Yet again, a hideous terror attack forces Europeans to confront basic political and cultural realities. The massacre at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo raises fundamental and troubling questions about free speech, and the delicate balance between civil rights and effective policing. But for Christians, and for Catholics specifically, current terrorist dangers should be forcing a very serious consideration of quite different issues. Looking at contemporary Europe, we should take account of one grim event that has not occurred yet, but that almost certainly will within the next few years. Unless political circumstances change radically, there will soon be a major attack on an iconic symbol of European Christianity.
To assert this demands no gifts of prophecy. For years, the most extreme segments of radical Islamism have uttered direct threats against Christian belief and practice, and it is immaterial whether their actions are in conflict with tolerant interpretations of Islamic tradition. Radical groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS condemn modern Christians as idolaters who fall outside the Qur’an’s promises of protection. To strike at Christian churches is to fight idolatry and infidels.
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