Religious Extremism Does Not Cause Terrorism?
Jennifer Brea, the World News Guide, summarizes the arguments from an article in The Australian by Nichole Argo:
1) Suicide bombers are not suicidal. Suicide bombers do not exhibit the typical “risk factors” psychologists associate with suicide.
2) A country’s relationship with the United States, not the U.S. “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list or the country’s level of religious radicalism, predicts its production of terrorists.
3) People become terrorists through social networks and emotional bonds, not because of religious devotion or indoctrination.
4) Most jihadis are immigrants.
5) Terrorism is seen as a form of empowerment.
6) Religious belief may help sustain terrorists’ commitment to the jihad, but it is not what causes them to join in the first place.
You’ll have to follow the above link for more details on each point, but the overall results of Argo’s work is very interesting. Even if she’s only partially true, it looks like most of the common assumptions about Muslim terrorists are well off the mark.
On the other hand, there is one question which needs to be answered: are these results particular to Muslim terrorists, or do they track with other terrorists as well? If they hold true for terrorists from many different backgrounds, then they tell us something about terrorists. If, however, they are particular to Muslim terrorists, then we are back to the original idea that there is something about Islam which is encouraging terrorism — it may not be quite what people usually think, but there is still something there.
Another question is: if terrorism has more to do with things like empowerment, why are Muslims the primary populations from which terrorism is coming today? There are other communities around the world which endure at least as much as Muslim communities, yet we don’t see the same sorts of terrorism coming from them. Perhaps it’s a coincidence; then again, perhaps there is something within Islam which makes the crucial difference.
Quick Poll: What do you think is the primary cause of terrorism among Muslims?
- Religious extremism, because Islam is violent.
- Religious extremism, because some aspects of Islam are violent.
- Religious extremism, where Islam is being misinterpreted.
- Economic problems (like lack of jobs).
- Political grievances (like repression at home).
- Social problems (like fast-changing gender roles).
- Historical grievances (Crusades, imperialism, etc.).
- All of the above, depending on the terrorists.
- None of the above (post in comments).
- I don't know / don't care.
More About Islam:
Comments
Yes, Islam is not the sole contributor, but I’m not sure how many people are actually saying that. I don’t believe they would still blow themselves up without some belief that God was on their side, and that they believed in the glory of martyrdom, which is a very strong force in Islam.
This is a legitimate point — however, while not many people are saying that, a great many seem to be implying it by only focusing on Islam to criticize rather than anything else.
Martyrdom can be a strong force in any belief system. The first suicide bombers, if I have my history correct, were the Tamil Tigers — and these bombers were communists and atheists. They had no belief in any “God” being on their side or going to heaven for their efforts.
Belief in a god and heaven may certainly make martyrdom easier to promote, but it’s not necessary. How often have soldiers in a regular war gone on suicide missions, or jumped on a grenade, not in order to go to heaven but for the sake of their friends, their comrades, and their nation? The article in question argues that belief in suicide missions is largely a creation of peer pressure and social networks once a person gets involved in the radical organizations, not something they were hoping for at the beginning.
Yes, they are largely a creation of peer pressure and social networks. I think your initial comments about the article are quite close to the mark. We need to figure out whether these results are particular to Muslim terrorists or not. My main frustration with the initial article seems to be that it waxes and wanes between political, social, and religious motivations without attempting to control for any one of these factors during analysis.
If they could do that, then perhaps we could really see how much religious belief impacts these suicide bombers.
The phrase “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country” was not coined by an islamic fundamentalist.
In the U.S, it is considered heroic and romantic to die for our country. General George Patton found it necessary to caution the soldiers under his command, “No poor dumb son bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for HIS country.”
I have heard the “human bombs” discussed in the article called “the poor man’s smart bomb.” The Japanese Kamikaze attacks were very effective against the U.S. fleet in WWII. But the Japanese did not resort to human bomb tactics until they realized they had no chance to win using conventional tactics.
I believe “suicide bombers” would prefer to sit in bunkers and push buttons to launch cuise missiles to hit their targets if they had a choice.