One More Nation Under God (Indivisible?)

Eight years after the U.S. attacked Afghanistan, fighting continues. Religious extremists in the Taliban and al-Qaeda retain significant power there. What is our moral responsibility to the people of Afghanistan? If religion is part of the problem there, how can it be part of the solution?

When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the goal was to eliminate the safe haven the Taliban offered al-Qaeda terrorists, who presented a direct and very real threat to our nation’s security. In our efforts to protect the U.S., we also helped safeguard the people of Afghanistan against religious oppression.

Because the U.S. has the ability and resources to protect Afghans from religious and human rights violations suffered at the hands of the Taliban, we are morally bound to prevent the Taliban from regaining power. There also is a quid pro quo here: the U.S. occupied Afghanistan for our own gain, and it would be opportunistic to take what we need and leave the Afghan people at the mercy of a corrupt regime.

But the question is more complicated than simply safeguarding human rights. At the heart of this conflict is the deeper question of authority. The civil war between the Sunnis and the Shias, in fact, began with a disagreement over the question of the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Leaders in both sects believed they had the power to decide, and centuries of fighting have ensued.

So, too, Taliban leaders today believe they alone have the authority to interpret al-Sharī‘ah, the body of law guiding the Muslim community. Driven by a strict interpretation of the law, the Taliban has become an oppressive and extremist theocracy, imposing violent and brutal punishment on those not bowing to their way of faith and life.

It is ironic that at the very heart of Islam is the idea of submission to the authority of the one God. For Muslim believers, total and unconditional surrender of one’s desires to God’s authority is thought to bring personal peace. But for Afghans, “surrendering” to the authority of the Taliban has not brought peace; instead it has led to terror and violence at the hands of fundamentalist mullahs.

Does a political entity like the U.S., then, have the authority to intervene in a religious conflict? When religion is at the heart of the problem in an oppressive regime, what can be done politically and militarily to restore religious freedom?

By continuing to fight on behalf of the Afghan people, the U.S. can protect the ideal of religious freedom, standing firm in the belief that religious authority does not lie with political leaders, with ruling parties or with competing sects. We can stand against those who claim to have the “correct” interpretation of the written texts or a direct line to the prophets and teachers who bring the word of God, those who believe they are the designated interpreters of those messages—by not allowing them the forum to hijack an authority that is not rightly theirs.

As peacekeepers in Afghanistan, the U.S. can prevent the Taliban from appropriating religious authority and help restore freedom to Afghans, lifting the political to the spiritual and perhaps finding a path to lasting peace. Our actions can support the principle that religious authority—the divine guidance for how to live our lives according to God’s plan—lies nowhere but in the voice and power of the supreme, holy One we call Allah, God and Yahweh.