Issues Facing Missions Today 34: ‘Radicalized’ A peculiar word, ‘radical’. The English word really relates to the word ‘root’ (Latin, radix )—getting to the heart or root of what something truly is. But we hear the word used differently: someone who is ‘radical’ is ‘out there,’ ‘on the edge,’ even ‘dangerous’. The word is now being used in the media’s phrase, ‘radical Islam.’ If someone commits murder as a Muslim the Western press will say that this isn’t real Islam but a radical form of Islam. The person is said to have been ‘radicalized.’ The question is, ‘Is real Islam the opposite of radical Islam, or is radical Islam real Islam?’ Are these radicals getting to the root of their faith, or are they departing from it? As far as politicians and the press are concerned, it would be terribly inconvenient in a politically correct world to identify radical Islam with real Islam. So much for confusing the word ‘radical’ with the opposite of its original meaning. The