Religious Terrorism Essay

1269 Words3 Pages

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

Open Document