Kerby Anderson

President Trump is always full of surprises, but the biggest surprise so far was his bombshell announcement that the U.S. would take over the rebuilding of Gaza. This is not going to happen for many reasons. You can’t just evacuate two million resident Palestinians. First, because nearby countries don’t want them. And second, a forced evacuation would likely be a violation of international law.

The U.S. won’t implement Trump’s suggestion, but the proposed policy provides an important teaching opportunity. This policy rests upon a flawed view of human nature. It is an “outer-inner theory” of human behavior. If I can improve the environment around someone, I can improve their behavior. Build nice public housing, and the crime rate will go down. Rebuild Gaza, and problems in the Middle East will be solved.

By contrast, the gospel is an “inner-outer theory.” You change human behavior from the inside out. And we also understand that changing a person’s environment doesn’t change their sin nature.

The problem is even worse in Gaza because we are dealing with radical Muslims. Andrew McCarthy refers to their view as “sharia supremacist Islam.” This view has been around for 1,400 years. It is also worth mentioning that the people of Gaza voted to have Hamas rule them. They didn’t do that so their leaders could turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Nearly every American president naively believes that Muslims share “our common humanity” and just want a better life for themselves and their children. Most Muslims have a different goal: eradicate Israel from the region and implement sharia law in the land.

You would think we would have learned that “nation building” in the Middle East hasn’t worked. It is very difficult to grow a democracy on Muslim soil.