Suicide Bombers: What makes them tick?

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Has anyone ever wondered how one individual could kill thousands of individuals, and not feel bad about it? Thousands of people die each year due to suicide bombing, but not too many people know why they do it. Also, no one really wonders about the past and how suicide bombing started. Someone did not just wake up, and decide to strap bombs to themselves, then detonate them inside a building full of people. This essay will discuss the history of suicide bombing, the training of a bomber, the personality of a suicide bomber, the different motivations behind his or her action, and the way culture impacts the bombing and the bomber.

In order to understand the motivations behind suicide bombing, society needs to grasp the history of it. Suicide bombing was not really thought of until the 1980’s when one boy named Hossein Fahmiden died with a grenade in his hand during a battle. This incident started to change the way society viewed what the Qur’an said about killing yourself. People of this time, thought that it was bad, but then their views started to change after Fahmiden died. They thought it would help them and their families get into their version of heaven, called paradise. In 1983 suicide bombing became part of their cultural beliefs. Society, before it supported suicide bombing, had a huge debate on whether or not it was religiously supported. The Qur’an says that Muslims cannot kill themselves because they will not go to paradise. However, fighting and dying for one’s country makes them a hero. Suicide bombers of that time, and still today justify their actions using the excuse that they are fighting for their country (MacEoin 15-24).

One may wonder how you become a suicide bomber. Many people think that these men ...

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...culture is completely unhealthy for anyone, and will only breed future problems.

Suicide bombers deal with a lot. They suicide bombers in the Muslim society have a expectation to live up to, and struggle to deal with it every day. The history of suicide bombing is very real, along with the debate on whether or not the Qur’an approves of suicide bombing. Suicide bombers are smart people who society would not take a second glance at. They do have certain personality characteristics, but so do non-suicide bombers. Many people believe that they only bomb because of anger or because they are crazy. This may be the case for some, but majority of them honestly believe that they are helping society out. Their culture does not help them in this matter and actually encourages suicide bombing. A combination of all these things is what makes suicide bombers tick.

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