Terrorism and Religion

Journal of Alternative Perspective s in the Social Sciences ( 2010 ) V ol 2, No 2 ,550 -576 550 Religion and Terrorism: A Socio-Historical Re- Consideration Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) Abstract : Terrorist activities have taken a new turn in the w ake of 21st Century, thereby creating a sense of insecurity in the global family, The reason for the upsurge of terrorism has also remain ed an enigma.

However, scholars have posited diverse reasons and motivations for terrorist activities. Scholars mostly of western or ientation, blame religion for it. On the other hand, scholars with liberal i nclinations place the blame on the socio-political exigencies that foster s authoritarianism as the sole cause of the social phenomenon. The third grou p of scholars posits eclectic sources of terrorism. They opine that thou gh, socio-political exigencies are at the root, however, religion fans the ember and gives it legitimacy. The fourth group proposed an alternativ e model in which they subsumed that globalization and not religion is the purveyor of modern terrorism. They noted that globalization agenda dep ersonalizes culture, breaks traditional identities, nullify national sov ereignty and violates human rights and life of those at the fringes of de velopment. Thus, those affected adversely by the scheme resort to terroris m as retaliation for the violation done to them. Religion, on the one hand, occupying a central position in human life becomes a medium of translat ing this socio- political conflict into a moral one. It is by relig ion that secular conflict acquires a cosmic nature. Any conflict understood i n cosmic terms acquires stateless and timeless status and as such become unending.

Therefore, the paper surmises that terrorism will n ot end unless globalization ends. Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 551 1. Introduction We live in a turbulent time marked by violence, which manifests itself in manifold forms such as te rrorism, bomb blasts, massacre ethic cleansing, cultural gen ocide, atrocities on women, children and tribal minorities and most often in full blown wars (Uka, 2005:15-34; Okoro, 2 010: 323) Thus 21 st century which ought to be the most peaceful century in the world history, supported by advanced scientific development in all areas of human discip line, human based policies and global, continental and re gional relationship, has turned to the most volatile perio d in human history and development. Therefore, there is no hi ding place for man in the 21 st century. Consequently, the experience of violence affects humanity adversely by creating a s ense of insecurity in the life of all peoples and nations w ithin the global village arrangement. All spheres of human ex istence become threatened and threatening too, hence human beings in the 21 st century are at threshold of obliteration (Okoro, 2010: 323). Wilson (2010) gives a vivid but worrisome account of the degree of danger the conte mporary age is facing as he writes: … Terrorist attacks have taken a heavy toll on humanity, especially innocent civilians.

According to UNICEF, 80% of victims of such oppression in the recent years have been civilians, mainly women and children. Looking back at the last century, despite all its valuable accomplishments, the 20 th century has turned out the bloodiest century in human history. It is estimated that more than 60 million people were killed by fellow human, more than all the previous centuries of human history, the century ended with about 21 million refugees around the globe, including about 6 million internally displaced people and more than 300,000 child soldiers (under the age of 18 girls as well as boys engage in armed conflict).

Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 552 Besides wars, military and civil dictations that vi olet human rights and life, the most threatening social acerbi c is the contemporary terrorism in its diverse forms and manifestations. Terrorism, though as old as human h istory, has taken a new dimension in the recent period, tak ing its demeanor from September, 11 2001, when the whole wo rld was shocked with the destruction of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, both representing the economic an d military powers of USA and by extension the global community. Actually, terrorism has no univocally and w ildly accepted definition (Atran 2004: 47-49). However, A riel (2007: 16) defines it as ‘the substrate application of violence or threatened violence intended to show panic in th e society, to weaken or even overthrow the incumbent and bring about political change. Karacasulu (2005: 8) avers that t errorism is the act of violence committed against innocent pers ons or non-combatant that are intended to achieve politica l end through fear and intimidations. Overtly, terrorism has more frequently been associated with a crime committed a gainst the poor and the under privileged by disenfranchisi ng them.

Thus by design, terrorism is an unpredictable use o f violence against individuals, groups, community or nation to attain the goal of the perpetrators. This may include but not limited to the overthrowing, destabilizing or replacing the existing system and institution or a retaliation for the hur t and harm committed (Wilson, 2010: 1-9). Notably, there are several motivations that strut terrorist attacks on the uns uspecting victims. These motivations include but not limited to, political, social, moral, personal and religious. A li (1997: 23) notes that terrorism has been used all through hist ory through out the world by states, organizations, gro ups and individuals. However, amidst all diverse motivations of contemporary upsurge of terrorist attacks, religiou s motivations have been spotlighted as the major sour ce of terrorism in the 21 st century. According to D’ Souza (2010) ‘ … so there is little wonder the claim that religi on is awful and leads to violence …It is certainly true that ma ny horrible things have been done under the cover of religion-t he inquisition springs to mind along with Islamic terr orism and the Catholic –protestant wars that have raged and i nfluenced Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 553 European and America politics for centuries’. In th e same vein, Wilson (2002), supports the for going argumen t as he writes, ‘…though human conflicts and the September 11 tragedy can be explained in political and social te rms, explicitly or implicitly, religious components shap ed and motivated them. Against this background, Juergensme yer (2008: 23) demonstrate his misgiving about the role of religion as he writes, “most people feel that relig ion should provide tranquility and peace not terror, yet many of these cases, religion has supplied not only the ideology but also the motivation and organizational structure for the perpetration of terror in the world.” Okoro (2008: 105-115) shares the foregoing view as he opines that religio n and her institution are major sources of violent conflict a nd crisis, including terrorism not only in the contemporary pe riod but also down the human history. Against this backdrop, Brahm (2005: 1-7) op ines that at the dawn of 21 st century, a causal glance at the world affairs world support that religion is at the core of much of the strife in the globe. Now when religion is a lar ge part of the picture of global conflict-terrorism in particu lar-then the most enduring question becomes, ‘what has religion to do with human destruction? Could these violent acts be the fault of religion qua religion, or the result of a dark strain of religious thinking that leads to absolutism and con sequent violence, or has the innocence of religion been abu sed by wily political activists, who twist religious essen tial message of peace for their own devious purposes? Is religio n the problem or the victim of conflictual human existenc e in the 21 st century? (Juergensmeyer, 2005: 12). It is therefor e this complex and confused role of religion in the contem porary terrorist attacks that motivated us to do a sociolo gical re- consideration of the relation between religion and terrorism in the contemporary period. 2. Religion and Terrorism: Major Argument Waves of anger and fear circulate over the bright a nd darkened land of the earth, obsessing our private l ives, the uncontrollable odour of death offends the September night …We kill to defend ourselves but die to convert and conquer Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 554 (Saighal 2003: 20-21). The escalation of global vi olence- terrorism-associated with religion and her institut ions is an ever-present reality with us. Narrating his own exp erience, Juergensmeyer (2000: 8) writes: The ferocity of religious violence was brought home to me in 1998, when I received the news that a car bomb had exploded in a Belfast neighbourhood I had visited the day before. The following day firebombs nipped through several pubs and stores, apparently in protest against the fragile peace agreement signed earlier in the year. It was a repetition of what happened several years before, a suicide bombing claimed to have been by the military wing of Palestinian Moslem political movement - Hamas.

Islamic religion all over the world has been allege d as the gravest architect of religious violence vis-à-vis t errorism.

Therefore, Saighal (2003: 22) opines that Muslims c ontinue to push their communities into medieval practices a nd as such they pose challenge to communal harmony and perpetrate the backwardness of their community. The refore, the clash of civilization is being provoked by Isla mists in many parts of the world. In this direction, Avolos (2005: 72) asserts that religious terrorism is indeed caused b y religions or rather that religion creates an imagery supply o f sacred resources over which human being contend. Accordingly, Avolos (2005: 73) regards a ll forms of social and political conflicts to be contest over s carce resources. The ones who do not have the scarce reso urces want them and the ones that that have them want to keep them. In relating this postulation to religious con flict, Avolos maintains that the scarce resources are the things that religion specifically supplies, which include the f avour of God, blessing and salvation. These are the graces n ot bestowed equally on everyone and must be earned and protected. Against this backdrop, Dulles (2002: 1-9 ) and Okoro (2008: 105-115) assert thus: The relation between various religions of the world has often been hostile and in Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 555 many places, there remain so today. When we pick up daily news papers, we can hardly avoid reading about conflicts between Jews and Muslims, between Muslims and Hindus, between Hindus and Sikh and between Muslims and Bahais and all these faiths have at one time or the had their clash with Christianity. Dulles (2002: 1-9) further observes that Christiani ty had had more than a fair share of religious tensions in hum an history. Hence Christians have persecuted Jews and fought wars against Muslims, within Christianity; there ha ve been internecine wars, especially between Roman Catholic and Protestants but sometimes with Eastern orthodox. Th e challenge of Rabbi Kahame might be relevant here as he charged the Jews to restore God’s honour. It was th is scarce God’s favour that must be earned and protected that he charged Jews to restore using all means and methods .

Therefore, an ordinary battle in religious parlance is considered a conflict to earn the highest honour bo th to God and to his faithful Influenced by these postulations, causal ob servers accept as fact even in western culture that religio n is the worst culprit of the global terrorist attacks. In h is own words, Wilson (2010: 5) ‘…in the current climate of Muslim political victims, a significant sector of American s and Europeans public assumes that Islam is the problem. It is this position that crystallized into the public bel ief that religion, particularly Islam, fully supports and co nsequently perpetrates acts of terrorism. The association of r eligion (Islam) with global terrorism is a major example of the habit of thinking of the western modern minds (Wilson, 20 05: 1-5).

The implication of this association of religion wit h terrorism is vaunting Jihad to a supreme position in the Musl im lives and practice beyond all other pillars of Islamic fa ith. However, according to Bruce (2000: 17), “the stride nt exposition of the way of thinking and found only th e assertion of Christian Televangelist such as Pat Ro bertson and Jessy Falwell that the prophet himself was a t errorist.” It was also in this same spirit that Senator Christ opher Dodd, representing Connecticut, told American not t o expect Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 556 much tolerance from Islam given its present propens ity for ideological control of public life (Wilson 2010: 1- 9). The basic assumption of those who hold that religion- Islam- is the problem is based on the notion that the religion an d her adherents relationship to politics is quite peculia r. However, to make such conclusion on Islam is unwarranted and erroneous, since history can show that even in the traditional societies religion had had a close rela tionship with political authority and religion often play a major role in under girding the moral authority of public life. N otable examples are in Judaism, the Davidic line of kingsh ip is anointed of God, in Hinduism, the kings are thought to uphold divine order through the white umbrella of d harma, also in Christianity, the political history of Euro pe is rife with contesting and sometimes emerging lines of authorit y between the church and the state. The violent Jews, Hindu and Christians activists in the recent years have a ll like their Muslims counterparts, looked to traditional religio us pattern of politicizing religion to justify their militant stances (Wilson, 2005:1-9).

Some Muslim scholars seem to accepting th at religion in general and Islam in particular has played signi ficant role in the current global terrorist attacks with partic ular reference to September 11 episode. Adducing reasons for such assumption, Bergson (2001: 19-20) writes: The tragic event of September 11, 2001…was supposedly meant to be a retaliatory action for all the direct and non-direct support the USA has given to the nation of Israel, which is in continual conflict with Palestine. It was for USA’s infliction of death and suffering on innocent civilians in Iraq by refusing to lift the decade-long economic sanctions. It was for USA’s support of some corrupt regimes in the Middle East-like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It was for the stationing of army in Saudi Arabia, the home of Muslims, the Holy places of Mecca and Medina It was for the systemizing dissemination of Western values in the Muslim world. In order words, as far as Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 557 the executors and schemers of the of the terrorist attack, it was a repayment for all the insults against Islamic faith and for the injury to Islamic communities in collaboration with several Muslim regimes in the Middle East.

It was fervor above that was behind the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 1993, the bomb attack on USA embassies in Nairobi-Kenya and Der-es-Salam in Tanz ania in 1998 and the attack on USA Cole in Yemen in 2000 (Rachael, 2001:8). Thus, it becomes a popular opini on that among scholars, general public and USA allies that though the human conflicts in the global village with part icular reference to September 11 could be explained in pol itical and social terms, however, religious components colours and motivates the gruesome terrorist attacks on the wor ld developments. Therefore Wilson (2005), notes:

While the majority of the world was going through shock, a small group of sympathizers of such terrorist actions were jubilant, not because they delighted in death and suffering of others but rather they felt that their religious perspective provided them with a means of response to what they perceived as evil. For them, it was a successful accomplishment of a planned action to uphold Islamic truth. It was a moral revenge and a spiritual act. Religiously, it was jihad against evil society and infidels in America However, Islamic faith is not the only religion imp licated directly or indirectly on the acts of global terror ism, Wilson (2005), justifies this assertion when he says the t hree religions implicated in the September 11 event are Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Wilson’s assumption was b ased on the fact that the major religions in the world p olity are indiscriminately drawn from these religious groups. In his own words, ‘The USA and the rest of the Western nat ions are predominantly shaped by Christian values and world views, the Middle East and Central Asia by Islamic traditi ons and Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 558 culture and Israel and Jews living in USA by Jewish values and traditions. Actually, almost all the major world relig ions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam contain within its tenet of faith the seed of terrorism. Thus history in whatever realm i s dotted with bloodbath conflict in the name of God(s). Thus in the Jewish tradition, Yahweh is understood as permittin g wars and granting of victory to His chosen people-Israel . Here reference is made to the songs of Moses and Miriam, which speaks of a warrior-Lord-who, triumphed gloriously over Pharaoh and his might army (Ex.15: 1-21). Furtherm ore, Deuteronomy 20:1-20 stipulates law of war and confl ict for God’s People-Israel. Even the central symbol of God ’s presence among the people- the ark of covenant- was carried into the battlefront to assure victory (Num.10: 35- 36, 1 Sam.

14:1-8). In the modern times, major races of Judaism are manifested in the movement of Zionism, with the fou nding of the Zionist organization in Basel in 1997. The Zion ist movement was a socio-political organization with se cular leadership meant to overcome all the adversities th at were faced by the Jewish community. In fact, the number of wars and armed confrontation since 1948 with Arabs neigh bours, the continued occupation of neighbouring territorie s and the prevention of the formation of independent state of Palestine has made both the Palestinians, Arab, large section of Muslim world and western critiques to consider the state of Israel as aggressors and perpetrators of terror aga inst Palestine people (Partner, 1997: 17). The state of Israel on her own, considers all her aggressions on Palestine and her neighbours as self-defense and self-preservation. T hough the acts of war and aggression were not necessarily don e as religious acts, however, for the outsider, these ac ts of terror and religion exist in symbolic relation as the stat e of Israel is primarily anchored on faith community (Wilson, 2005 : 1-9). Christianity, which is an offshoot of Juda ism, is not spared of the stories of heinous attacks on humanit y.

Notably, Christianity which begun as marginalized a nd oppressed community, a community on the fringes of history and politics of the day, when liberated in 312AD, d eveloped her own means of using force to achieving her own o bjectives (Partner, 1997: 23.) The faith adopted persecution, Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 559 punishment, imprisonment, banishment etc of those w hose doctrine the consider spurious. The church also tri ed and executed those who refused to recant their convicti on, which the church considered as heresy. The church also em barked on crusades to retrieve their lost territories and reclaim members. These methods of force developed steadily as Christianity’s power consolidated with the sponsors hip of the state. Many of these acts of terror done to humanit y in history were carried out with the protection and bl essings of Christian rulers and political powers. Now having incriminated most of the world re ligions with the act of violence and terror, the opinion of the majority of people is that the contemporary act of terror against humanity is essentially religious. However, to simple close the matter at this point will violate the spi rit of democracy in our time. Therefore, we turn our atten tion to the opinion of the minority or rather the unpopular argument. 3. Religion and Terrorism: The Minor Argument This second argument attempts to exonerate religion from the alleged criminality against humanity in th e modern world by the instrumentality of terrorism and blood bath conflicts. This school of thought though in minorit y is vocal and unanimous in their insistence that religion is not the problem of the modern world rather it is an innocen t victim of chance and circumstances (Juergensmeyer 2002: 1- 9). In Juergensmeyer’s own words, “…religion is not the problem…in some cases it is seen as an innocent vic tim, in other case it is seen simply as irrelevant.” In his legendary work, ‘ Dying to Win’ Robert Pape (2005) argues tha t religion is not the motive in most acts of suicide bombing/t errorism that is an ever-present reality in the modern world . Pape concludes after a painstaking investigation on the causes of suicide activities that such heinous acts are motiv ated by a blind religious fervour and calculated political ma neuver.

Thus, Pape underscores the fact that the primary mo tive is the defense of national and politico-cultural terri tories.

Notably, records show that until recently, at least 2003 that most suicide bombing were not conducted by religiou s Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 560 groups but by secular ethnic movements (Juergensmey er 2002:1-9). Justifying the above assumption, Pape (200 5) and Juergensmeyer (2002), D’Souza (2009) write: It is certainly true that many horrible things have been done under the cover of religion…it is also true that many men have used religion as a tool to gain power, no different than nationalism and racism.

Having acknowledged that freely let me also throw some numbers at you. 11,000.000+ people murdered in the Holocaust, Nazis was essentially a secular religion with nationalism and racism as its creed and Adolph Hitler as its focal point. Over 1,600,000 Cambodians murdered by the Khnier Rouge, which officially outlawed religion. More recently, we see North Korea, by all accounts as the most repressive nation in the world with barbaric living conditions. Atheistic Cuba is another of the world greatest oppressors of her own people …of rich religious states that are also the most oppressive, they are universally Islamic, which should further discredit the blank condemnations of religion as repressive. With reference to the afore citation, it could ther efore be asserted with D’ Souza (2009) that the absence of r eligion is hardly a recipe for an utopia existence. The most h orrifying conditions in the modern times are most often found in most secular and developed states, places like former So viet Union, Communist China, and North Korea. It therefo re becomes an axiom that there is a far more danger to liberty and freedom…from a powerful state than there is a p owerful religion (D’Souza, 2009:1-6) Against this backdrop information, Pape ( 2005) presents database to support the foregoing discussi on on the position of this minor group. In this study, Pape s tudied 450 men and women who were not uneducated, poor, immatu re religious zealots or social losers as they are some times Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 561 portrayed. However, whatever these have in common i s either their territory or culture has been invaded by an alien powers that cannot easily be overthrown. In such de sperate state of social survival, they turn to the simplest and most direct form of militant engagement by using their o wn bodies as bombs. Thus contrary to the popular opinion, sui cide bombers and other terrorist are not religious loner s but usually part of the large militant organization wit h well- honed strategies aimed at ousting foreign control f rom what they consider their own territory (Juergensmeyer 20 02: 1-9). On the strength of the for going argumen t, Okwalinga (2006: 1-2) posits that terrorism do not have a pej orative connotation since it is an act of state struggle an d an act systematically justified as a necessary means of re placing a corrupt and authoritative government with a new and better society of equity, equality and justice and fratern ity. In tracing the contemporary origin of terrorism, Okwal inga (2006) maintains that with the concept of ‘Sovereig nty’ and re-articulation of the roles of nation-state and ci tizens and the emergence of radical political thought such as Marxism, Nihilism, secularism of governance, the focus of te rrorism shifted from religious to political platform. The q uest for self- determination by national liberation movement acros s the colonies after the 2 nd world war marked the height of political terrorism. Overtly, this perspective shares the idea th at when one hears a statement, “ the use of religion for politi cal purpose’ that such exonerates religion from the culpability of creating an atmosphere of violence. Therefore US intelligen t report in the Middle East once underscores the fact that reli gion is only being ‘used’ to masking the problem that are e ssentially economic in nature (Juergensmeyer, 2002:1-9). The r eport goes further to situate that if jobs are available for the unemployed Egyptians, and Palestinian- that the pro blem of religious politics in these impoverished societies would quickly vanish. The implication for the above assumption is that unemployment is the core source of terrorism. Thus it is unthinkable that religious activists would actually be motivated by religion or at least by ideological vi ews of the world that is framed in religious language. In the same vein, Sell (1996) citing the same source of reference wit h Pape Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 562 (2005), maintains that religion is essentially irre levant to the motivation of terrorism (12). Further in this argu ment, the proponents maintain with an air of finality that re ligion is not just neutral to violence but summarily opposed to it.

Here Haralenbos’ definition of religion becomes rel evant in supporting this position, for him, religion is a so cio-spiritual phenomenon, which binds human beings to their gods and fellow human beings (Okoro, 2010: 323-343). Summari ly, Odea (1966: 2) echoed the assumption by describing religion and her institution as the most viable of all human associations, embodying the most sublime of human aspiration. Religion for Odea is the bulwark of mor ality, source of public order and individual peace. Against this backdrop, religion stands for pe ace, fraternity, tolerance and magnanimity. It fosters s piritual and temporary excellence of mankind and unequivocal ly negates all forms of fundamentalism, violence and intolerance as a means of settling discords. Religi on is against all forms of injustice meted out to people across the world, which can not be obviated by acts of terrori sm and exasperated out burst (Saha 2006: 1-2; Okoro, 2010: 323- 343). While liberative or terrorism offers wid ely divergent on every topic, one matter is clear, not all terrorist s are religious fanatics or even religious (Richard and Alcorta 201 0:1-8).

Actually, These scholars are of the opinion that it is the media that gives the false impression that religion and terrorism are strongly associated. Hence terrorists , especially suicide bombers are often depicted in the media as delusional religious fundamentals, hopelessly brain washed and out of tone with reality. The picture that is e merging from recent research, however, is far different. Fo r example, Berebi (2003: 17) has shown that Palestine suicide bombers have average education and economically better than the general population. 4. Religion and Terrorism: The Middle Argument If terrorists in general and suicide bombers in particular are not crazed religious zealots, what t hen is the relationship between religion and terrorism? In att empting Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 563 this all time question, Juergensmeyer (2003: 27) an d Pane (2005) unanimously opine that though religion might not be the root cause of conflicts but is rather a tool used by terrorists to achieving their goals. Thus religious belief, rituals and institution are proximate mechanism tha t facilitate otherwise improbable behavioural outcome . In this direction, Juergensmeyer (2002: 28), argues that wh ile religion is not the most cause of most conflicts in volving terror, religion is the means by which terrorist tr anslates a local political struggle into cosmic wars. In other words, terrorist frame their disputes in religious rather than political terms (Pane, 2005: 75; Juergnensmeyer, 20 02: 48). Juergnesmeyer (2005: 1-9) in his further argument a sserts that religious language and ideas play an important role, though not necessarily the initial one in relation to conflict and terrorism. According to him, the condition of c onflict and terror that lead to tension are usually economi c and social in character and often a defense of territor y and culture that is perceived to be under the control o f outside powers (Pape, 2000:1-7). Howbeit, at a point in conflict, usually at time of frustration and desperation, the political contest becomes religionized. Then what was primarily a secular st ruggle takes on an aura of sacred conflict. This creates a whole new set of problem. According to Jeurgnesmeyer (2005: 2 ), the transformation from political to religious struggle encourages actors to perceive that they are participating in s omething of divine significance that transcends individual self -interest.

Making a notable observation on the Sikh militant, Juergensmeyer (2004: 48) remarks …the sikh militant in Punjab are motivated by the heady sense of spiritua l fulfillment and the passion of holy war. In this ve in, Osama bin Laden, using the same category has been able to successfully transform his local grievances into co smic clash between civilizations. Therefore, religion is a maj or if not the sole tool of translating local power struggle into conflicts.

Accordingly, framing political /local struggle into religious category helps to broaden both the ideological and geographical base of terrorism. Furthermore, whenev er political conflict adopts a religious frame, it ext ends the horizon of victory. Against this background, terror ists perceive that they are fighting a cosmic war in div ine time, Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 564 thereby removing the incentive to win within ones l ife time (Richard and Alcorta, 2010: 1-9). Religion facilitates terrorists’ goals by providi ng moral legitimacy to their cause. Notably, all religions i mpose moral framework upon their adherents, thereby enabling te rrorists to present their conflicts in moral absolute dichot omies, such as good versus bad or righteous versus evil. W hile legitimatizing ones own cause, religion is particul arly effective at demonizing those with opposing views ( Richard and Alcorta, 2010: 1-8; Lincoln, 2003: 29). Notably , history of all shades of time and context is dotted with ex amples of in-group passion aroused and out-group hatred ignit ed.

According to Pane (2005: 16) indeed one consistent predictor of suicide terrorism is a religious difference betw een perpetrators and victims. This situation occurs whe n the terrorist group appears to have a secular motivatio n such as the LTTE, who the Hindu fighting Buddhist majority. Thus 90% of attacks were aimed at the victims of differe nt religions (Berman and Laiton, 2005: 37). Religion does not only provide the moral legit imacy for violent acts of terror but also defines the reward for the combatants. The reward for the terrorists with reli gious convictions, according to Juergnesmeyer (2004: 34-3 8) is a particular religious experience. This is in the se nse that they are participating in something greater than themsel ves. In addition to such spiritual reward of transcendence, religion may also offer benefits in the life after that can hardly be matched in this world. Sois (2003: 72), substantiat es this fact when he says The promise that 72 virgins await a shahid (martyr) is often joked about, but afterlife rewards are critical feature of successful ideologies that enable terrorist organizations to motivate recruits to carry out their mission. As Hamas member describes, ‘we focus on paradise, on being in the presence of Allah, on meeting the prophet Mohammad, on the interceding for his loved ones so that they too can be saved from the agonies of hell. On the houris (virgins) and on fighting the Israel occupation and removing it from the Islamic trust that is Palestine. Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 565 In the same direction, Hassan (2001: 39), also aver s that the female counterpart of shahid is promised to be the chief of the virgins and exceed their beauty. Thus the Septe mber 11 hijackers all believed that they would meet in the highest heaven (Lincoln, 2003: 980. While the kamikaze pilo ts were assured that they would be transcending life and de ath (Richardson, 2006:122), which helped them to ration alize their actions. However, one of the most significant role of religion in terrorism is the incorporation of emotionally evoca tive and highly memorable symbols, myths and rituals that se rve to individually motivate and collectively unify divers e individual under a common banner (Atran, 2003: 4). Hence, Pane (2005: 26) suggests that all terrorist groups face the challenge of creating group commitment and individu al devotion to common cause. Durkheim (1995: 72), note d that fundamental “ faith based’ element of religion, tha t is symbols, myths and ritual, foster this in-group com mitment more than any other and better than any other socia l institution. Overtly, cohesiveness among terrorists with religious motivation is further fosters through powerful symb ols, which often become focal point in the occupation in volving religious difference (Pape 2005: 89). Certain relig ious practice defines martyrdom as the sacrifice of ones elf for one faith. Thus religion provides ritual and symbols to both motivate and memorize the local heroes by affording them an otherwise unattainable status that is also eternal (Richard and Alcorta 2009:1-9). Pape (2005: 29) also observes that suicid e terrorist organizations commonly cultivate ‘sacrificial myth’ that include elaborate sets of symbol and ritual to mark an individual attackers death as a contribution to the nation.

By incorporating counterintuitive concepts within t he belief system, religion creates reliable costly symbols to fake. Sosis (2003: 30) further argued that the repeated ritual performance fosters and internalizes these counteri ntuitive beliefs, which typically include a non-material sys tem of reward and punishment, including expectations about afterlife activities. Therefore, this school of th ought summarily conclude that though religion is not the chief Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 566 purveyor of terrorism in the modern world, it acts as a major instrument in fostering and cementing commitment of individual suicide attackers to the organization an d nation. 5. Religion and Terrorism: The Alternative Argument In a situation where more and more people are utterly disillusioned about the prospect associated with modernization and development and the capacity and willingness of the new political and economic elites to deliever their promises, they (people) feel abandoned and are thrown back on their ethnic, cultural and religious identities to provide a sense of coherence and purpose for their lives (Konrad, 2005: 45; Okoro, 2006: 152). With the forceful imposition of the global economi c categories of the west (America) known as ‘globaliz ation’ most of the world communities feel estranged from t he real meaning of existence. Thus greater percentage of th e world population feels that globalization has failed to b ring its promised hope to the common folk within the global village arrangement. Dass (2002), noted this failed agenda of globalization with disappointment as he observes: The United nation Organization (UNO) declares the 1960s, as the dawn of global development, now after four decades of waiting, life of the poor has not changed. It is harder and getting worse, poverty still enslaves the majority of the people, especially Asia and Africa, huge army of the poor unabatedly increases, while a small troop of elites continuously becomes powerful. Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 567 The implications of the citation above are multidimensional and complex. The first point in th e issue is that globalization adopts a neo liberal economic pa radigm that proposes growth-centered development. Thus developmental model has been systematically braking down the social and economic structure of the other nati ons of the non-west, particularly Asia and Africa. Accordingly , Dass (2002: 1-7) observes that the consequent environmen tal implications have made it obvious that the developm ental route the world has traveled is unsustainable. Ther efore, the global realities and the practices of unsustainable development have direct influence on our political, economic, social cultural and environmental context. The rece nt World Bank (WB) report substantiates this fact thus: …over 100million people are living in poverty today than a decade a ago, while the gap between the rich and the poor is wider. Each year 2.4 million children die of water born diseases and nearly a billion people have entered the 21 st century unable to read or write. More than 1.8 million die every day of indoor pollution in rural areas, while forests are destroyed at the rate of an acre per second, with unimaginable loss of biodiversity. There are as many as 1 billion people who do not even meet the basic requirement to decently live. Among the 4.4 billion people, that is about 70% of the world population, living in developing countries in Asia and Africa, three fifths live without sanitation, one third without safe drinking water, one quarter lack adequate housing and one fifths live beyond the reach of modern health services. One fifth of children do not get as far as grade five in school and equal number are under nourished (Dass, 2002:1-7). With this demographic data from the WB, it suffices that the negative impact of globalization on the indigenous Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 568 communities are quite overwhelming. It has a holist ic devastating effect on its victims –the indigenous p eoples and communities-. This system has ravaged the indigenou s areas, which had to face massive oil exploration an d other developmental projects, which ignore the tribal com munities; the example of Niger Delta areas of Nigeria is ever green in our minds. The commercial culture of globalization has also introduced alien forces, which has resulted in the breaking down of community life and the destruction of the indigenous culture-ethnocide. Thus the tribal peop le are exterminated by the process of attrition, through t his means their land are taken away, their rivers poisoned, t heir culture violated and their lives made intolerable (Dass, 20 02:1-7). Chang (2006) adds force to the foregoing discussion as he noted that the cultures of Asia, Africa and Middle East have experienced conflict due to their differences in va lue from the Western dominated culture, which globalization prop els. He summarily avers that cultural globalization threate ns to wipe out the minority cultures or the cultures at the fr inges of development. In his own words, ‘Many peripheral cul tures- such as the Australian aborigines, Indonesia tribes man or Brazilian rain forest dwellers or indigenous Africa ns-face extinction’. Accordingly, Okoro (2009: 22-34) under scores the fact that Africa having experienced the highest global invasion has drank the dreg of the diverse negative effects of globalization. Therefore, Africa stands at the blin k of life, since the overall aim of globalization is the integ ration of all the people and nations into one common cultural sys tem.

Hebding and Gluck (1992: 39) underscores t he importance of culture as they note interlia, ‘that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, moral , law, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired b y man as a member of a particular society. Accordingly, c ulture is not limited to arts and music but also consists of values, morns and rules one lives by, ones idea of good and evil, ones language, religion etc. Culture also includes and refers to all that people have learned and through cultura l facts, peoples thoughts, actions, and feelings are known. Culture therefore defines values, attitudes, belief, mindse ts, central tendencies, worldviews and orientations that are pr evalent in the society (Edgell, 2005:1-8; Okoro, 2009: 22-34). Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 569 If we adopt this description of culture as a standard for the purpose of this work, it suffices that the destruction of ones culture is synonymous with the destruction of ones personhood. Hence, Okoro (2009: 22-34), has already noted that culture makes one relevant or otherwise in the community of other cultural groupings, Shephard and Hayduck (2002: 16), rend credence to the foregoing as they opine that cultural globalization is a senseless ex tinction of other cultures and the euphemism for western cultur al imperialism. Against this backdrop, Campbell (2001) reiter ates thus:

Some commentators have suggested that terrorists conceive the attack, as a direct assault on the forces of globalization however, on display is not globalization under siege rather a clash between modernization and traditional culture. Debates within Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan and Iran centre only on the most trivial way on western contamination, such as hoping pop music and video games of their culture. The struggle within these societies concerned economic inequalities, who should wield powers and the complex relationship between political and religious authorities.

In this direction, Campbel views globalization as t he unremitting expansion of market forces, the breakne ck speed with which capital moves around the globe and the constant search for realizing greater economic effi ciency.

This economic scheme influences everything from ind igenous culture and environmental regulation to labour stan dard and patterns of productivity. Accordingly, globalizatio n in all its shades of opinion has potential forces to impact on global terrorism of 20 th and 21st centuries (Okoro, 2009: 23-34). Collorary to the foregoing, Manuel (2009) r eiterated that Islamic cultural invasion or cultural war against t he west can be seen as a retaliation for continual western economic penetration of the Middle East and the rest of the world (1- 13). Bennett (2005: 76), supported this point of ar gument when he opines that the Jihadists in reality is sim ply fighting Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 570 a global resistance that is all about the ‘gap’ whe re globalization is coming in and reformatting traditi onal societies that are unprepared for new rule sets. Th erefore, ‘Radical’ extremists rise up in resistance to globa lization, believing it is evil and driven by infidels. According to Bennett, in gap theory, the mor e discontent a country is, the more dangerous it is f or global peace. Robb (2007: 27) contrasted Bennett’ argument , when he avers that gap or poor countries are already glo balized via black market or what he called ‘black globalization , which involves criminal activities, like drugs, human tra fficking, weapon, exotic plants, animal, other illegal good a nd all the newer kinds of transnational crimes. Robb (2007) an d Glenmy (2008) are of the opinion that that terroris ts in the new global world use tactics of warfare but in the form of guerrilla. Against this backdrop, Bobbett (2008) af firms this new development, nation-state and warfare as we kno w it will disappear to be replaced by corporate surrogat e, and the enemy-terrorism-of the new market based world provi de a means whereby those who will not like the choice pr ovided by the new market standard will be more in number t han those favoured by it, In the strength of this argument, Friedman ( 2000: 32), states explicitly, “ …there are some people who fee l so strongly against globalization, they would kill ove r it, such empowered angry people usually act out of fear, amo ng other things, of the unknown, if not the danger of a homo genized society.” Consequently, Wilson (2005) subsumed that the phenomenon of terrorism will not leave human commun ity unless it deals with the issues that perpetuate it locally and globally. Overtly, globalization created negative c onsequence and marginalization of some groups and global socia l and economic inequalities, terrorism gained more suppor t from the marginalized people in different nations and be come global. Krouin (1997: 19), made this assumption ove rt when he observes that frustrated population are against the US- led globalization. Thus people at the lower end of the social and economic spectrum realized that they cannot hav e equal share in the global world, their demand are not rec ognized by the strong nations and they started to show reac tion.

These reactions become threatening as they have sta rted to give support to terrorism against globalization. Ac cording to Okoro Kingsley, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ebonyi State University (Abakaliki, Nigeria) 571 krouin (1997: 23), the ones left behind or threaten ed by US- led globalization increasingly felt the need to ass ert their identity against the forces of hegemeity threatenin g by terrorism. 6. Conclusion In this work we have attempted to establi sh the basic contemporary scholarly positions on the relationshi p between religion and contemporary terrorism. This p aper notes that modern terrorism cannot be explained his torically or otherwise by the use of mono-category-religion. Though, majority of scholars have pitched their tent with t he school of thought that situate that these religions lie at the root of all modern terrorist attacks, however, this positio n is arguable, giving the outcome of contemporary resear ch.

Therefore, other group of scholars attributes moder n terrorism to socio-political constraints inherent i n authoritarian administration of the global village- family.

While the third group is of the view that though mo dern terrorism is motivated by the socio-political exige ncies in the social system, however religion being a socio-spiri tual phenomenon that held sway the peoples life can not be exonerated from terror activities in the modern wor d. Thus they maintain that religion is always at the backgr ound, giving it moral and spiritual legitimacy. This paper goes further to present an altern ative insight into the nature and motivations for terrorist attac ks in the modern age. It posits that no clear insight will be gained on the nature and motivation of terrorism without a cr itical consideration of the role of globalization in the m odern world. It asserted that globalization has created a great chasm between the rich and the poor in the utopia g lobal village arrangement. Thus the poor people and nati ons are adversely affected as they are placed at the desper ation of life. The worst of all facets of globalization is t he globalization of culture, which has depersonalized the tribal peo ple by making them rootless, without history and identity and as such worthless in the global village arrangement, e xcept that they are ‘hewers of wood and fetchers of water’ Therefore, in reaction to the above state of affairs, they turn to violence as the last resort for their human violation. Religion and Terrorism: A Socio -Historical Re -Consideration 572 However, to legitimize their violent enterprise, th ey employ religious myths and symbols and translating their s ocio- political, cultural and economic marginalization in to religious categories. This being the point in issue , modern terrorism, whether with a secular agitation or not acquires religious fervour and backing in order to give it a cceptance.

Notably, whenever a socio-political and economic ba ttle acquires a religious sentiment, the battle becomes unending and lethal. Thus wars or conflict understood in rel igious terms becomes a cosmic war. Cosmic wars are wars wi thout a defined geographical boundary. It thus becomes a spiritual battle waged by believers against unbelievers, ligh t against darkness, the powers of good against the powers of darkness. It is a war of allegiance to God (s) and a war for the survival of the progeny. Against this backgroun d, this paper foresees a situation in the global village ar rangement where terrorism will not end rather it will increas e in it ferocity and intensity, except if the condition of marginalization and oppression, injustice and inequ ality is addressed corporately by members of the global vill age.

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