(Editor’s Note: This article was written by a former classmate who later became a Philippine government official. For obvious reasons, he has requested anonymity.)
Here’s a true story about Quran readers. After the signing of the peace agreement between Nur Misuari and the Philippine government, I had occasion to tour the battlefields of Mindanao with Mr. Misuari and the Iranian ambassador to the Philippines, to survey possible routes for a proposed Mindanao railway.
I carried the role of a Philippine government do-gooder who was tasked with delivering a part of the concessions given to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) by the peace agreement. I could not believe how they revelled in recounting how their shoulder-mounted bazookas had demolished Philippine army tanks, the crumpled remains of which still marked where men had died months earlier.
I saw the nature of their religious fervour in their eyes. It spoke of a real belief in the holiness of war against the infidels (that’s us, incidentally). I knew then that the Philippines, like the rest of the non-Muslim world, would have to realize that the Quran readers are not just looking for their place on this earth. To them, the earth IS their place — they just need to reclaim it.
We are in their way, and their holy book has been preparing them for centuries on the various ways that we may be swept out of their way. And you know what? They are banking on our “Christian” ways of goodness to make it easier for them to do this.
Individually, they are basically good people, like you and me. But cluster them into a group, like the MNLF, the MILF, the Abu Sayyaf and you’ve got a real problem on your hands. And you’d better believe it.
Peace in Mindanao? Not in this lifetime. Peace from terrorists? Isn’t that an oxymoronic phrase? I was undersecretary for railways and mass transit projects when terrorists blew up one of my LRT trains, savaging the little bodies of three babies and a score of adults, wounding dozens, all of whom were simply living their life, uncaring about whether the fellow who “forgot” his backpack under a seat was a Quran or a Bible reader.
But the Quran-reading backpacker did care what the passengers read. And he didn’t believe firmly enough in the promise of virgins and a special place in the hereafter to detonate his pack while on his back. I am more worried about those who are willing to set off their bomb packs on their backs. There is little defence against someone who is inspired by his religious belief to die.
Just as the puny .38 revolvers of the American colonialists were ineffective against the fanatical wild-eyed Moro insurrectionists, so too are our metal detectors in train stations ineffective against fanatically-motivated suicide bombers. They can only be stopped by their leaders who can tell them that what they have been doing is not what the Quran intended, after all. But do you hear them saying that? No, not even the Saudis are seriously moderating the radicals. Why? Now that’s a silly question.
The last thing they need are Christian apologists for their murderous missions. It’s ironic, isn’t it? The lambs of slaughter bleating for understanding for their killers. And it’s happening all around the world.