The historian Will Durant commented that the Reformation
“…(left) the Church purified… into an organization politically weaker but morally stronger than before.” In short, the Reformation didn’t change what the Church really believed, but it did serve to change how those in the Church thought about political power
and the various nations-states of Europe, and began the process of returning the Church to its origins, more apart from any state than part of one, seeking to help believers to reach an eternal reward vice a temporal one.

In a similar light, on January 1, 2015, Egyptian President
Sisi gave a speech calling for the end to violence and extremism in the name of Islam, calling not for a change in Islam – the religion, but a change in “the thinking we hold most sacred,” referencing the Koran. In short, Sisi was calling for Muslims to change
their thinking about how they view Islam and its relationship to political power.

The point was apparently not lost on President Trump.

President Trump has completed his first international
trip as president, and there were a number of newsworthy stories. But they all paled in relation to one event: his speech to the Arab – American summit (21 May). The speech marks a turning point in how the US, and hopefully the West, addresses Islamic fanaticism
and Islamic terror.

Speaking directly to the point of Islamic terrorism,
Mr. Trump stated:

“There can be no coexistence
with this violence. There can be no tolerating it, no accepting it, no excusing it, and no ignoring it.”

He then called on the Arab
nations:

“Muslim
nations must be willing to take on the burden, if we are going to defeat terrorism and send its wicked ideology into oblivion.”

The implication is clear: Islamic
terror will continue – or end – based on how the Muslim nations think about Islamic terror and it’s political nature; they can tolerate it, or they can attack it. As President Sisi said, it begins with changing how they think.

Unfortunately, a few days later
a fanatical Islamic terrorist conducted an attack in Manchester, England that left 22 dead and 116 injured, 23 critically. This was followed by an attack in Egypt that left 29 dead and at least 20 injured. These attacks serve to illustrate the threat remains,
and it remains chillingly vicious; in the first case attacking people at a concert, in the second a bus filled with people headed to a monastery to pray.

The attacks also serve to underline
what Mr. Trump pointed out, the solution cannot be provided from the outside; the US cannot eliminate the problem of Islamic terrorists; the solution must come from the Islamic nations. The US can, and will, help; but the Islamic nations must provide the answer.

It seems strange that, given
that quite obvious reality, there’s resistance – both in Europe and in the US – to the issue of controlling the flow of people out of the Middle East and into Europe and the US. The threat posed to the US and Europe isn’t from the nations of the Middle East
(Iran being the obvious exception), but rather, the threat is to be found hiding amongst the immigrants from the region. Any attempt to contain violence such as what occurred in Manchester (or Egypt) must begin, at least in part, with controlling the movement
of Islamic fanatics, particularly into the US (and Europe). Yet, political elites in the US (and Europe), and at least some in the US courts, suggest that the President doesn’t have the authority to do what the Constitution explicitly directs him to do – protect
the nation.

The issue in the US courts will grind forward, and
eventually end up in front of the Supreme Court, where, hopefully, some Constitutional clarity will be found. What will happen in Europe remains to be seen, but it’s hard to be sanguine about Europe’s immediate future.

Nevertheless, if Mr. Trump succeeds in nothing else
in the next 4 (or 8 years), but succeeds in supporting a movement towards a de facto reformation of Islam, his presidency will go down in history as a seminal period for America and the world.

Copyright 2017 Arrias
www.vicsocotra.com