How to increase terrorism
By Tom Quiner
Most discussions on terrorism these days involves eradicating it. How do we do it?
Prescriptions differ depending on political ideology.
I would rather focus the conversation in a different direction: what can we do to increase terrorism? If we understand how we can increase terrorism, then perhaps if we do the opposite, we can reduce it.
So here is a simple way to increase terrorism: reward it.
If a group hijacks airplanes and guns down Olympic athletes, we should listen and give their cause more deference.
If a group pushes an old Jewish man in a wheel chair overboard on a luxury cruise liner and murders Jewish school kids in Israel, elevate their cause above other aggrieved groups, such as the Tibetans, Kurds, and Chechens. Give their cause more priority at the United Nations over these other legitimately persecuted groups.
And when this group uses terrorism, don’t blame them, blame the victim. Start an international movement to disinvest in the country that is home to the victims of the terrorists, let’s say a place like Israel.
Even more, release terrorists from prisons before their sentences are up. Let them go back home and get back “to work.”
You get the idea. This is the model used very effectively by various Palestinian terrorist organizations for decades. And this is how the West has reacted.
It has worked, as Alan Dershowitz points out in an opinion piece yesterday:
“The United Nations glorifies terrorism by placing countries that support terrorism in high positions of authority and honor and by welcoming with open arms the promoters of terrorism.
On the other hand Israel, which has led the world in efforts to combat terrorism by reasonable and lawful means, gets attacked by the international community more than any other country in the world. Promoters of terrorism are treated better at the United Nations than opponents of terrorism. The boycott divestment tactic (BDS) is directed only against Israel and not against the many nations that support terrorism.”
If we want to increase terrorism, we should continue what we’re doing: rewarding it.
Make excuses for it.
Blame their bad behavior on poverty, climate change, or sun spots.
Better yet, blame their behavior on us.
This is how we can work together to increase terrorism.
Religious and political indoctrination is something the world needs to learn more about. I saw firsthand as part of the military forces the effects of religious elitism and radicalisation in the extreme form from what are supposed to be people of peaceful religions. This conflict may appear to have been quelled, however the truth is that true peace and religious freedom will never be achieved when religious dominance is desired or it is threatened by another religion.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/europe-july-dec12-nireland_07-11/
Oh my goodness, the political indoctrination we need to fear most comes from Islam, secular humanism, moral relativism, and neo paganism. Protestants and Catholics co-exist just fine in 99% of the corners of the world. Jesus Christ is the path to life. Islam and atheism have proven that they are the path to death. Give me Jesus.
Tom, I do not disagree with you; the Islamic fanatics are the big problem, and I am well aware that Protestants and Catholics co-exist just fine in 99% of the corners of the world. The point of my comment was that even normally peaceful western societies can break down into conflict that becomes vicious, violent and never ending due to religious ideology, and we need to find out more about it.
I am surprised you have taken my comment personally, I assume this is because you are a catholic. I cannot understand why you would defend Catholicism over this issue when their past is riddled with controversy that you have no hope of defending, or how you can associate atheism with any religion or prove they are a path to death because I cannot remember the last suicide bomber killing in the name of atheism. I can recall that they are peacefully challenging the religious domination within our societies that is well within the law. Give me the truth not biased accounts any day.
Atheism is a faith-based religion in many respects, and it has become quite evangelical. It takes tremendous faith to believe that this orderly, intelligently designed universe just kind of happened, that there is no ‘First Mover’. The 20th century was the most violent in human history thanks to atheists like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, who killed tens of millions. Anti clericalism in the 19th century led to more mass murder during the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. I make no defense of Catholic scandals, other than it points out our need for redemption. Thanks for writing.
Where does this idea of an atheist faith based religion come from? The religious definition is that atheists do not have belief in and worship any superhuman controlling power, a personal God or any gods. It may be said a devoted interest in another system other than religious faith based systems of belief and it is possible that may be strongly supported and call it evangelising if you like. Atheists do not have faith as it is used in religious terms, because they do not have faith that we know how exactly how everything happened as all religions claim, we just have the evidence that no gods exist.
There are proper history books regarding the murderers you mention not the apologetic web sites because without going into historic details atheism was not the dominant driving force for communist political ideologies to murder their own people, and Hitler has shown to have held onto his Catholic roots, however we do not point the finger at Catholicism as being his motivation to kill the Jews or anybody else. Thank you for an interesting post.