ROBERT MAYNARD
In a previous
article in
True North, it was pointed out how Jihadi leaders fear the attraction
of the American notion of Democracy. That article was followed up by
one examining
why that attraction is not as powerful when the Judeo-Christian
foundation of the American notion of ordered liberty is abandoned in
favor of a vision of democracy that is purely secular. For a more
detailed look at the "Biblical Roots of American Civilization", check
out this
site. As much
of a threat as the Jihadi leadership sees in modern democracy, the real
threat to Jihadism is just beginning to form. Imagine the threat posed
by a religiously-based, demographically prolific culture of liberty that
is on the cutting edge of modern technological advancement.
In an article for PJ Media entitled "
Israel at a Point of No Return - In the Right Direction,"
David P. Goldman, who is a Senior Fellow at the London Center for
Policy Research and Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum, points
out that this is what is beginning to take place in the nation of
Israel. At a time when advanced industrial nations are becoming more
secular and experiencing what demographer Phillip Longman refers to as a
"
Global Baby Bust", Israel is growing increasingly religious and demographically prolific.
The latter factor is seen as a sign of optimism and hope for the
future in a population. Indeed, there is good reason for them to have
hope. Israel is becoming an economic powerhouse where new business
start-ups are everywhere. It is also leading the way in developing
modern technology, second only to the U.S. in new patents. All this
would be amazing enough if it were only the Jews that were being lifted
up by this progress. What is even less well known is that these
developments are also benefiting the Arab population under Israeli rule.
As Goldman points out:
This national religious revival is not occurring at the expense of
Israeli or West Bank Arabs. On the contrary, the Arab population between
the River and the Sea is flourishing as no modern Arab population ever
did. A fifth of Israel's medical students are Arab, as are a third of
the students at the University of Haifa. Ariel University across the
"Green Line" in Samaria, the "settler's university," is educating a
whole generation of West Bank Arabs. The campus is full of young Arab
women in headscarves, and the local Jewish leadership reaches out to
Arab villages to recruit talented students. Israel's expanding economy
has a bottomless demand for young people of ability and ambition.
Goldman also points out that this development has important implications for Christians and other people of faith:
This is good news for Christians as well as Jews. The secularization
thesis is refuted: a country with the world's greatest record of
high-tech innovation is also becoming the industrial world's most
religious country. It is devastating news for Lennonists as well as
Leninists. The "Imagine" world turns out to be imaginary. Israel, as
Franz Rosenzweig said of the Jewish people, is there to be "the paragon
and exemplar of a nation." For all its flaws, the State of Israel stands
as a beacon to people of faith around the world. It is honored by its
list of self-appointed enemies. Will Israel prevail against the unholy
coalition against it? As we say, b'ezrat Hashem.
This region of the world was once the driving force behind what was
arguably the most advanced civilization on the planet. Many people are
aware that the works of Aristotle and other Classical Greeks were
brought to the west by Muslims when they came to Spain. The question is,
how did the Arab world come across these gems?
Starting about the time of Christ, Assyrian Christians built a
religiously-based, technologically advanced civilization that eventually
reached from the Middle East to as far as China and Japan. Their story
is briefly summarized in the article entitled "
What Arab Civilization?"
Can this region once again become the engine of a global,
religiously-based civilization of liberty? As Goldman points out, the
possibility is good news to Christians and people of faith in general.
If Israel can bring Arab Muslims into its economic miracle, might it
expand this horizon a bit further?
In his book "
The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity,"
sociologist Philip Jenkins points out that the center of gravity of
Global Christianity is shifting south towards the developing world.
These Christians are also demographically prolific and have a great deal
of hope for the future. Using their quickly growing numbers from both
high birth rates and rapid conversions, they could be the ideal
candidates to spread what is happening in Israel to a global scale. If
so, the 21st Century could turn out to be quite exciting indeed.
FamilySecurityMatters.org
Contributing Editor Robert Maynard is Vermont Project Director of
"Freedom Rising," a grass roots organization dedicated to ensuring that
Freedom continues to rise in America.
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