Cosmic War In Religious Traditions Summary

The “war on terror” was declared by the 43rd president of the U.S., George W. Bush in response to the attack on the Twin Towers September 1st, 2001. The attacks of 9/11 are different than regular militant violence because it conveys a sense of importance and destiny to those who find the modern world to be chaotic and out of control. The war on terror describes “both a real physical struggle in this world and an imagined moral encounter in the world beyond (Aslan 260)”. This war has prevailed well into the 21st century due to its cosmic nature. In the essay, Cosmic War in Religious Traditions, Reza Aslan takes an analytical approach to describing where and how violence is justified in the context of cosmic war. Specifically, Aslan explains that a war is cosmic “when the struggle is perceived as being fought not over territory or political concerns but rather over identity and human dignity (Aslan 261). The “war on terror” fits Aslan's definition

and an “evil” Middle East. Jihadists’ knew that crashing the twin towers would not bring peace to Palestine, nor was this their goal. The goal was to create an image of a war against good and evil, a war that is never ending. The U.S. validated this worldview by treating the attack on 9/11 as a cosmic battle against a metaphysical evil, rather than a criminal investigation. In creating this cosmic mindset, we are fighting this war on the terms and in the language of the jihadists themselves. Because it is a war over identity it cannot be lost. This war will go on for eternity, which is what the jihadists have in mind. As Aslan explains, a “cosmic war” is an imagined battle between metaphysical forces—good and evil, right and wrong, order and chaos—that lies behind many cases of religion-related violence in the contemporary world (Aslan 266). We were more than willing to accept this war because it reaffirms our cosmic identities as good and