Robert Griffin's Terrorist's Creed
I had expected to find a general theme about the fringes of all religions and how they all contain adherents who practice violence and bloodshed. I found an interesting explanation of the motivations and birthplaces of many of the terrorists around the globe. His research on Chechen terrorism is timely and sheds light on the domestic problems our own nation recently faced. The work is wordy and at times repetitive in manuscript. It is a hard read and not one that is easily breezed through. However, the research is there and the expert analysis is not lacking. One item I found intriguing is his case about the void in religion, not religion itself that gives birth to terrorism. His quotes from T.S. Eliot and Carl Jung provide some revelation into the new world. The quotes state: "But it seems that something has happened that has never happened before: though we know not just when, or why, or how, or where. Men have left GOD not for other gods, they say, but for no God; and this has never happened before That men both deny gods and worship gods, professing first Reason, And them Money, and Power, and what they call Life, or Race or Dialectic. Jung put it: Our fearsome gods have only changed their name: They now rhyme with ism'." It was Joseph Goebbels , the political architect of the Third Reich, who stated National Socialism is my religion and we need a new one in Germany. He stated German battles were like a church service. Thus German churches were a mere footnote to a larger quest for meaning found in National Socialism. In the book Alain Badiou is noted by the statement, "In this sense, the violence of Nazis, Bolsheviks and Maoists can be seen as heirs of Nietzsche's `Dionysian modernism'." Griffin makes the case over and over again that the void created by Nietzsche, Sartre, and Existentialism all led to the void of meaning in the Western world. In Russia, terrorists formed to defeat the Tsar and create a new utopia. The theme of creating a utopia is a common thread in terrorism. The meaningless existence of Western man often comes to a resting place in utopia. To find utopia the ends justifies the means and violence and racial purging are justified to bring about the new world. Time Magazine has an interesting recent story of an Eastern nation where Buddhist terrorists are practicing violence against Muslims to purge the nation and protect it from the new changes Islam brings to the region. Much of these movements are not motivated by religion as much as it is change and utopia that are birthing violence and suicide bombings. Another study that explains school violence and terrorism is the study about finding a meaningful existence in the world. Again, with Nietzsche's proposals, the loss of meaning has led to acts of terror. The character played by Robert Deniro in Taxi is mentioned in the book. The taxi driver, fresh from a tour in Viet Nam searches for meaning in his existence. His trek leads him to seek to attack the degenerates he finds in the world. He finds a purpose for existence and meaning for his life in planned acts of violence. He finds a reason for his life and is rewarded for it. Creed writes; "It should thus reassure those of hale and hearty ontological disposition to find that several contributors to terrorism studies endorse this approach by attributing the origins of terrorist commitment as least in part to profound, even desperate, longings for ontological security."
Students of the Religious Right might be reminded of a button I once saw. It stated the Religious Right is not religious or right. A case can be made that the movement is birthed in the cultural changes, immigration, and hunger for meaning in the world. It appears distant from the Gospels and the Sermon on the Mount is never mentioned. If the Bible is noted it is just to remind followers to be salt. To the Religious Right, this means political activity. Richard Land kept reminding his followers to be "salt." Land and his group found that using fear to motivate a crowd worked well. Many in the movement have found meaning in their own quest for utopia. Strangely, the Christian idea of utopia is not found in this life.
Robert Griffin's Terrorist's Creed | 9 comments (9 topical, 0 hidden)
Robert Griffin's Terrorist's Creed | 9 comments (9 topical, 0 hidden)
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