How To Overcome Evil

LIKE MUCH OF the world, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about ISIS over the past few months. I’ve been horrified by the accounts of the so-called Islamic State’s barbarism, and I lament their perversion of one of the world’s great religions.

Most of all, I’m outraged at their disregard for human life—at their wanton killing of Shia Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and anyone else who doesn’t share their radical vision. Pope Francis has said that it’s legitimate to act to protect innocent lives in this case, and I don’t disagree with him.

Yet I believe that Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, which requires us to think beyond short-term military solutions and address the systemic issues that breed crises like this one. And I strongly believe that to have any moral authority in the current crisis, we must first confess the Western policies and attitudes that have contributed to where we find ourselves today—and then repent of those policies and attitudes.

The first thing we need to confess is a shallow and, at best, incomplete understanding of ISIS. Alireza Doostdar of the University of Chicago Divinity School wrote, “[We] seem to assume that ISIS ... has suddenly materialized out of the thin ether of an evil doctrine. But ISIS emerged from the fires of war, occupation, killing, torture, and disenfranchisement. It did not need to sell its doctrine to win recruits. It needed above all to prove itself effective against its foes.”

 That is not to say that ISIS’ doctrine and the actions of its fighters are not evil, because it is and they are. But we do need to acknowledge that the turmoil that has enveloped Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003 created a fertile environment for a group like ISIS to win supporters to its cause. Ultimately, we cannot undermine or defeat a group that we do not properly understand. Only when we change the underlying conditions that allow ISIS to attract recruits will it be possible for us to defeat it in the long term.

To that end, we need to confess that our legacy of colonialism and dependence on fossil fuels has much to do with the current state of the Middle East. Western colonial powers drew national boundaries in the region based on their own interests, with little regard for regional history or cultural identities. At the same time, we have subverted people’s rights to self-determination by supporting corrupt and repressive regimes throughout the region and valued our access to oil above all other considerations. U.S. military bases in the Middle East make it difficult for citizens of these countries not to see us as an imperial power much like the ancient Romans.

And we must also confess that our too-uncritical support of Israel, both politically and militarily, contributes significantly to regional instability. I want to be clear: I affirm Israel’s right to exist in peace and safety alongside its neighbors. But we also need to be clear that the Israeli government’s repressive treatment of and disproportionate use of force against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is a major factor behind anti-American sentiment in the region. So long as we refuse to criticize this behavior, and continue to supply the military hardware that makes it possible, terrorist groups such as ISIS will continue to use U.S. policy as a powerful recruiting tool.

CONFESSION IN THESE matters is necessary, but not sufficient. In order to effect lasting change, we must also engage in repentance. True repentance means more than just being sorry. It means both admitting that the course you have been on is wrong and committing to begin walking in a new direction.

In the short term, we need to commit to fully understanding ISIS beyond what we glean from its own propaganda. A clear understanding of why militants are joining ISIS will best enable us to degrade their ability to attract additional recruits.

In the long term, the challenge of defeating ISIS and groups like it necessitates that we change our own policies and behaviors that have contributed to where we find ourselves today. We should commit to a new energy future, free from the shackles of Middle Eastern oil. We should base our support for governments in the region on their respect for democracy and human rights. We should work to dismantle our empire of military bases in the region. And we should fully embrace a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, and be willing to openly speak truth to both sides regarding the many wrongs they continue to inflict on each other.

Truly being peacemakers in a world where such evil is being done by groups such as ISIS is never going to be easy, but it is our calling as followers of Christ. Therefore let us heed Paul’s advice in Romans 12: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”