What Is The Connection Between Religion And Terrorism Politics Essay

"Religious terrorism is a type of political violence that is motivated by an absolute belief that an
otherworldly power has sanctioned - and commanded - the application of terrorist violence for
the greater glory of the faith." This definition of religious terrorism from Gus Martin captures his
further thought that "one's religious faith legitimizes violence so long as such violence is an
expression of the will of one's deity" In this modern world we have seen religion become a
principal source of political violence however by no means is it alone as "nationalism and
ideology remain as potent catalysts for extremist behaviour" For the first time though religious
extremism is dominating the international community, and in this modern era we have seen an
accelerated pace of religious terrorism in the rate of recurrence, magnitude and the widespread
range encouraged by globalization.
Regarding primary and secondary motives, it is understood that religion can be applied
in different ways; it depends on the specifics of the political and cultural environment
significant for that terrorist activity. "In some environments, religion is the primary
motive for terrorist behaviour. In other contexts, it is a secondary motive that is part of
an overarching cultural identity for politically violent movements." So religion as a
primary motive would be at the heart of any extremist group's political and revolutionary agenda.
Religion is the catalyst behind extreme fundamentalists. These fundamentalists can be seen all
over the globe, significantly from the Middle East with jihad Islamic fundamentalists and even in
the United States with violent Christian anti-abortionists.
It is considered the most organised because of the ample resources available to governments
which do not exist for those sub state dissident groups. For example, if a political movement
emerged and caused problems for your government's enemy or a potential enemy, then the likely
outcome would be for your government to support and assist that specific political movement. If
this dissident group resorts to terrorist attacks on your enemy then it would seem logical from
your government's point of view to fund operations and supply weapons. "Governments might
also train members of dissident groups in the use of weapons and provide expert training for the
construction and detonation of bombs.
State aid to dissident groups could also include use of diplomatic pouches for communications or

arms or the provision of false passports, or even diplomatic passports." It is understood that such
support would be of moderately low-cost to a government's foreign policy budget and if and
when the circumstances change, support can be withdrawn with little shortcomings. Thus
resulting in a nation's unequalled leverage to capitalise through acts of sponsored terror, making
the connection between religion and politics ever closer. However it is noteworthy to appreciate
that these dissident groups existed before they received external support and will continue to
survive after support stops. "Any dissident political group capable of undertaking an extended
political campaign of terror must be grounded in its own society"
Traditional government sponsorship is no longer limited to ideological or ethno- national
movements it also includes sponsorship of religious revolutionary movements. This modern
religious terrorism surfaced around 1 980's whilst other decades had seen movements of secular
motivation of ethnonationalists. A significant point in history would be the overthrow of the
monarchy of Shah Muhammed Reza Pahlavi in 1 979. The Revolution created a Theocratic
Islamic Republic of Iran. We know that through the 1 980's Iran sponsored terrorist movement in
many countries, with the aim of establishing the same Islamic regime that was in place in Iran.
Its own revolution provided testimony to what could be accomplished. It also demonstrated to
the world "what an enormously powerful motivating force religion can be, and again it was at a
time of the decline of ideologies."
A decent example of Iranian support can be seen in its ties with Hezbollah, an Islamic political
organisation currently in power in Lebanon. "Hezbollah(Party of God) is a Shi'a movement in
Lebanon
that arose to champion the country's Shi'a population. The organization emerged during the
Lebanese
civil war and Israel's 1 982 invasion as a strongly symbolic champion for Lebanese independence
and
justice for the Shi'a population." It is a significant connection between religion and terrorism
because
of Hezbollah's actions stemming from extreme religious motives fused with the tense political
environment in which it operates. Lebanon's Shi'a population which makes up approximately
half of the
Muslims in Lebanon were significantly less politically influenced and historically inferior to the

authority
of Sunnis, Druze and Maronite Christians. Throughout the last two decades Hezbollah who have
previously operated under such names as Islamic Jihad or Revolutionary Justice Organisation
have
been accountable for numerous acts of political and it could also be argued religious violence.
These
acts consist of suicide bombings, kidnappings and frequent attacks in South Lebanon towards
Israeli
interests. Hezbollah proves to be a successful case study because of its involvement in
international
terrorism combined with being a proxy for state sponsored terrorism. Its members specialise
from
religious dissident terrorism and have applied "asymmetrical methods such as high profile
kidnappings
and suicide bombings" Hezbollah is an established competent terrorist force with a diverse social
organisation in place to compliment its religious movement. It has provided schools and
hospitals for its
followers as well as other business interests. These efforts are secondary motives and to some
extent
fund their initial terrorist movement which is ignited by religion, its primary motive. However
you could
argue that Hezbollah's primary motive is to free Palestine and to achieve this goal they are using
religion as a tool of communication and attraction.
Hamas are another Islamic resistance movement which control both the organisation of its own
social
services combined with its armed conflict that promotes jihad. Because of its vital social service
factor it
qualified for Iran's Fund for the Martyrs which reportedly has paid out millions of dollars to
Hamas. Iran
has provided immense support and given direction towards the Hamas movement. It has trained
Hamas associates in Iran and other Hezbollah training camps with a view to returning to the

Gaza strip
fully equipped with logistical support and military instruction. This is a clear example of state
sponsorship of external aid. What is significant is that this sponsorship maybe valuable and key
to its
current success but it is not essential. More importantly foreign governments providing support
do not
control these groups. They have their own political agenda however with movements in similar
regions
"They might consult with their foreign allies and even take their interests into account, but they
do not
take orders from them." The two previous examples of Hezbollah and Hamas make a compelling
case
for a connection between religion and terrorism. It is important to understand that a religious
terrorist
who may have been devout in practicing his or hers religion is insubstantial because "The key is
whether they are using liturgy or religious texts to justify or explain the violence or attract
recruits and
whether there is some sort of clerical figures involved in some leadership roles."
Before this modern era of religious terrorism, there were however terrorist activity which in
some part
was justified on religious background. The troubles in Northern Ireland, led to a CatholicProtestant
split. The Irish Republican Army for example was fighting for freedom and a united Ireland.
However
unlike the south which holds a majority of Catholic's, the issue in the North is that the Protestants
are a
minority on the island as a whole but the Catholics are the minority in the Northern Province. So
there
is a struggle for each to try to uphold the majority status. A significant difference from Islamic
extremism
and the Catholic vs. Protestant struggle in Northern Ireland would be that they never considered

themselves as terrorists but as paramilitaries. They do not address each other as religious groups
but
rather nationalists or unionists. They consciously do not make a religious connection and religion
would
be considered a secondary motive of the IRA. "Even if they go to church, they do not use liturgy
or the
Bible to justify their violence, they are not involving clerics in its justification or legitimization. I
think it is
very different from the contemporary religious terrorism we see today." Unlike the IRA who had
success against the British with non lethal terrorism "Bin Laden has made a distinction between
good
and bad Muslims. With secular groups, you still have some hesitation in inflicting casualties
amongst
members of their own ethnic group. We now see a twisted use of logic and justification of
religion,
saying there are good or bad Muslims, the bad ones are therefore fair game."