Republicans Seem Anxious to Promote a Religious War

      "We are in a religious war with radical Islamists," Sen. Lindsey Graham proclaimed on Fox News earlier this month. "When I hear the President of the United States and his chief spokesperson failing to admit that we're in a religious war, it really bothers me."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/01/politics/obama-radical-islam-terrorism-war/

     What bothers us is the shortsightedness of the Republican candidates for POTUS, almost universally, who wish to play the religious card in order to draw attention to themselves.  Even George Bush, who claimed to be a born-again Christian, recognized the error to elevate the conflict in the Middle East to a religious war.

In his article "Why ISIS Attacked Paris", Mark Juergensmeyer recognized the real dynamics of this conflict.  He commented.

     In fact, ISIS has not been doing well these days. . .The amount of territory controlled by ISIS has shrunk considerably in recent months.ISIS is also not as attractive to young Muslims activists as it used to be. . . ISIS, it appears, is on a downward slide.
     But perhaps this is precisely what explains the Paris attacks. ISIS is desperate. It needs a victory, a vivid show of force to bolster the morale of its supporters, attract new volunteers, and with luck, intimidate its foes. The attacks in Paris may have been calculated to achieve all of these goals.
     If its actions could goad the French and other Western powers into further military action against it, this would fit perfectly into the image of the Western Crusaders waging war against the forces of Islam.