Terror in the Mind of God and Soldiers

Terror in the Mind of God and Soldiers For Christ Terrorism and Anti-terrorism Workshop 2015 -03 -12

Religion, politics or psychology? § None of the above is enough to make a terrorist. § Terrorists (unlike serial killers) are not clinical socio-paths (virtually none of the more noteworthy ones). It is more a question of social psychology, responding to certain group situations. § Religion usually needs to be fused with “violent expression” of social and political aspirations and the groups perception of itself as the sole defender of righteousness in an otherwise corrupt world. § “Even those acts that appear to be solo ventures conducted by rogue activists often have networks of support and ideologies of validation behind them. ”

Cultures of violence § “Socially constructed systems of cognitive and motivating structures” (Bourdieu). § Small and exclusivist. § They perceive themselves as already under attack and see violence as a form of retribution. § More difficult to negotiate with in terms of anti-terrorism. § It is harder to use the “carrot and the stick method” that can be more successfully applied to the ethno-separatists or borderline cases where religion is just “a part of the equation” (Ireland). § Seek to radically overturn the evil world order, perceive themselves as a part of a cosmic conflict between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

Soldiers for Christ Examples: § Timothy Mc. Veigh. § Paul Jennings Hill. § Robert Rudolph.

Hill’s theological inspirations. § Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr (read very selectively) § Why is his reading of those authors so selective? § No separation of church from the state – Reconstruction Theology. § Postmillennialism (Christ after a 1000 years of religious rule). § Why postmillennialists tend to be more inclined towards violence than premillennialists?

Mc. Veigh and Rudolph § Anti-semitism, racism, supremacism and radical libertarianism mixed with Reconstruction theology. § “The Turner Diaries” by William Pierce as an inspiration. § https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=B 5 jb 28 H 7 ZO 4