Okay, first of all, I have no problem using the phrase, Radical Islamic Terrorism. Whether it’s ISIS or any other self-identified radical Islamic group of that kind, if they themselves assert Islam as their faith and call their movement an Islamic movement and yet are willing to use terrorist tactics, such as Suicide Bombers, as a means to their end, then, yes, they are Radical Islamic Terrorists, setting aside any super-imposed pressure to speak the language of political correctness.
It would be no different if there were a group identifying themselves as Fundamental Christians who used terroristic methods to gain influence and spread their message by terroristic tactics. They too would be rightly called, Extreme or Radical Christian Terrorists. True: Mainstream Christians would disavow them as true Christians, and rightly so. But it would not change the fact that the group itself see themselves as believing in and acting from a self-embraced identity and conviction as fundamentally Christian. And so, I’m not going to argue against the fact that Radical Islamic Terrorists are acting out of a self-defined Islamic Faith and Mindset.
In fact, I would argue that it is best to accept their self-identity as fundamental followers of Islam than to deny it. For, it would help us to better understand why they act as they do.
The Modern Day Suicide Terrorist Bomber has two common threads in his (or her) thinking: (1) an utter conviction that he has nothing to lose, and (2) the passionate belief that he has everything to gain by his extreme sacrifice—to blow him/herself up for the cause!
Here the old saying is true: Beware of the opponent that believes he/she has nothing to lose and everything to gain when fighting against you. For, there are very few, if any, bargaining chips available for you to use for negotiation. It’s an all or nothing proposition. This is why merely matching or trying to overpower force with force and gun with gun fails us in the battle against terrorism.
The Suicide Bomber is committing an act of faith. Hence the battle is one of heart and soul, which is one of the most difficult kinds of conflicts to engage in. If I believe that God will reward me in heaven for my action(s) on earth, no matter how savage or horrendous those acts may seem in the eyes of others, there is very little that will effectively stop me, not even, or most especially not, the threat of death—short of a religious conversion or change of heart and conviction.
The Radical Islamic Suicide Bomber, believing he/she has nothing to lose, is convinced that he/she has God’s approval and will thus gain Paradise in the afterlife. It’s as simple as that. Thus, only one thing needs to change in that person’s thinking: the belief that God approves, and therefore will reward such action. We know this, but somehow we’re not using this knowledge effectively.
Whenever a Radical Islamic Suicide Bomber takes lives—at an airport, in a shopping mall, or on the streets of a busy city intersection, for example—Western Statesmen and women immediately call their actions reprehensible, cowardly, murderous, savage, inhuman, and culpable. And the Terrorists couldn’t care less! Such name calling doesn’t faze them a bit. In their minds, they are doing a Holy, honorable, God glorifying deed. As they see it, they are bringing honor and praise not only to their God but to themselves. Seeing themselves as extensions of God’s arm, they believe that they are doing God a favor. Most importantly they see themselves as Martyrs. And Martyrs of God are always one step above the average devotee of any religious faith—even in the Christian faith.
They are first and foremost Believers! They do what they believe. Thus, their actions will change only when the substance of their faith changes.
Therefore, it does not help to deny what they themselves own as their self-identifying faith. They see themselves as true adherents to Islam, the truest! Whether they claim to be Islamic Fundamentalists or the true inheritors of a pure Islamic State, their core belief is that God is on their side and that they are doing God’s will in the name of Islam. Thus, this must be our beginning point in understanding them.
Now what? Conversion, that’s what. Radical Islamic Terrorists movements are converting young people everywhere, using any and all means at their disposal. And we wonder and are amazed that they can be so effective in making converts. But why are we so amazed? I’ll tell you. It is because we citizens of Western Civilization are ourselves unconverted people. We have no clue. We have no idea what it means to believe, no idea what conversion feels like or what it looks like from the inside out.
We are sold on Western Civilization’s values and priorities and practices. We believe that we’ve got it right, and we question anyone who questions our values and our chosen ways and means to sustain them. The people in Western nations also assume that they are just, fair, even-handed, equitable, and trustworthy, as nations go.
Yet, in reality the world nations of any size, type, and kind can be and often are quite unjust and unfair. The super-rich continue to increase in power and wealth while everyone else languishes in a stupor of economic straights and financial debt. And it’s only getting worse. Rich powerful countries rape the resources of smaller weaker States. Wealthy powerful nations align themselves with any government that willingly supply they’re wants, no matter how corrupt, unjust, and oppressive that government may be to its own people. And the list goes on.
This is why people, especially the weak, the poor, the suppressed and/or oppressed, find solace in the belief that there will be a Judgment Day, a Day of Reckoning, and that there is hope and consolation in a God-given promise of Heaven or Paradise beyond this life. Such belief energizes and enables defiance against perceived enemies.
Even in Christianity, at the heart of the Gospel message of Salvation in Christ, is the promise of Eternal Life in the Kingdom of God—a Kingdom of peace, justice, and righteousness where there will be no more tears, no more death, no more pain or mourning and crying (see Revelation 21:1-5). This is great news for people suffering a lifetime of grievous injustice and oppression (economic or otherwise) at the hands of humanly constructed political & economic systems and governments.
Yet, most modern day Westerners tend to pooh-pooh such beliefs in heaven and hell, or Judgment Day or a Day of Reckoning. They also therefore fail to understand its power and its driving force. “God saves!” “God is good!” “God is great!” These are words of faith and words of hope. They are empowering words, assertive and striking in their promise of victory against Infidels and Unbelievers—those believed to be the perpetrators of the injustice and evil that is in the world.
This is why the work of conversion is necessary. Not a conversion to secularism, capitalism, or democracy, but a conversion to believe in a God of mercy, compassion, and grace. What they fail to see is that their god is as evil, unjust, cruel, and oppressive as any of the nations or organizations or governments they presently seek to destroy. They are in fact following a false god.
The question is this: how can we help them see the light and open their eyes to their present blindness. For with their mouths they proclaim God is great, God is merciful; yet, they act as if God is as mean-spirited, ugly, cruel, and oppressive as any heartless human dictator. They need to be converted themselves, to see that God does NOT approve of their ways and that their actions will bring them anything but Paradise. They are doomed to lose heaven and earth.
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