SS474: TERRORISM & COUNTERTERRORISM Lesson 4: Ideologies and Strategies, Part 1: Religion and Terrorism

1. SS474: TERRORISM & COUNTERTERRORISMLesson 4: Ideologies and Strategies, Part 1: Religion and Terrorism

2. SS474: TERRORISM & COUNTERTERRORISMLesson 4: Ideologies and Strategies, Part 1: Religion and Terrorism • Admin Notes: • 1) Reflections on Howard lecture • 2) Case Study, due this Friday 8 Sept • Roughly 3 pages (a little more is fine; less is not) • Wikipedia = not a credible, scholarly source; DO NOT USE! • Copying wholesale from websites? • You need to do more than merely describe: explain, add some personal thoughts, intellectual frameworks, critical analysis • 3) Guest Lectures • Thursday 14 Sept. – Prof. Brachman, AQ Strategy (+ F hour class) • Monday 18 Sept. – Scott McGregor, U.S. Attorney (Lodi case) • Wednesday 20 Sept. – GEN Downing (+ F hour class)

3. Reflection on the Readings • What causes of religious terror does Ranstorp identify? • What are religious terrorist groups reacting to? • What are religious terrorists most concerned about? • Who/what are they trying to save, through the use of terrorism? • Who/what enemies are they fighting, both within their own society and abroad? • What motivates the Jewish terrorism described in the Rueven Paz article? • Why was Yitzhak Rabin assassinated? Who did it, and who sanctioned it?

4. Reflection on the Readings • What motivated The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (Stern article)? What were their objectives? • ATTACK: Aryan Tactical Treaty for the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom • What elements of the Christian religion did they draw from to support their views? • Network of racist groups? • Funding? • Why the Apocalypse? • What is “divine rapture”? What do Christian Identity followers believe about it? Will stockpiling weapons really help? • What was “The Order”? • Elohim City and Timothy McVeigh? Significance of Waco & ATF?

5. Reflection on the Readings • What does Bruce Hoffman say about the role of religion in modern terrorism? • Specifically, what does Hoffman say about the relationship between political objectives and religious ideology? • Why should we be considered about ultrareligious Jewish groups? • Who was Meir Kahane? • What was Gush Emunium? (p. 97-101) • What are some examples of Jewish extremist terror attacks? • What might be some potential future targets? Why?

6. Reflection on the Readings • What about white supremacist Christian groups? Militias? (p. 105-6) • What is the ideology of the American Christian Patriots? • What is the ideology of the Christian Identity movement? • What is the Turner Diaries, and its relationship to Timothy McVeigh? • Who was Paul Hill? • What do American Christian Patriots, Japanese Aum Shinrikyo, Islamic extremists in Algeria and other such groups have in common? • Who “sanctions” the use of violence in these religions, and why?

7. Reflection on the Readings • What does Rapoport say about the “holy sacred” dimension of terrorism? • Who were the • Thugs • Assassins • Zealots • Why do we study Hindu, Christian, Jewish and other non-Islamic extremists, when al Qaeda (and its affiliate groups) seem to be the most important threat?

8. Religion and Terrorism • How has the role of ideology changed in terrorism? • What are the dominant ideologies today? • What is the impact of the shift in ideologies in terms of ways, means and ends of terrorism? • What is the implication of the changing ideology in terms of target selection? • What are some examples of a charismatic leader in a religious cult? Why is it important to study these individuals? • The long, bitter struggle over a strip of land . . .

9. Religion and Terrorism • What happens when political goals are conceived in divine terms? • Supranational aspect of religion • Role of religion in root cause of “power” discussed in Lesson 1? • Role of religion in “vision” – more powerful than merely political visions?

10. Religion and Terrorism What makes religious terrorist ideologies unique?

11. Religion and Terrorism What makes religious terrorist ideologies unique? • Long-term view of history and future • Sense of crisis, threat of secularization, globalization • Belief in their own revealed truth from God; piety and persistence in the faith will give you the strength to overcome anything • Doing the bidding of a higher power; demands sacrifice; rewards in this life and the next • What else?

12. Religion and Terrorism Religious ideologies are the most powerful radicalization agents, because they: • Explain the state of the world, particularly why believers are continuously persecuted, oppressed or discriminated • Explain how and why violence may be condoned and necessary • Are often theologically supremacist - meaning that all believers assume superiority over non-believers, who are not privy to the truth of the religion • Are exclusivist - believers are a chosen people, or their territory is a holy land • Are absolutist - it is not possible to be a half-hearted believer, and you are either totally within the system, or totally without it (and only the true believers are guaranteed salvation and victory, whereas the enemies and the unbelievers - as well as those who have taken no stance whatsoever - are condemned to some sort of eternal punishment or damnation, as well as death)

13. Religion and Terrorism • Overall, religious ideologies help foster polarizing values in terms of right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark - values which can be co-opted by terrorist organizations to convert a "seeker" into a lethal killer.

14. Religion and Terrorism According to some observers, the most likely terrorist groups to use WMD are religiously motivated. Why? Based on your understanding of terrorist group characteristics, why might this view be incorrect? Is democratization a useful approach in combating the spread of religious terrorism? Why or why not? Where does religious radicalization take place, and what can the U.S. (and its liberal democratic allies) do about it?

15. Questions?