytheist? It’s not simply thinking there’s more than one god. More precisely, it’s placing your confidence in a being that has no power. So, if you hope a dead person can help you out – intercede for you (get you through the pearly gates) – then you’re delusional. A baseless allegation.

By that definition, atheists would consider all theists to be polytheists. That dead guy in the sky?

Now for the moment you’ve been craving. A salacious word on ISIS. But before we take the plunge, I would like to register my confusion at the obsession with ISIS. It is noteworthy, but I wonder why people can’t seem to get enough coverage. It’s as if we’re obsessed with ISIS’s evil because it makes us feel good about ourselves. That means … the good we attribute to ourselves is ultimately grounded in an evil! That’s how Saint Augustine would put it. The thing is … ISIS looks at us with the same relish. Ironically, we’re the basis of ISIS’s existence!

And a young white man participated in a meeting at a black church and then decided to kill them. Because they’re black. We’re all caught up in the delusion of condemning others unlike us.

But that’s another story for another time.

ISIS obsesses about the Cross. It is enemy number one. (It might actually be number two or three, after the Shi’a and the Saudi rulers, but we’ll get to that.) We all now know that poetry’s important for ISIS. Part of the allure. The Cross features on occasion in ISIS poetry. You’ve got worshipers of the Cross (عباد الصليب). Then, you’ve got the louts of the Cross (علوج الصليب). The poetess laureate of ISIS, a woman by the name of Ahlam al-Nasr (أحلام النصر), has a poem called “Rock the Throne of the Cross” (زلزلوا عرش الصليب). In another poem, one line says, “The future is dreadful, O Community of the Cross” (القادم رهيب يا أمة الصليب).

She’s just one of many. When ISIS foot soldiers attempted a suicide attack at the Luxor Temple (June 15, 2015), one of their fighters, a guy by the name of Abu Zayd al-Soudanee, tweeted the following: “The explosion at Luxor. A burning summer awaits the arch-idol of Egypt, his soldiers, and the worshipers of the Cross. This is only the beginning.” (Arch-idol is a term in the Qur’an for Satan, but ISIS applies it to all worldly rulers. The reference in this quote is to President Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi.)

The examples are countless, but let’s try to grasp what the Cross means for ISIS. First and foremost, it means the United States (US). Here’s how it goes: The US = Christianity. Christianity = Polytheism. Polytheism is to be fought. Hence, according to all standards of logic, the US is to be fought.

It’s more complex than that. We’ll get to some of the variations. But let’s first break it down. In many places of the world, it’s assumed that western power equals Christianity. Crusaders. Colonizers. Christian Empire. (This is particularly true in places with no indigenous Christians. Their presence as neighbor, colleague, or friend could counter the equation of Christianity with the West.)

It’s called projecting local logic. (“Our governments equal Islam. Hence, their governments equal Christianity.”) It’s also called branding your enemy with a religion your troops despise. Makes them all the more ready to fight. (“They’re the enemy. Hence, they must be Christian Crusaders. Go get ’em boys!”) Worse, these Christians (the United States) are allies of the hated Shi’a (the governments of Iraq and Iran). All this shows that those Christians (again, the US) are the enemies of Islam, the religion of God, the religion of ISIS, the heroic band of men and women, strangers in this world valiantly struggling to bring about God’s rule on earth against powers that seek to snuff it out. But have no fear. So long as they are true to God, he will make them victorious. The end goal is Rome. ISIS Empire. The counter empire.

But wait. Most Christians are poor people living in the hovels of the southern hemisphere. It doesn’t matter. “We’re supposed to be on top. But the West is. The West is thus a problem. The West must be a religion that’s long been a problem. The West is thus Christianity. America is the West.” You can do the math … According to this logic, even atheists become Christians. They, too, are the West. Remember those Danish cartoonists who caused such a stir for insulting Muhammad? They were atheists, right? After all, they were Danish. ISIS says they were Christians. After all, they live in the West. Who can deny it? The world is neatly divided for ISIS. Islam and the rest. Islam and the West.

I guess we did this at one point. Us (US) versus the Commies. Boy did that get us into a few messes.

But ISIS wants to draw us all into a cataclysmic battle. Please. I’m not talking apocalypse. It’s an all-too-worldly strategy. ISIS thrives on the ground when they get Muslims and non-Muslims to see hatred as the standard. ISIS wants Christians to respond in kind. It’d help make sense of ISIS rhetoric. I fear some have already taken the bait. If you’re Christian and see Islam as the enemy, you’ve given ISIS what it wants. The goal is to divide us from our Muslim brothers and sisters. Never forget that the Church acknowledges the place of Muslims in the plan of salvation and speaks of them as co-worshipers of God along with Christians (Lumen Gentium, November 21, 1964). Hence, long term, ISIS won’t last.

But there is the short term. And so we must discuss a few things. I speak from the heart.

One does get the sense that many a Muslim have been taught to fear the Cross. This is not to say they should be comfortable with it. After all, it’s not what they believe. OK. It’s one thing not to believe. It’s another thing to have fear of another religion. We have to talk about this. There is Christian fear of Islam. In the past, there was Christian fear of Judaism. It was a big problem. Christians thought that Judaism lost its way with the coming of Christ. It was no longer relevant. God had chosen the Church. He had abandoned the Jews. You can’t have both, God siding with both the Church and the Jews. This made Jews a problem. You can’t say Christianity was the cause of pogroms and holocausts, but it did help make sense of them. That’s largely gone. What happened? Christians didn’t change their beliefs, but they did reposition. God’s covenant with the Jews is not abrogated.

So we have to talk about the Cross. Did Islam come to destroy the Cross? Did Islam come to spread a message of hatred for the Cross? That is not the core message of Islam. A couple other things: There are plenty of people who are not Muslims and do not like the Cross, and there are plenty of Muslims who find a spiritual kinship with Christianity. For many a Muslim, Christians are close to the heart. But here, we’re not talking about those many Muslims who tread the path to God in partnership with their Christian brothers and sisters. Here, we’re talking about the ISIS mentality.

There’s a hadith that talks about the Cross. A hadith is a statement attributed to Muhammad. This hadith has currency in certain circles. It says that when Jesus returns, he’ll break the cross, kill pigs, and get rid of the jizya (the protection money so-called people of the book are to pay to Muslims).

Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet. They believe he didn’t die but that God raised him up to God before they could crucify him. Someone else, who looked like Jesus, got nailed to the Cross. For Muslims, Jesus didn’t die but is with God, and at the end of time he will return. He’ll overcome the Antichrist and also pray as a Muslim. Muhammad will lead the prayer with Jesus as his follower.

Jesus will break the cross, kill pigs, and get rid of the jizya. There are a lot of Muslims who know this hadith. The Cross is to be broken. Christianity is a problem. It is to be overcome. The Cross is a lie.

A baseless allegation. (Remember Salman al-Ouda?)

It is easy to see the Cross as a sign of oppression. Just have a look at the crucifixion. It’s a bloody mess. Here’s the kicker. Christians agree with Muslims. The Cross is to be destroyed. The only difference is that Christians believe it has been destroyed. The power of the Cross was destroyed. Two thousand years ago.

A non-Muslim might look at the Ka’ba in Mecca and wonder what they’re doing. A bunch of people running around a stone. It seems ominous. But what does it mean for Muslims? God’s mercy on us.

What does the Cross mean for Christians. It looks rather ominous at first glance. God’s love for us.

The Cross is a bloody mess. It’s a remix on the Ancient Temple in Jerusalem. The lamb to be slain. It’s you and me and life in this world. But there’s hope. God is moved to make a gesture on our behalf. The Holy Spirit. It overcomes the Cross. It destroyed the Cross. It gives new life. It renews the earth. The Cross is no longer a problem.

The Holy Spirit emerges from the ashes of the Cross. Life is a bloody mess. If you live with principle, if you trust, if you are honest, you will get eaten up in this world. It’s tempting to go the other way. To live without principle. Here’s the challenge of faith. It’s not a simple question about whether God exists or not. It’s about where I stake my life in a world that’s a bloody mess. Do I stake my life on the world? Or on the mercies of God? On the consoling mercies of God? On life in the Holy Spirit? On the healing power of God?

No one can say they don’t have wounds, deep scars in the inner recesses of the heart. What to do?

Muslims speak of the healing hand of God. They say God placed his hand between Muhammad’s shoulder blades, and he found it soothing. How does God’s hand work to heal the wounded soul?

My concern is that some of our Muslim brothers and sisters are vulnerable to the ISIS message which makes the Cross the problem to be fought. It’s not that they see Christians as a problem. But in some places, among some Muslims, the Cross is a problem. Leading religious voices like Salman al-Ouda refer to it as the symbol of polytheism and no one bats an eye. No one thinks twice. At one point, in Christian circles, similar things were said about Jews, and no one thought twice about it.

In some places, the Cross is seen as a foreign threat. That’s a real opening for ISIS. ISIS is adept at plucking that string. “Those worshipers of the Cross? They plundered your lands. The Cross kills and destroys. Its worshipers are warriors. The goal is to rid the world of Islam. They seek to eliminate Muslims who call to God’s guidance and goodness. God’s curses on the Cross and its followers.” Back to ISIS poetry: “We cut heads that long carried the delusion of the Cross.” (نحزّ رؤوساً طالما حملت وهم الصليب).

When ISIS cut off the heads of twenty-one Copts on the shores of Tripoli in Libya (February 15, 2015), it was announced as a message, signed in blood, to the Community of the Cross. Louts! “You fight all of us, and so we fight all of you, until the war comes to an end when Jesus, peace be upon him, descends to break the Cross, kill pigs, and end the jizya. This sea in which you disposed of the body of Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, may God receive him, we swear that we will sully it with your blood, and we will conquer Rome, by God’s permission, as our prophet promised, God’s prayer and peace upon him.” ISIS and the Cross. It’s an obsession. They can’t let it go. Like a dog with a bone.

What do Muslims have to say? In my experience (and without boasting, there are not too many non-Muslims with my experience of Islam), the Muslim is a moral creature at heart. Muslims are moved by the moral life, but this is not to say that the Muslim is morally exceptional. Muslim youth are pretty much like youth everywhere. Most Muslim boys want to impress girls, and most girls hope to attract boys. They hope to succeed in school and in life. They have dreams and aspirations. But these days, they’re also susceptible to a virus in the system, to a perverse message.

Why does the message make sense? We need to dismantle and interrogate the message in its various component parts. The Cross is one of those parts. How do we want to move forward together? Do we judge the Cross as it appears to be on ISIS media or as it exists in the hearts of believers? Do we judge Islam as it appears on media or as it exists in the hearts of the believers?