The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, has been in the news a lot lately. Primarily known for their brutal executions and fast spreading territory grabs. While I find their actions horrific, I am very disappointed by the reactions I have seen to their movement.
As a member of the military, I have been exposed to a very brutish response of "kill them all! Death is the only thing they will understand!" What is so shocking to me is how quickly people respond like this. The other disturbing part is that many of those most vehemently opposed claim to be Christian. The argument is that these evil ISIS members need to be destroyed because they are so "evil".
I myself am a Christian, and as one who actually reads the Bible, I find it hard to draw the conclusion that "because they beheaded people, they are evil." This will not be an easy point to defend. While I am culturally disgusted to see beheadings of real human beings, I realize that a large amount of this disgust is a result of my complete detachment from both physical violence, and death on a regular basis. Our society is fairly sanitized in this area. Compound this with the fact the the G-d I believe in, as described in the Bible, commanded his people to do equally violent and horrific things (executing woman and children). And so, I find it difficult, or at least unhelpful to react to the barbarism of ISIS by posturing from a position of American Righteousness.
To be clear, I do not wish to defend ISIS or their actions by any means. I personally find it unthinkable. But I am conversely not comfortable with verbally or even physically responding in kind.
Here is a video clip that I suspect many would find "inspiring". I am conflicted. I find it inspiring (going to war to help others) but also grotesque ("going on an adventure"). In this piece, Patrick Maxwell, an ex-Army civilian says some pretty horrific things. I feel it compounds the problem when individuals on both sides find an excuse in this circumstance to act out their violent fantasies in an unrestricted environment.
