We need to go back to worktomorrowand we      will. But we need to be alert to the fact that these      evil-doers still exist. We havent seen this kind of      barbarism in a long period of time. No one could have      conceivably imagined suicide bombers burrowing into our      society and then emerging all in the same day to fly their      aircraft  fly U.S. aircraft into buildings full of innocent      people  and show no remorse. This is a new kind of  a new      kind of evil. And we understand. And the American people are      beginning to understand.    
      This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while          
       George W. Bush, Sept. 16, 2001    
    Most people probably recall that comment pretty vividly, as it    provoked an outcry among Americas allies in both Europe and    the Middle East for obvious reasons. The word crusade in that    particular context is an explicit historical reference that    places the war on terrorism in the category of a religious    conflict. Bush, to his credit, never used the word again and    went out of his way throughout his term to downplay any talk    that he was waging a religious war.  
    Not that it stopped the usual suspects from saying so, of    course. Ann Coulter issued a notoriouscri de    guerreon behalf of the entire conservative movement in    October of 2001 saying, We should invade their countries, kill    their leaders and convert them to Christianity! Bryan Fischer    of the American Family Association, whose radio show is    frequented by Republican officials and conservative luminaries,    has been preaching this gospel for some time as    well.He put it like this:  
      The only thing that will give us a shot at building a      democracy in an Islamic land is a mass conversion of its      people to biblical Christianity. So that means if we want to      see freedom come to those darkened, benighted lands, we      should be sending missionaries in right after we send in the      Marines to neutralize whatever threat has been raised against      the United States. So we say to them, look, if you dont want      our missionaries, fine, thats your choice, well take our      missionaries and our Marines, well take them home, but were      gonna let you know we have no hesitation about returning with      lethal force if the forces in your country threaten us again.      This time its Marines and missionaries, next time itll be      Marines and missiles.    
      Hes also for mass forced conversion here in      the U.S.    
      But this has been a fringe position even among the      right-wingers who bandy about phrases like dhimmitude and      talk about the president being a secret Muslim. Most      conservatives have been wise enough to endorse the fact that      radical Islam is the problem not of Islam itself, which,      after all, has 1.6 billion adherents around the world while      only a tiny handful of extremists are engaged in violence.    
      Unfortunately, the idea of reviving the crusades seems to be      gaining some steam in some surprisingly influential corners.      They may not be openly advocating for forced conversions but      the implication that the fight is between Christianity and      Islam is obvious.    
      Perhaps the most startling is the contention that Pope      Francis himself is advocating for a new crusade including a      call for military force.Max Fisher at Voxcharacterized his      comments about the threat of ISIS in exactly those terms:    
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The rights new religious war: Why they see ISIS as Christianitys big threat