The sacred texts classify violence into two categories. The physical violence(qital) and the spiritual violence(fitna) and as Quran teaches that being tempted is more horrible than being injured or martyred because temptations kill the soul which is eternal while martyrdom only kills the body of the believer. So, we see that early Christian martyrs were fearless because they fear faithlessness more. Now, we should think about what Bush calls pre-emptive violence as opposed to defensive violence. The concept of spiritually pre-emptive politics can be both heroic and destructive like the views of Simon the disciple and Maccabees who revolted against Hellenistic threats to faith, but Jesus peace be upon him was inclusive of both assertive views of Simon and compromising views of Matthew. So, we we want a humane political vision of religion, we should try to channel the spiritual zeal of the assertive people into a movement for political reform rather than violently suppressing them and stigmatizing them, then we can achieve a Biblical hermeneutics which can contribute to a violence free tomorrow.
A spiritual Ishmaelite 