Serve logo

Is the War on Terror a Cosmic War or Not?

Evaluation of Reza Aslan's 'How to Win a Cosmic War'

By Chloe LarsonPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
Like
Picture Source: Wikipedia

What is there in the mind of humans that makes them so grappled with faith and fervor about a current struggle, which allows them to startle violence against the rest of humanity? Well, this is one of the reasons why Reza Aslan argues in How to Win a Cosmic War that the war on terror is a “Cosmic War.”

First of all, let’s clutch onto the understanding of what a Cosmic War is. Although it is most often defined as a “religious war,” a Cosmic War holds much more than that. As defined by Reza Aslan, a religious studies scholar, a cosmic war represents a “physical struggle in this world and an imagined moral encounter in the world beyond.” It's more or less suggesting that a Cosmic War is a connected conflict between God and Satan, good forces verses evil forces. In other terms, if you are fighting for God, then you are Satan’s side. Thus, if you are on Satan’s side, you are the evil enemy that the fighters of God have been instructed to destroy.

According to Reza Aslan, the war on terror is a Cosmic War. However, his main reason for making this statement, is because the jihadists enemies have the imagination that this conflict is taking place on a spiritual plane. Therefore, the war cannot have victory or loss. Continuing, Aslan additionally states that the war on terror is not a normal war, nor is there a normal enemy. Moreover, in Aslan’s How to Win a Cosmic War, he discusses how the Al-Qeada’s attacks of 9/11 — which is of the primary triggers to the war on terror — were a declaration of war for a war that was already happening; already in progress. Subsequently, terrorist groups like Al-Qeada, a global jihadist group, uses religion as a back-up for their reasons of violence. In the early months of 1998, the terrorist group even made a comment that directly stated they were a religious terrorist group against other religions, primarily Jews and Christians.

Reza Aslan is currently an author of three books about religion, Zealot, No god but God, and Beyond Fundamentalism (How to Win a Cosmic War.) Numerous times, Reza Aslan claims that he has a PhD in “History of Religions” or “Sociology of Religions” from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Aslan even claims this information on his own website. However, he has a PhD in sociology and his own graduate advisors confirm this. Although both PhDs can be credible for his understanding of religions, it is the fact that he has announced false information about himself, which could considerably affect his writing. Aslan has also stated in a Fox News interview that he is a historian, even though his credentials fail to prove this.

Mark Juergensmeyer, a director of the Orfalea Center of Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, claims that “religion alone cannot cause violence.” Therefore, the war on terror is not a Cosmic War. If a Cosmic War is based on religion and the war on terror is based on violent acts, the two do not mix. Juergensmeyer should well be able to have the knowledge of terrorist groups that use religion as their group base. For instance, there is the Ku Klux Klan, who have the ritual of burning crosses and a history of torturing people of color, but all in the name of Jesus Christ. Moreover, the extremist of Hindu burn mosques and actuated violence in India during the 1990s. Even though Mark Juergensmeyer's, a scholar of religious studies and sociology, points made about how religion does not create wars is lacking reliable proof.

If the war on terror was not a Cosmic War, then the war on terror would considerably be a conflict between two or more nations. Since terrorists are not a nation, or do not make up a nation, it can be concluded that the war on terror is a Cosmic War. The word “Terrorism” comes from a Latin word, “terrere,” which means “to make someone tremble.” Therefore, anyone can become a “terrorist” without being a defined group. People who take part in a Cosmic War are acting under the service of God, more or less stated by Reza Aslan, as acting as a puppet in God’s hands. The victims of war on terror are all sacrifices for their god. The war on terror has no defined opposing sides nor a definition of how victory or defeat is placed, or when it will take place.

Works cited

Aslan, Reza. Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Igorvolsky. "Why ISIS Is Not, In Fact, Islamic." ThinkProgress. N.p., 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.

"The Immanent Frame." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

MidweekPolitics. "Reza Aslan Cannot Be Trusted." YouTube. YouTube, 11 Jan. 2016. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.

Pike, John. "Military." Al-Qaida / Al-Qaeda (The Base). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

history
Like

About the Creator

Chloe Larson

I write research papers on global issues, short stories and occasionally casual articles.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.