The Cause of Terror

I recently linked to a Hardvard study which busted the myth that terror is a consequence of poverty.

Now the Arab press has wieghed in on the issue agreeing that terror, rather than being linked to poverty, is intrinsically tied to cultural and religious factors.

MEMRI reports on several Arab columnists that have recently published articles critical of the view that the main motivation to terrorism is poverty or despair. They instead cite the role of cultural and religious factors in motivating terrorism, and particularly the incitement by sheikhs who encourage young men to conduct terror operations.

Religious factors? Who knew!

"The greatest mistake of the social and political commentators is their attributing the cause for the spreading of the phenomenon of terrorism in the Arab and Islamic world solely to the lack of social justice, the spreading of poverty, and the harsh social conditions in most of the Arab and Islamic countries. "The socio-economic situation of most of the terrorists who participate in the criminal operations around the world is very good. The simple reason [for terrorism] is the terrifying brainwashing suffered by most of the Arab youth at the hands of 'religious clerics' and particularly at the hands of the extremists with backward views. [These 'clerics'] nourish the Muslim youth with various kinds of racist views and destructive extremist principles, and nurse them with hostility, hatred, and resentment towards other people and towards members of other divine religions."

Visit MEMRI for some extended excerpts from these articles. I highly recommend you read it all, but here is a little gem of a story I have picked out from a Saudi columnist.

"In one of his quests for paradise, a youth traveled to another country in order to kill a man accused of atheism, in order to get closer to Allah by killing him, and thus to reach paradise. Fate had it that the man accused of atheism was the first one to meet the youth in a cafe. He saw him sitting there and realized that he was a foreigner. The man addressed him, shook his hand, welcomed him, and asked if he might sit next to the youth. The latter gave his consent. They had a friendly talk, and got to like one another. "Afterwards the youth asked him, 'Do you know so-and-so?' The man saw that the youth had mentioned him by name and was startled, but he controlled his emotions and asked the youth, 'Why are you inquiring about this man?' The youth said that the man was an evil atheist and that he intended to rescue people from his evildoing in order to get closer to Allah and to reach paradise. The man, who was by now quite amazed, said to the youth, 'How are you so certain that this man is an atheist deserving of death, and that killing him will bring you to paradise?' The youth responded, 'Some sheikhs told me so.'… The man said, 'Why don't these sheikhs aspire to reach paradise themselves, and why are they giving up for your sake [the merit of] carrying out this honorable deed which brings one to paradise?' The youth was embarrassed and said, 'I don't know.'

Comments

[Steve]

I have to say, the story about the youth and the atheist sounds ridiculous in its absurd simplicity. Is that the quality of the press in...

I mean the essence of the story is very good - but the example seems concocted - "some sheiks told me so".