Article June 1, 2015 Issue

Some thoughts on terrorism

George Moffett

In recent statements, a number of senior United States intelligence and national security officials have voiced an unusual degree of pessimism regarding prospects for reversing the spread of global terrorism. Among other things, they point to the rise of ISIS, the so-called Islamic State carved out of Iraq and Syria; the recent collapse of a friendly government in Yemen that was striving to contain Al Qaeda; and, more generally, the environment created by the failed promise of the “Arab Spring.” The threat to global security, they say, remains long-term while the effort to contain terrorist activity is hindered by the pace of its expansion.

All of which prompts the question: Is mankind helpless in the face of these encroaching displays of anarchy and nihilism? To this question Christian Science answers a resounding “No,” based on the understanding revealed in Scripture of God’s unerring government, and of man’s true, perfect nature under God’s government.

Reasoning out from this understanding in prayer, one can gain confidence that divine wisdom and foresight are expressed in man, and are therefore at work in the efforts of officials here and abroad who work to counteract terrorism. Their endeavors to prevent terrorist acts can be powerfully supported by comprehending, as the Bible declares, that there is no place that evil designs and wicked purposes can hide—nothing “hid, that shall not be known” (Matthew 10:26)—since the light of Truth, a synonym of God in Christian Science, exposes and expunges evil in all its manifestations. As Job has it, “He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise” (5:12).

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