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Essay on the definition of terrorism
Connection between religion and terrorism
Essay on the definition of terrorism
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“We make war that we may live in peace.” Aristotle had a point, but why is that recent developments in global terrorism have brought about the exact opposite? Terrorism is commonly defined as acts of war and violence which are employed in hopes of gaining political or religious superiority. Most people would subconsciously associate terrorism with religion due to the brutal murders committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the unprecedented massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France. However, why is it that religion has become seamlessly interconnected with terrorism when most religions call for peace and unconditional love? The aforementioned events have unfairly slandered the name of Islam, and I find
Several events rapidly unfolded soon after with the shooting in Montrouge, Paris which killed a policewoman and injured a man and a siege at a kosher supermarket at Porte de Vincennes in the east of Paris. These events are said to be linked to the initial attack on Charlie Hebdo, and the religious intent behind them seems to be a tad more justified due to the controversial satirical paper which consistently broadcasts its anti-religious views. Again, such events further fuel Islamophobia but where does such extremism stem from if it is not linked to an organisation? Charlie Hebdo does not discriminate in the religions it mocks in its weekly cartoons, but why is that only a few individuals were offended to the point of such terrorism on a micro scale? These self-initiated attacks may be due to one’s inability to detach his personal identity from his religion - his religion is so entwined with his self-identity that when it is put under question, he takes it as a personal attack against him as a person. Such a situation is not only exclusive to the Islamic extremist community, but it shows a worrying trend that being too overtly blinded by one’s beliefs can spark acts of terrorism that induce worldwide outrage and
Culture is made up of three main components: ethics, aesthetics, and religion (Lincoln 52). The lines of culture become skewed as it often blends in with political and religious views. In Western Europe during the time of the Reformation, the Church was the central ruler of the society. This meant that religion was not only a cultural view, but also a political one. As time moved on, the Church became less important, but today’s standards still connect religion to culture. This becomes an issue as individuals who are noticeably outside the culture in forms or religion are often judged and looked down upon (Lincoln 56). Due to this outcast it can cause anger to certain religions and culture which can often lead to these acts of violence. With the hate between cultures, religion becomes the justifiable mean on which violence can occur. Many individuals can state that God wants them to make their own religion superior, and one way they can draw attention to their religion is terrorism and other forms of violence. Due to this connection to culture, religion can not be separated into it’s own personal category, as it is forever affected by the changes and culture of the community (Lincoln 57). As time and culture progress, the religion of the community will either change with it, or fight the changes which will often cause conflict. This can be seen in the results of the practice of Jihad, the Reformation and
Lewis clearly and entirely pointed out key events explaining the choices to be made by the people of the Islamic faith. This paper highlighted just a few of the many key events. Lewis says, “Most Muslims are not fundamentalists, and most fundamentalists are not terrorists, but most present-day terrorists are Muslims and proudly identify themselves as such.” He also expertly points out, “Terrorism requires only a few. Obviously the West must defend itself by whatever means will be effective. But in devising means to fight the terrorists, it would surely be useful to understand the forces that drive them.”(Lewis. Introduction) In the end, I agree with and commend Bernard Lewis on pointing out that a single religion cannot be blamed for the acts of small groups of radicals.
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).
The documentary Young, Muslim and French highlights events that happened in France beginning in September 2004. The documentary takes us through the decision of France banning the traditional headscarves for the Muslims in public schools. The law is taken as an “Islamophobia” form of an expression. And is not considered democratic to the Islamic citizens. The documentary displays the frustrations, hopes, as well as political ambitions of the next generation of the French Muslims, people who were born as French citizens and who make explorations of their potentials to change the national identity of France.
On September 11, 2001 the world stopped for a moment as two planes flew into the white house. The Pentagon was also hit that day, and a hero saved a plane that was supposed to hit the White House. Americans all over the country were in shock, some knew their loved ones were in the Twin Towers, and hoped that some could make it out alive. Some did, many didn’t, so many precious lives were taken away from innocent humans who thought it was just going to be a normal day at the office. Children are growing up without fathers and mothers, who they will never meet. Whoever did this, needs to be put away, or killed. The man who planned it, Osama Bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, 10 years after the terror attacks on the World Trade center that killed many Americans, innocent Americans. Osama bin Laden’s killing was just, and he deserved what he got, there is no doubt in my mind he got what he deserved.
In our current society, we witness series of immorality practiced by adherents of religious virtues. Religious crisis, stealing and several other vices are perpetrated by religious adherents. We currently witness religious crisis by several religious sects like Islam and Christians. The current terrorist acts perpetrated by sects like Boko Haram, Al Qaeda and several other terrorist sects all proclaim religion as their foundation. These are extreme levels of immorality conducted by religious sects and do not go down well with the dictates of religious teachings (Anderson,
9/11 was one of the darkest days in America, but some say the government could have been part of these attacks. For many years people have debated about the 9/11 cover up. This theory cannot explain why the government would do this. Once people understand why the 9/11 cover up is fake, they will begin to see the answer to their problem, could the government have done this? This conspiracy theory is wrong because, terrorists admitted to the attacks, so many people died, and there's no evidence against the government.
There is no coincidence in events, and things do not happen out of thin air. Yes, we are able say and do many things that were not possible before, but that still does take away the notion of consequences and ultimately life threatening aftermath. The massacre in Paris at Satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was an attack on freedom of speech, and an attack on bravery. When cartoonist Stephanie Charbonnier aka “Charb” made a cartoon depicting the prophet Mohammed as its “editor in Chief” was not intended to insult Islam, but rather to analyze, and examine just how politicians and religions sometime deserve. Ultimately massacring twelve casualty’s in this insensible war against freedom of speech and journalism. The act of murdering someone for drawing a picture as Charlie Hebdo’s did in a newspaper in Paris, will only create more hatred and turn people against each other which is not what we want. Freedom of speech and expression is everything to a modern
Terrorism has been around for centuries and religion-based violence has been around just as long. (Hoffman, 2). The violence was never referred to as terrorism though. Only up to the nineteenth century has religion been able to justify terrorism (Hoffman, 2). Since then, religious terrorism became motivated and inspired by the ideological view (Hoffman, 3). Therefore, it has turned against the main focus of religion and more towards the views of the extremist and what is happening politically (Winchester, 4).
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 ...
The word terror dates back to the French Revolution. “A terrorist was, in its original meaning, a Jacobin who ruled France during la Terruer” (Moeller 20). Terrorism has clearly become much broader in the years since its origination. Since the concept was first birthed in France it has been used for separatist, nationalistic, political and religious ends, etc. In the book “Packaging Terrorism”, author Susan Moeller states that, “the goal of terrorism is to send a message, not to defeat the enemy”.
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.
Political violence is the leading cause of wars today. Personal agendas have led to many of the political objectives that cause violence today this has caused many problems throughout the world and will continue to do so until a solution to this issue is found. Political objectives have been advanced involuntarily dependent upon the kind of government a nation exercises. For instance, in a democratic nation political groups must worry about convincing the majority in order to advance ethically. Those who try to influence the majority through acts of violence are considered today as “terror” organizations. Though perhaps if it were not because of the recent 9/11 terror attacks that maybe such warrants would not be seen as terror attacks, but instead the result of partisan advancement. Acts of terrorism have been around throughout the evolution of mankind. Terror attacks have even been traced back as far as the religious roots of an ancient middle east (Ross, Will Terrorism End?, 2006). However as man evolved, so did terrorism. Today’s extremism involves some of the main characteristics of ancient terrorism, but much more developed. Political advancement is no longer the root cause of terrorism acts. Instead influxes of “holy” wars have been appended the prior definition of terrorism. Mistakably modern terrorism has been confused for Political violence with political objectives, but research will establish that the nature of terrorism is fundamentally different from other forms of political violence.
Most Islamic would-be martyrs not only share these beliefs but have also grown up in a culture of despair: they have nothing to lose. Eliminate such poverty and you eliminate the breeding ground for terrorists. When the Bush administration speaks of eliminating terror, it does not appear to be talking about eliminating cultures of despair and the social conditions that lead one to want to give up one's life to martyrdom.
Islam, the religion of peace and harmony has unfortunately been corrupted by the deadly terrorist acts which have taken place around the world during these past couple of years. Today the people in this world view Islam as a threatening and terrorist religion. Often, the killing of innocent people, suicidal bombings and terrorist attacks are carried out people who tend to claim themselves as Muslims, though in reality, the dissident actions of these so called named Muslims have nothing to do with Islam. Among all the attributes of God, the Holy Book (Quran) mentions that: he is the source of peace and bestower of security (59:23) people must establish peace in their life. Terrorism what a complete disgrace, however people forget one thing that terrorism is not only found in Islam yet also continued in other religions and countries. But then why Islam? Is it because terrorism has been related to Islam just like peace is to war. The terrorist that claim they are Muslim with pride are oblivious, ignorant and it shows their lack of knowledge. The Holy Quran clearly states that: