As we fight the War on Terror, it is important not only to fight terrorism in a physical sense, actually neutralizing terrorist forces, but to combat terrorism across the mental and psychological dimensions as well. The best way to do this is to educate the people, both those of the United States as well as the populaces of the Middle East, so that we can reach a common understanding and truly put an end to the ideologies that lead to terrorism.
When referring to terrorists it is common for media to label acts of terrorism as acts of Jihad. Jihad in Arabic means struggle, and use of the word in the context of terrorism implies that Jihad is in essence the struggle against western oppression, or the "holy war" that is to be carried out by Muslims. Jihad in Islam is really understood to mean the struggle to do good, to follow the path of Allah. Giving a term that is symbolic of following in the path of God to events that take the lives of innocents strengthens Fundamentalists' ideologies. They believe that they are truly carrying out a struggle in the name of God.
If we strip any religious connotation from terrorist acts and remove the notion that carrying out acts of terrorism is a duty of any true Muslim, then we can rid extremists of any sense of religious piety and expose them for heretics and fanatics whose views directly contradict the religion they claim to be defending. In this way, as stated by a memo from the Bush Administration, we can stop unintentionally portraying terrorists, "who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims."
Public Square - Revolt & Revolution
14 years ago
Wow, I always knew that terrorist organizations that commit "Jihadist" acts (excuse me if I used the term incorrectly) were in the name of Allah, but I never really thought of the way that you presented it. These religious extremists truly believe that Islam encourages such acts of terrorism, and that they are the religious crusaders. I completely agree that, if Americans understood this concept, we could make more of a conscious effort to not publicize terms like "Jihad" to curb the legitimization of terrorist actions.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, it continues to blow my mind that religious extremists can read something, such as the Qur'an, and interpret it in such a literal sense that they fail to understand the meaning behind it. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all encourage many of the same fundamental ideas on how to be a "good person." These are many of the same fundamentals that the American Constitution was founded on.
It's nice to see someone who tries to look at both side's perspectives in order to adopt a more appropriate strategy in the war against terror other than simply demonizing a whole group of people with vague generalizations. It's always easy to group people into the same categories just because of one similarity such as religion - easy but often tragically wrong. It's far more successful to carry out a comprehensive analysis of a situation instead of jumping to uninformed assumptions like 'all Muslims are terrorists!'
ReplyDeleteThis situation reminds me a bit of how many people are quick to point out the massacres that took place during the Medieval Crusades, pointing the blame at religion without considering the possibility that those events, though extremely devastating, were not necessarily condoned by everyone following the religions involved (Islam and Christianity). To work off the old saying, let's not let a few bad apples ruin the whole barrel - separate them according to their rottenness. This is especially important when human lives are at stake, not just fruit!
You mentioned that the best way to fight terrorism from a mental perspective is to educate the people. Does this include propaganda? As I recall from my U.S. history classes, during World War II there was a great deal of propaganda being spread around from one side to the other. Is the U.S. spreading a lot of pro-democracy and anti-terrorism propaganda throughout the Middle East? I would think that might be an effective means of fighting the war from a mental or psychological perspective.
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