Croatia: A Moral Calculation

Milan Ivkosic, Vecernji List (pro-government), Zagreb, Sept. 13, 2001.

Instead of questioning the moral state of mankind led by politicians, the world’s public today questions only how to avoid the consequences of the situation—in other words, how to prevent and punish terror. Terror is never innocent, but there is no terror without reason. Avenging terror, punishing it, does not mean eliminating its causes. Furthermore, an inappropriate reprisal can exacerbate those causes.

The world of capitalism bows to two gods—money and technology. Everything that cannot adapt, or does not want to adapt, to financial or technological standards faces scorn, poverty, and grief. Is there any person worthy of world renown, aside from the pope, whom the Western world has produced in recent decades? An admirable person, exemplifying morality and unselfishness? In recent decades, have the Western powers been headed by a president or royal family uncorrupted by financial or sexual scandals?

Terrorists kill innocent people because of cracks in the moral facade of the Western world. Such moral faults are security gaps as well. Certainly the mass killing of innocent people gives Americans the right to seek revenge, but U.S. security is enhanced to the extent that these moral cracks are eliminated. Christian civilization can defend itself only by Christian means. Without it, [Christian] civilization is not what its name implies.