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This American ideal of freedom finds its source in Scripture. "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal. 5:13-14).

But increasingly in the West, freedom has been divorced from responsibility, and we find ourselves in the midst of a culture in which liberty often becomes little more than license for sin, selfish individualism, or institutional corruption. The terrorists' version of Islam may know nothing of freedom, religious or otherwise-but if dishonoring elders, rampant materialism, and sexual license are the fruits of freedom, they will never want to know about it. Nor will the doublethinkers.

"From the viewpoint of centuries," Bush said in his inaugural address, "the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?"

As such, the domestic situation, not the terrorists, may be the ultimate undoing of the Bush foreign policy. What role government can and should play in building up the character of the American people is a complex matter in a nation that prides itself in the separation of church and state. But unless Americans' exercise of freedom becomes more responsible, we will increasingly end up exporting not liberty but anarchy. This would not be a gift to the world, and it would be an everlasting blight on this generation.

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Christianity Today covered the election in the U.S.: Iraq's Christians Disenfranchised at Home and in U.S. | Assyrians are fighting for survival in a region that has long sought their ouster. (Jan. 31, 2005)

In a CT column, Charles Colson argued that America's immorality is giving aid and comfort to terrorists.

Our earlier coverage of the war in Iraq includes:

The Evil In Us | Prisoner torture in Iraq exposes the ordinary face of human depravity.—A Christianity Today editorial (June 10, 2004)

Vanity Watch | We can do better than merely mirror the naïveté of our enemies.—A Christianity Today editorial (May 28, 2003)

Apocalypse Again and Again | The Bible doesn't tell us when to go to war but how to live in a war-ridden world. (April 16, 2003)

Why We Are in Iraq | Michael Kelly, R.I.P. (April 07, 2003)

Are Prayers in a Time of War Really About Comfort? | In part. But their main purpose is about much, much more than that. (March 28, 2003)

War Could Reduce Holy Land's Christian Presence | Palestinian bishop fears current hostilities could continue a trend that sees Christians forced out of the area altogether. (March 21, 2003)

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March 2005, Vol. 49, No. 3