Religious Terrorism Religious terrorism has flooded the news in the United States since the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. After the events of that day, religious terrorism has become a broad term when referencing any act of violence that even loosely can be tied to any given religion, and more importantly when discussing the events that occur in nations that the US finds unfavorable. The term “religious terrorism” has become tainted and skewed in this country to only reference actions tied to Muslim nations or peoples, and somehow justify the acts of white-Americans by making them seem unrelated to race or religious beliefs. It is important that people understand exactly what religious terrorism is what actions fall under its distinctions.
It is defined as “terrorism carried out based on motivations and goals that have a predominantly religious character or influence”. In the article, Defining and Distinguishing Secular and Religious Terrorism, Walter Laqueur is quoted arguing that “religious terrorism is the ‘new terrorism of the right’ and that it has more to do with nationalism than religion”. It is true that nationalism and religion are closely tied and that religion heavily influences the political views of many nations, however when looking at terrorist acts it is important to decipher between those acts that are more heavily politically motivated, and those that stem from religious beliefs and are meant to inflict or impose the region of the terrorist group on the victimized group or peoples. In order to better understand religious terrorism and the aspects that distinguish it from traditional terrorism, its it helpful to look at specific examples of uniquely religious goals that a particular group may hope to attain. Anticipation or instigation of the apocalypse, the creation of a religious government, and the religious cleansing of a nation or specific group of people. Each of these goals are uniquely religious and typically harbor little to no political
When looking at individual events it is important to consider the facts rather than the assumptions and swayed opinions that come to us through the news and other media sources. It is easy to make connections between religions and events that occur due to extremists from that religion but in order to fully understand the nature of terrorism events all details need to be considered. Passing judgments about an entire religion based off the actions of few only adds to social issues that rule events like this in the first place. An article published by the IDSA entitled Terrorism, Ideology and Misconceptions, they write, “however, in our times, Islam is often being portrayed in association with violence, aggression and terrorism. This is largely due to the media, both national and international, which has constantly depicted Muslims in such stereotypical ways”. This quote demonstrates the power that the actions of few have over the impression of
In his essay, Rodriguez believes that the diplomatic affairs we see on the evening news are merely being disguised as a religious war. The fight over oil or land when in reality it is the fight between whose side God is on, the attacks under the control of Al Qaeda when perhaps it’s the greed for power or world domination. According to Richard, these religious wars are allowing terrorism to become prevalent; often times within the same culture (147).
Religion is a part of society that is so closely bound to the rest of one’s life it becomes hard to distinguish what part of religion is actually being portrayed through themselves, or what is being portrayed through their culture and the rest of their society. In Holy Terrors, Bruce Lincoln states that religion is used as a justifiable mean of supporting violence and war throughout time (Lincoln 2). This becomes truly visible in times such as the practice of Jihad, the Reformation, and 9/11. The purpose of this essay is to show that as long as religion is bound to a political and cultural aspect of a community, religious war and destruction will always occur throughout the world. A historical methodology will be deployed in order to gain
Likewise, Goodwin illustrates how the use of categorical terrorism can be seem being used by Al-Qaida during the attacks of 9/11. Nonetheless, it is evident that Al-Qaida is unusual in terms of using terrorism to influence the rise of unity rather than trying to overthrow a standing state. For the purpose of instigating a pan-Islamic revolutionary movement, Al-Qaida tries to unite all Islamic people under one state to develop umma, or Muslim community. The logic of Al-Qaida remained that if their “revolutionaries” could illicit a reaction from the powerful US state, resulting in oppression of the middle-eastern region, that Al-Qaida could, as a result, unite all Muslims to counter this suggested oppression. Although the end goal of Al-Qaida clear failed, it does suggest the organization’s attempt at implementing categorical terrorism.
In today’s society the word “terrorism” has gone global. We see this term on television, in magazines and even from other people speaking of it. In their essay “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”, published in 2002, Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris argue that the reaction of the American officials, people and the media after the attacks of 9/11 was completely irrational due to the simple fact of fear. Chapman and Harris jump right into dismembering the irrational argument, often experienced with relationships and our personal analysis. They express how this argument came about from the terrorist being able to succeed in “achieving one major goal, which was spreading fear” among the American people (Chapman & Harris, para.1). The supporters of the irrational reaction argument state that because “Americans unwittingly cooperated with the terrorist in achieving the major goal”, the result was a widespread of disrupted lives of the Americans and if this reaction had been more rational then there would have been “less disruption in the lives of our citizens” (Chapman & Harris, para. 1).
This paper will talk about three different types of terrorism. A background of each type will be provided to understand the motivations and goals. The first type that will be discussed is religious terrorism. The second type that will be discussed is suicide terrorism. The third and last type that will be discussed is nationalist terrorism. Each type of terrorism has distinct differences in their goals, motivations, strategy, use of violence, etc. However, the main focus of this paper will be on the difference between each type’s tactics and/or strategy.
...mbers have used the same words before they committed their suicidal actions. The connections between terrorism and Islam are pointed out clearly when the extremists say that they are waging a “holy war” against their enemies. Extremists have used Islam as a justification to attack churches, Hindu and Buddhist temples. Due to the fact that the terrorist who carried out such criminal and inhumane acts associate himself or herself with Muslim religion, the public comes to view Islam as a severe risk. In reality, only 15% of the 1 billion Muslims are extremists and out of that 15%, only a few engage in terrorist activities. However, most news stories do not focus on the places where things are going right, but on the places where things are going wrong. Due to all this, it is clear that the extremists play a large role in pinning the scarlet letter on Muslims in the US.
The victims will continue to live in fear and hatred for those that want to destroy them and their land.
Mark Juergensmeyer in his book, Terror in the Mind of God, stated that religion provides the ideological resources for an alternative view of public order (Juergensmeyer, 2003). This supports the previous definition stated earlier by Brian Jenkins who pointed out that radicalization is imposing one’s beliefs on society (Gartenstein-Ross and Grossman, 2009). Juergensmeyer further stated that all religions are inherently revolutionary and have elements of public violence to support their justification in the name of God and a higher being (Jergenmeyer, 2003). Understanding motivations, reasoning and influences of the radicalization process will help contribute to mitigate religious violence along with identifying a proactive approach to prevent conversion to terrorism in the homeland.
The key to identifying the threat posed by a particular terrorist group is its basic tenets, and the level of violence thereof. “Groups that model themselves on an avenging angel or a vindictive god…are more likely to lash out than those whose core myth is the suffering Messiah,” (Stern, p.72). For example, the element that may be both the most prevalent and violent in the world today is fundamental Islamic extremism. With its emphasis on violent martyrdom and conquest on “infidels,” Islam is a religion based on values that are easily twisted to an extreme. Due to their religious ...
There is a strong belief that Islam and politics are directly tied. They are tied in the sense that the building blocks of the religion dictate how they ought to behave in the political environment. Through this mandatory follow up behavior that the religion delineates, many have come to believe that its teachings are a form of terrorism. Mandaville argues that what has challenged the Islamic link between politics and religion was the emergence of secularism, which went against the belief that politics and religion could go together. Islam has been a religion that has been accused of supporting terrorist activities in the world. Different assumptions have been brought up to understand better the linkages between what really lies behind the Islam religion and politics. Peter Mandaville argues that Islam is dynamic and that it has changed over time; situated within time and politics.
What is “terrorism”? Terrorism is a hotly contested term that is subjected to the reader’s political alignments. Most readers can agree that “terrorism” is a form of political action through violence that seeks to instill fear into a population, but defining “terrorism” becomes more complicated when being applied to groups and organizations. Lisa Stampnitzky’s “Can Terrorism Be Defined?” addresses this issue by drawing three important questions from the difficulty of defining “terrorism”: first, who is the enemy? Second, when is violence legitimate? Third, what is political? These three questions are instrumental in understanding terrorism while also understanding why certain groups are labeled terrorists and why others are not. This bias of
After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.
The belief that Islam encourages terrorist activities first began after the catastrophic events on September 11, 2001. On this day, Islamic extremists hijacked four planes that were flying above America, which caused approximately 3,000 deaths (Kean). Our nation as well as the attitude towards Muslim individuals have changed since this unforgettable day in history. The initial understanding and perception of Muslims often root from stereotypes that concern Middle Easterners as a whole. Unfortunately, the word “terrorist” is a label given to those of an Muslim or Arab descent and typically, wear long beards. Although there have been many other forms of terrorist attacks by several ethnic groups, the emphasis
Religious Fundamentalism is not a modern phenomenon, although, there has received a rise in the late twentieth century. It occurs differently in different parts of the world but arises in societies that are deeply troubled or going through a crisis (Heywood, 2012, p. 282). The rise in Religious Fundamentalism can be linked to the secularization thesis which implies that victory of reason over religion follows modernization. Also, the moral protest of faiths such as Islam and Christianity can be linked to the rise of Religious Fundamentalism, as they protest the influence of corruption and pretence that infiltrate their beliefs from the spread of secularization (Heywood, 2012, p. 283). Religious Fundamentalists have followed a traditional political thought process yet, have embraced a militant style of activity which often can turn violent (Heywood, 2012, p. 291). To be a fundamentalist is to wholly believe in the doctrine they are preaching or professing and will go to any lengths possible to have these beliefs implemented by their government , even using force or violence ( Garner, Ferdinand and Lawson, 2007, p. 149). All religions have a fundamentalist element, however, there is more of a significant conflict with Islamic fundamentalists and Christian fundamentalists. It is wrongly thought fundamentalism is exclusively linked to Islamic fundamentalist such as the jihadi group al-Qaeda nonetheless Christianity is the world's largest religion and is bond to have some fundamentalist component such as the Christian New Right in the Unites States of America (Garner, Ferdinand and Lawson, 2007, p. 150).
Following terrorist attacks perpetrated by Muslims, such as the San Bernardino Attack, in which there are high civilian casualties, there is always an inevitable discussion surrounding the threat of islamic extremism and international terrorism. Such discussions are led by mass media and politicians and many argue demonize all Muslims, lead to xenophobia and islamophobia and do little more than fear monger. Many people also criticize the seeming hypocrisy of covering such terrorist attacks so widely and insinuating that the Islamic faith is inherently violent and promotes extremism and the Quran provides the underpinnings for terrorism when domestic terrorism is also a prevalent problem in the united states