REMANATIONS

As a follow-up to my last post on democracy in the Middle East, I was listening to the radio the other night and caught a snippet of an interview with some foreign-policy guru who noted that, if we are to see democracies develop in Muslim countries, they will have to flow directly out of Islam. His reasoning was simple: “Muslims just aren’t going to convert to secularism.”

And thank goodness. Imagine if Elijah had demanded that the false prophets in his day stop worshiping Baal and get busy bowing to Marduk. The situation in Israel might have been different, but it would not have been improved. Exchanging one form of idolatry for another is only a solution if you’re the one selling the wood and stones. Rebellion against the living God and his Anointed Son is rebellion, whether you wear a turban and read the Hadith, or you burn your bra and read Cosmo.

I’m a simple man, and the implications of this seem simple to me: If we really want to see responsible, representative government in the Middle East, the kind that preserves liberty and opposes oppression, then the task of American foreign policy is straightforward: Send Christian missionaries. Establish gospel outposts. Disciple the nations. When the gospel has penetrated the society sufficiently, responsible and limited government will flow like water from the rock. Heck, we won’t even have to strike it with a rod.