Evangelizing Them Out Of Their Holes

I’ve been giving some more thought recently to framing and the problem of militant sanctuary. It’s the end of a long day right now, so I’ll save the longer version for another time. The short version: the angle I want to pursue is that political views of sanctuary may have been, in part, symptomatic of an evangelical trend in foreign policy and military conduct. Recent coverage of intelligence reports embossed with biblical quotes, proselytizing at Baghram air base, troops dressing up their actions in crusader-rap symbolism  all suggest as much. So does this book. As it turns out, some of what Harper’s covered in its last issue was reported way back in the dark ages of 2005. It’s an angle I hadn’t previously considered, except insofar as it may have shaped the sort of narrow worldview we’ve come to associate with the Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz era. But the language of sanctuary, I would think, might have a particular resonance for those whose inclinations tend toward this sort of thing. Something to think about; at least, it’s part of the story yet to be told.