Individuals often establish belief systems in regard to attitudes, behaviors,
religions, and other areas based on beliefs and practices that they accepted during the early stages of maturation when many of their interactions were influenced by their families, who both supported and practiced the same traditions. In America the customary stance toward these varied opinions is to view them with tolerance, regardless of how strange or wrong the belief or action might seem. While individually people may disagree with the beliefs of other people, under ordinary circumstances, most Americans would either offer friendly advice or completely ignore situations that would not lead to dangerous or deadly outcomes. However, it seems to me that some people within practically all groups, regardless of their designations, sometimes decide to carry their belief systems to the extreme. Extremists move into the category of fanatics or radicals who seek to establish their belief systems as the only means for achieving a desired outcome. When people become fanatics, they believe that their ideals are the only acceptable way to live. Some will seek to destroy others who do not believe or act as they do. At that point, extremists become terrorists because they try to force others to accept their practices in such areas as social behaviors, politics, and religion.
Terrorists frequently want everyone to practice the same social behaviors. Dressing in a particular style, eating specific foods...
Many terrorists believe that their religion is the only true religion, and they use it to justify violence (“Islamic Terrorism”). Most Muslim terrorists follow Jihad. Jihad is an Islamic perception that the way to integrate their religion is by massive force (“Of True Muslims and Terrorists”). Jihad is considered the “sixth pillar” of faith in Islam because it is the constant fight towards good. It is the idea of focusing on God and turning away from those that oppose God (David E. Long, 91). The terrorists believe that their religion is what everyone should follow, so they would naturally require personnel in power in Muslim states to either convert to their religion or resign from their terms. They will first threaten a leader that if they do not change, the terrorists will use violence. Sometimes, violent acts come about without any warning or previous threats (“Of True Muslims and Terrorists”). Islam is a proselytizing religion, which means it uses violence to convert people to its faith. This is because, in the ...
A United States citizen turning against one’s own government and embracing an ideology to kill another citizen or commit an act of violence is a growing phenomenon commonly known as homegrown terrorism. This transition or radicalization process that transforms an individual into an adversary has intensified since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The problem continues to persist in other parts of the world such as Canada, United Kingdom and even in Saudi Arabia, a Non-Western country. This form of extremism has shown its propensity in the United States since the turn of the century when Muslim extremism had its early beginnings as a venue to support a black separatist movement. Today, the threat emerges more rampantly with the accessibility and excess of information technology; as well as the political and socio-economic environment influencing many spectrums of perception and intent.
Terrorist/extremists groups use violence to strike fear in people in retaliation of political or religious disagreements. The goal no matter national or international is to implant fear into the minds of
In Module one, I learned that terrorism is a result of physical harm or deadly acts of force with the intent of a political outcome by the use of terror for coercion. There are various types of terrorism such as international terrorism and domestic terrorism. International terrorism occurs outside of the United States with a purpose to influence the policy of a government by intimidation. International and Domestic terrorism both involve violent acts dangerous to human life that violate federal and state laws. Domestic terrorism occurs within the United States with the intention of coercion or intimidation by way of mass destruction, etc. Some forms of terrorism include Improvised explosive devices (IED), kidnappings, suicide bombings and
"Revolutionary terrorists use violence as a tool to invoke fear in those in power and their supporters."(2) The goal for these terrorists is to implicate a government that would be more compliant to their needs. By using methods such as kidnapping, assassination, and bombing, revolutionary terrorists hope to provoke in...
Extremists, as they have been labelled, perform acts that is seen gruesome by the world, but in the name of their religion they do it. They wage war against the strongest nations, despite their minuscule size in comparison to the beasts they have enraged. In the name of religion, they have performed public executions. In the name of religion, they have killed masses of innocent people. All for the sake of religion. It is in the human mind, that religion has found its anchor. We embrace religion, interpret it, and practice what it preaches. Through this has many wars sparked in the past, and has haunted the most devoted of
As the horrific tragedy of September 11 settles into permanent corridors of our conscious life, our reactions as a society are manifold. There is shock, grief, anger and other emotions that we have not fully understood or found words to describe. As we search for explanations, our sages in government, the media and the academy try to help us articulate what we have experienced. We have been told that our innocence is gone, that the third world war has begun and that we are confronting a new and more lethal form of terrorism than the world has ever seen.
The war on terror is at the peak and there are vivid indications that every stone will be turned to halt it. A central assumption is that terrorism is a religious war, apparently between Christians and the Muslims. This is just a moral claim that terrorists are using to attract more people over to their side, as well as create solidarity among the Muslims. As a result, the imagery and the reality of terrorism differ overwhelmingly. There are various terror occurrences around the globe that are similar and can be classified as terrorism. Otherwise, terrorism has been a means to carry on a conflict without the antagonist realizing the nature of the threat, mistaking terrorism for criminal activity. Terrorism should be a global concern because it is fast spreading around the globe raising terror. It has been facilitated by the use of religion as a justification for terrorist activities, proliferation of local terrorist groups, and political instability among and within various world wide nations.
What is terrorism? The FBI defines terrorism as the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. Many people believe terrorism only applies to the middle east or regimented groups such as ISIS but in reality; terrorism can be a solo individual such as the Unabomber that was active between the years of 1978-1995. Modern day terrorists often use groups often referred to as ‘cells’ to accomplish their sinister objectives. The purpose of cells is so that if one cell is compromised, it will not have any effect on other cells or the main conspirator pulling the strings of the cells. Terrorism can
The continuing successful and attempted terrorist attacks in the USA and the endless wars and conflicts in which we are involved are caused by the very same reasons experienced in the expansion of Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The economic, political, and cultural conditions present in each of these periods in history, although hundreds of years apart, are still very much alike. The same desires for money, relations between different countries, and differing religious views are what caused this tragedy and similar conflicts during the expansion of Europe. By examining these causes in the present as well as in the past, Americans might have a better understanding of the current situation and come up with some ways to prevent such a tragedy in future.
Discussion of Terrorism Terrorism, as defined by Title 22 of the United States code, section
On September 11, 2001, the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon changed the mindset and the opinion of nearly every American on the one of the most vital issues in the 21st century: terrorism (Hoffman 2). Before one can begin to analyze how the United States should combat such a perverse method of political change, one must first begin to understand what terrorism is, where it is derived from, and why there is terrorism. These issues are essential in America’s analysis of this phenomenon that has revolutionized its foreign policy and changed America’s stance in the world.
In this world there are many different topics of controversy. With every controversial topic comes different views and arguments explaining why people believe what they do. There are problems that can be just within one country or throughout the entire world. Terrorism affects everyone in the world, specifically us as Americans, which is why it is one of the biggest controversial topics. Of course with a topic as big as terrorism, there are emic and etic perspectives involved. With past history, there are specific countries and religions that we think of when we hear the word terrorism, specifically Afghanistan, located in the Middle East and the Muslim religion in that general area. Being part of the American
There is no set definition for terrorism, this is because each country has a different definition of terrorism, but it is commonly recognized as violence from groups with political, religious or ideological ideas. Terrorism tries to bring about change with violence and their targets are usually unsuspecting civilians. However, freedom fighters understand terrorism to be violence against the government and government policy to bring about political, and social change to better their way of life. There are two major categories of terrorism, International and Domestic terrorism (Yancey, 2006).
In governments with authoritarian governance, lack of dissent is a common factor thus agitating for increased tendency terrorist ideas. Terrorists in this kind of states will focus on ways of exerting pressure to the political system thus trying to meet their objectives in the market. Experts on terrorism argue that the political Islam is somehow authoritative in nature thus forcing groups to respond to terrorist attacks as retaliation. Unsettled political grievances are one of the outstanding reasons for the growth of terrorism in the region and globally (Menkhaus, 2013).