The Atlantic By Simon Cottee: A Critical Analysis

One reason that religion becomes a source of political violence is the hostility some have to changing times. Some believe that modernization has led the world down an evil path away from religion. Another reason political violence is linked to religion is that there is a belief that modern states try to suppress believers. Radicals even think that others wish to exterminate believers. They don’t see violence as violence against civilians, but instead violence of good versus evil. The third reason religion can be linked to political violence is that some groups hold extreme messianic, apocalyptic, and utopian beliefs. Violence is an important ritual for some extreme religious groups. Currently ISIS is a prime example of political violence linked to religion. ISIS wants to enforce their views of conservative Islamic traditions. The leaders of ISIS are referred to as caliphs, which are seen as political successors to Muhammad (“Islamic State.” 2014). Some individuals that carry out terrorist attacks in the name of certain religious terrorist groups like ISIS, see violence as a way to add meaning to their live and achieve religious goals. This type of violence would be individually explained, because it is personal factors that lead them to carry out the

Mr. Rushdie claims that, “In the opinion of religious people, the private comfort that religion brings more than compensates for the evil done in its name.” First he fails to clarify the evil that is being done in the name of religion. However it needs to be understood that when people use religion as an excuse to justify evil than it’s not the fault of religion. Christian, Muslim, Jewish Buddhist, and Hindu teachings all emphasize peace and goodwill toward others. When people commit horrible crimes and then try to hide behind religion than this just means that they haven’t understood and are not practicing the true religion. It in no way implies that religion preaches and is responsible for evil. Consider the case of suicide bombings that are being primarily blamed on Islam. Rushdie share this view and says, “For years now, the air has been full of the battle-cries of the faithful as they turn their bodies into God’s bombs, and the screams of their victims too.” The global Muslim population is

I think that religion goes hand in hand with political messages because the terrorist feel that governments are wrong in dealing with issues.

In class we have been reading an article from “The Atlantic” about the coddling of the american mind and how teachers are having to censor all the learning material because some of the students get offended. The problem has mostly been in colleges where students are asking their teachers to skip some topics because it brings up bad memories or makes them feel uncomfortable and to give them “trigger warnings” a warning so people know that there is going to be some inappropriate material. When students asks for a trigger warning or asks their teacher to skip over some information they are missing very important material that could later help them in their future profession. If you are scared or have issues with what you are learning then you

War on terror refers to the ongoing military campaign led by U.S and U.K against organizations identified as terrorists. Terrorism can be defined as an unlawful violence or war deliberately targeted to civilians. It can also be defined as a systematic use of terror to coerce or violent acts intended to create fear. This threat is normally perpetrated for religious, political or ideological goals. The conflict as also called by other names. They include World War III, The Long War, War on Terrorism, Bush’s War on Terror, The Global War of Terror and War on Al-Qaeda, (Coaty, 2010).

Personal devices have evolved from being a source of guidance in people’s lives into becoming an emotional encumbrance. Over the course of the years, personal devices have evolved from facilitating people’s lives to causing them to experience a wave of toxic emotions. Stephen Marche, a sophisticated journalist for The Atlantic, has discussed the incredible potential that technology has granted for individuals: “Over the past three decades, technology has delivered to us a world in which we need not be out of contact for a fraction of a moment.” Personal devices have advanced the lifestyles of many people around the world because they have opened the door for unrestricted communication. With unrestricted communication, a person has the ability

The first factor is that of victimization. Victimization is when an individual feels as though he or she has fallen victim to something, such as a physical, psychological, or financial harm. Individuals who are victimized feel as though they are missing something and are eager to be a part of something bigger than themselves, and terrorist organizations can fill those needs. An example of how victimization can attribute to the radicalization of an individual is if an individual lost family or friends in a drone strike conducted by the United States of America. The family and friends killed in the drone strike leaves the individual feeling scared, angry, and sad with a hunger for revenge. A terrorist organization such as Al Qaeda could be very intriguing to that individual because of their mission to wage war against and destroy the United States of America. Victimization is a dangerous factor because it can easily feed into other factors and victims can easily be manipulated into believing certain things, one of those things being religion.

These constitute a “Cosmic War”, which humanizes—including all human flaws—the everlasting larger-than-life conflict between bad and evil. The cosmic war can evidently find roots in the narratives of all religions, as this paper shows how analogous the idea behind Christian Crusades to Islamic Jihads.

The beginnings of ISIS,a Sunni jihadist group,can be traced back to 1999, when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian jihadist, started the group . In 2010, after ISIS’s second leader was assassinated, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,a former scholar of Islamic studies and a US war prisoner back in 2004,took over and got the group back on track. He replenished their partially-killed-off leadership with dozens of Saddam’s old Ba’athist military personnel, who brought key experience to the group. Then in 2011, when the Syrian Civil War broke out, ISIS joined in as a rebel force,which helped to train and battle-harden the group. ISIS’s behavior in Syria was so brutal and severe that they even started creeping out the other groups, including al-Qaeda, who finally had a tantrum in early 2014 and cut all ties with ISIS. The ISIS, like all terrorist organizations, arose out of systems of discontent that made extremist ideology appealing. The extremist ideology of ISIS is an aberration of Islam marked by radical apocalyptic thought. The ISIS’s position is antithetical to Shia Islam, which believes that just as a prophet is appointed by God alone, only God has the prerogative to appoint the successor to his prophet (the caliphate).

Terrorism has been an important part of social behavior for over 2,000 years. Between the years of 1980 and 1995, terroristic groups motivated by religious beliefs had increased by 43% (Hoffman). Religious beliefs and culture are a main reason groups and individuals resort to terrorism. Groups resort to terrorism as a consequence of seeing their culture demolished, as well as religious motives. Terrorist groups have many intentions when it comes to acts of terrorism. They main ones are they want to create fear globally, weaken the government, and obtain universal recognition for what they have done. Religiously motivated terrorist groups usually have high authority targets. These targets include government offices, banks, and national airlines. From the group’s perspective, terrorism is the only practical option. Groups are formed centered on certain factors like culture and religion. Many terrorists will receive support from their followers

In the reading from Terror in the Mind of God, the author Mark Juergensmeyer aims to explain to the reader what religious terrorism is and dig deeper into why violence and religion seem to be tied, searching for “how terror could be convinced in the mind of God”. The chapters we read for class had a main focus of what terrorism is, what it is not, who is committing these acts of terrorism, and what is they are trying to achieve through the acts of violence. In the last chapter of our reading, Juergensmeyer reflects on how effective previous attacks have been and outlines the only options he sees available in response to our modern global terrorism.

To understand the connection between Islam and violence, one must understand certain facets of the Muslim worldview. One of the most important is the fact that, according to the historic Muslim understanding, there is no separation between religion and government—what in Christianity would be called the separation of church and state.

After the attack of 9/11 many American citizens sought out an answer to why one would hijack a plane and run it into the Twin Towers, killing millions. According to the Huffpost, Islam became the main reason for the attack and furthermore labeled religion as the inspiration for many terroristic attacks (Gibson, 1). According to many Muslims, however, the attacks are anti-Islamic because the Quran states not to harm civilians who are not involved with war and to avoid it at all possible times (PBS, 3). The conflict between Muslims and Americans is growing and many issues in the Middle East has become the focus for religious terrorism.

It is conceivable that nuclear weapons in the hands of such groups would be used in a manner both to wreak incredible destruction, and in a sort of religious homage to the relevant deity, particularly because “worldly consequences are not a central concern for religious terrorists, since they believe their actions are dictated by a divine authority,” (Stern, p.80).

Millions of Americans and people around the globe consider the terrorist bombings all over the Earth to be the work of cowards who can only execute such murderous acts because of the knowledge that they won't live to face the repercussions. However, while the actions of these people can never truly be justified, they are within the general spectrum of Islamic teachings. If these men believed that their faith was under attack by America, they raised the "sword" to defend it. As the Quran once again states, "Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it. But you may hate a thing although it is good for you and love a thing although it is bad for you. God knows, but you do not" (Van Voorst 312). Muslims are taught that any martyr who dies in defense of Islam has the rewards of life multiplied many times over waiting for him in Heaven. "Allah has given those who fight with their goods and their persons a higher rank than those who stay at home" (Sherif 166-168). However, the idea of martyrdom and a beautiful afterlife for martyrs is not exclusive to Islam, but present in many other religions, including Christianity. The teachings of Islam are not to blame for