THE WAR FOR MUSLIM MINDS: Islam and the West, by Gilles Kepel. Translated by Pascale Ghazaleh. Belknap/Harvard University Press (Cambridge, Mass., 2004). 327 pp., $23.95. Reviewed by Wayne A. Holst LINK Kepel believes that the core problem is conflict within Islamic civilizations. Greater threats to world peace exist within, rather than beyond, Islam. As an alternative to "jihad" Kepel employs the Arabic word "fitna" -- meaning "war within the heart of Islam; a centrifugal force that threatens the faithful with community fragmentation, disintegration and ruin." The Muslim threat to the West is an issue at least as much internal to Islam as it is external to it. Terrorism needs to be opposed, not primarily by armies and weapons of standard combat but by wise decisions and actions concerning the treatment of the 10 million Muslims already living in Europe. TERROR IN THE NAME OF GOD: Why Religious Militants Kill, by Jessica Stern. Ecco Books/ Harper Collins: New York, NY. 2003. 368 pages. Hardcover. $39.95 Cdn.ISBN 0-06-050532-X. Reviewed by: Wayne A. Holst LINK Stern would like to rid humanity of all terror in the name of God but she concludes that will not happen as a result of military force. She has long sought an innovative antidote to religious terrorism; that deadly concoction, that oxymoron of sorts. To find some answers, she combines spiritual breadth, psychological depth and forensic scholarly vigor. Her primary recommendation seems, at first hearing, to be almost naive. She proposes that we must view evil differently. "Any creative encounter with evil," she learns from author Kathleen Norris (Cloister Walk) "requires that we not distance ourselves from it by simply demonizing those who commit evil acts. In order to write about evil, a writer has to try to comprehend it, from the inside out..." WHEN RELIGION BECOMES EVIL by Charles Kimball, Harper SanFrancisco: Toronto, ON. 2002. 192 pages. Hardcover. $32.95 Cdn. ISBN 0-06-050653-9. Reviewed by: Wayne A. Holst LINK When a religious establishment comes to believe that its self-preservation is more important than the abuses it allows to be perpetrated, Kimball believes that the principle of the end justifying the means has taken effect. This, quite obviously, was the policy at work when, for the past several decades, American Catholic bishops turned a blind eye to pedophile priests and a deaf ear to their victims. The years of coverup will almost certainly do more damage to the credibility of the church than might have resulted from an honest, transparent admission of guilt. This is but one dramatic example among many. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict could be debated on similar terms. "...more wars have been waged, more people killed and more evil perpetuated in the name of religion than by any other institutional force in human history." Kimball asserts that declaring war "holy" is a sure sign of corrupt religion. That is true whether the war is initiated by Christians (for example, the crusades against Islam) or by Muslims (in their jihads against the West). The author demonstrates impartially that neither crusades nor jihads can be justified as holy wars. Christians, Muslims and other religious warriors must look deeply into their respective traditions to see how their own basic beliefs are contradicted by such practices. FUNDAMENTALISM: The Search for Meaning, by Malise Ruthven. Oxford University Press: Toronto, ON. 2004. 253 pages. Hardcover. $28.95. Cdn. ISBN 0-19-284091-6. Reviewed by: Wayne A. Holst LINK The author assesses our current confusion by combining his Western heritage with a broad grasp of Islamic history, politics and religion. In slightly more than 200 crisply argued pages, Ruthven writes an accessible and insightful discourse on the origins and future prospects of modern fundamentalism and its global impact. The author believes his multi-faceted, contemporary subject represents an important transitional phase in human history which is not likely to become a permanent state of affairs. And, despite the fact that he uses most of his text to describe the negatives of a complex, deeply-troubling subject, he ends the book with a certain cautious optimism. Choosing selectively from massive amounts of data he discusses the nature of human differences, the snares of literalism, controlling women, fundamentalism and nationalism. Through it all he helps us understand what is happening and what could take place to improve the situation. Fundamentalists believe that there is only one way to know and believe something. Moderns, however, experience and understand meaning in ways that differ from the past. STRONG RELIGION: The Rise of Fundamentalisms around the World by Gabriel A. Almond, R. Scott Appleby and Emmanuel Sivan. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL. 2003. 281 pages. Papercover. $19.00 US. ISBN 0-226-01498-3. Reviewed by: Wayne A. Holst LINK Hot-button issues related to Islamic fundamentalisms are addressed forthrightly. The book proposes that the key Islamic beef is not against America per se, but against corrupt and godless Islamic national leaders who have sold their souls to Western values. The majority of Islamic religious leaders, the book contends, do not consider bin Laden spiritually authoritative. The supposed 'clash of civilizations' between Christian and Muslim states is more accurately a conflict between moderates and fundamentalists within Islamic cultures themselves. Many radical Islamic fundamentalists, the book advises, are not traditionalists at all, but rather 'innovative manipulators' who seek to justify and prove authentic their violent motives. IN THE AFTERMATH: What September 11th Is Teaching Us About Our World, Our Faith & Ourselves edited by James Taylor. Northstone Publishing: Kelowna, BC. 2002. 154 pages. Papercover. $ 22.95 Cdn. ISBN 1-896-836-56-9. Reviewed by: Wayne A. Holst LINK Editor James Taylor of Kelowna BC creatively marshals the insights of Canadians Lois Wilson (senator), Derek Evans (former Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International), Bill Phipps (former United Church of Canada moderator) and Nancy Reeves, psychologist at the University of Victoria. Besides Hauerwas, Taylor includes the contributions of Americans William Willimon, also of Duke University, Walter Wink of Auburn Theological Seminary, New York, Jim Wallis, co-founder of the Washington-based Sojourners Community, and Keith Wright, pastor and author of Austin, Texas. Each writer speaks out of her or his perspective, but there are certain shared insights. Coming through frequently is the message that this is not so much a time for scapegoating or handwringing as it is an occasion for"Lincolnesque self examination" in the spirit of the famous American president who called his nation to a deeper understanding of the causes of the crises of his day."I am coming to believe that this tragedy could either become a doorway to transformation - or could set us back for years,"says Wallis, echoing others. ABRAHAM: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths by Bruce Feiler, William Morrow: New York, NY. 2002. 240 pages. Hardcover. $23.95 US. ISBN 0-380-97776-1. Reviewed by: Wayne A. Holst LINK Daily accounts of violence shatter the Holy Land. Is there a possibility for at least positive coexistence between JerusalemOs three religions> Abraham, the first of the biblical patriarchs, says Bruce Feiler, can be a defining, unifying and hopeful symbol for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. He has been that in the past and he can be that again. The author of last yearOs bestseller Walking the Bible, a blend of history, travel, religious and spiritual autobiography, uses the same formula with this interfaith portrait Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths. Over time, each of these religions have recreated Abraham in their own image to accomplish their own particular purposes. Now, they must see him as their common father. Fourteen hundred years after the rise of Muhammad, Feiler says, two thousand years after the ascent of Christianity, twenty-five hundred years after the origin of Judaism, and four thousand years after the birth of Abraham, the worlds three major monotheistic religions are inching toward a posture of open - and equal - deliberation. The Battle for God - A History of Fundamentalism. by Karen Armstrong amazon.com     sample bit     reader reviews