One can only wonder at Columbia University's having scheduled yesterday's speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. That one openly committed to not only the destruction of Israel and downfall of the United States but, as per seemingly credible accounts, engaged as well in supplying weapons to our enemies in the interests of taking American lives should thus be provided a forum is, of course, a point of question for many.
One's first impulse was to recall the anti-Americanism sometimes inherent various spheres of academic, political and societal engagement within our nation (one need only recall, for example, the pro-Soviet sympathies of various highly visible personalities during the "Cold War" era or, indeed, fact of Columbia's present prohibition of pro-military presentation and recruitment at the school). Yet, when the time came, the University president's introduction of Ahmadinejad involved a scathing indictment of the visiting despot. What to make of it all...? There will undoubtedly be more than a little speculation.
The backdrop of it all, of course, involves our present course of action in Iraq and Afghanistan. As those following these postings are aware, our personal persuasion relative to the present conflict has consistently been that the distinctions between Western and Mideastern culture, mindset, philosophical values and mental processes have, to our loss as well as that of others, been largely unrecognized or, perhaps even more regrettably, ignored. Given such, it is to be feared that time will continue to confirm the present endeavor's futility.
Given such, we grieve even more for lives lost, homes devastated, hopes and dreams shattered and opportunities lost - both at home and abroad. Our own community was stirred this past week by the loss of a well-respected young man who, in the spirit of patriotism had volunteered for military duty. He leaves a wife and small child.
Of coming realities, Scripture foresees "perilous times" induced by converging realities, both spiritual and temporal. As per our Lord's own pronouncement such will, in time, prove inevitable (Matt. 24:6). Together with the widening spread of militant Islam (one is struck by the increasing references to an "Islamization of Europe" - particularly, at present, in relation to France and England), it is not difficult to see current developments as likely constituting one contributing stream to it all.
Burl Ratzsch
