Religion and Theology

Introduction
It has been found that throughout the world, major religions have tried to justify terrorism in an effort to overcome religious intolerance.  The main cause of such an influence is that often religion has a strong influence on people and society such that people feel religion can be used as a mean to fight injustice and evil, or use the same as a mean of self-defense.  Often it has been found that a strong attachment to God without worldly consideration may increase the likelihood towards violence.  This likelihood towards violence can develop in spite of a strong sense that all religions of the world consider God as the creator and not the destroyer of the word.  One of the commonest ways a religions group would be using violence would be when it has been threatened by other religious or political groups.  This kind of situation may arise purposefully, accidentally or negligently.  In other situations, religious groups may want to slaughter other people to please their gods (OConnor, 2010).  

Throughout the world, religion has a strong influence on various aspects of peoples life including social, economic, political, psychological, legal, professional and moral.  Religion can be disguised in many ways such as political, social, military, legal or professional to create an influence on peoples lives.  Due to these influence of religion, often it may be difficult to define religion.  According to Durkheim 1915, religion is a set of beliefs and practices arranged in a unified manner such that they mean sacred things, and would exclude certain acts that are forbidden, and would unite the community under a unified moral unit.  Geertz 1985 considered religion to be a set of symbols that would create strong and persistent motivations and moods (OConnor, 2010).

From religion, many cults and groups may be created which can be starting points for the development of various terrorist groups and factions.  Often the cults and sects have a one-way belief in God and do not consider other faiths and beliefs.  They have strong ideas of their religion.  Once a religion gets established, a sect can develop usually from the lower socioeconomic groups of the religion.  The sect could be developing to oppose the practices of the rich in a particular religion belonging to a state.  At this point of time, there depends a lot on whether the sect or group is getting more support or is being destroyed.  If the sect gets more support, it can become an institutionalized group (that would begin the process of becoming an established group).  During this face of expansion or dissolution, the religious group may try to embrace the political world or manipulate the same to a place outside the ordinary world.  If the group manipulates itself outside the political world, then there are chances that it may become aggressive and take up a path filled with violence and terror.  Often cults do not break up from the parent group or established religion.  They may have strong belief in an aspect that is discovered newly or an aspect that has been long forgotten or discarded.  A cult usually develops from the upper strata, and has a charismatic leadership.  When the leader dies, the cult may also come to an end.  A cult usually is not an aggressor but a role victim, and the members would try to establish inner-wordiness.  On the other hand a sect does not control the inner feelings and thoughts of the members.  In cults and sects, suicidal ideas and homicidal tendencies can exist, but often it is found that cults are more dangerous than the sects.  However, often it may be difficult to differentiate a cult from a sect (OConnor, 2010).  

Body
Established religions of the world
The major religions of the world are Christianity (33 of the worlds population), Islam (20), Hinduism (13), Buddhism (6), Jewish (0.2) and others.  Religion has an effect over culture and today in different parts of the world, cultural clashes are occurring due to clashes and conflicts between 2 or more religions.  In the Yugoslavian religion, there is a conflict between various Christian factions.  In India, there is a conflict between the Hindus and the Muslims, and in the Middle there is a conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.  In parts of Africa, there are conflicts between Muslims and Christians.  Many of the established religions from all over the world may choose terrorism as a route and would provide the terrorist with respectability.  However, a lot has deviated from the Just War Doctrine that was established thousands of years back.  The Just War Precept would provide the circumstances when the people of the religion could go for a war.  However, none of the religions have accepted weapons of mass destruction to be used against humanity.  According, to the Just War concept, war or violence can be accepted as an option only as a last resort, when other modes have been seriously attempted and have failed.  War has to be sanctioned by certain individuals of a society who have a legitimate interest in the group.  War can only be organized to overcome any sufferings, injury or other wrongs that are meted out on a particular society.  Only if there is a realistic chance of success should the Just war concept be adopted.  The main aim of Just war would be to bring about peace.  This means that war can only be organized to bring back normalcy in a community and not as a method of destroying other communities.  The violence that is permitted in the Just War concept should be equivalent to the amount of damages that have suffered.  Besides, wars should be organized only to destroy the enemy and not to attack any innocent party such as women and children.  There are certain moral constraints in religious warfare which need to be strongly respected.  These are the reasons why Just War concept can be considered to be a justified and reasonable.  On the other hand, terrorism would cross all the boundaries of fairness and would also feel that they have been morally superior for the actions.  Socially, their actions would not be considered as morally superior.  Religious terrorists have a morality that is based on their personality and have no external supporters for their acts of terrorism (OConnor, 2010).

Most of the terrorist groups in the world derive motivation from the belief that they have a sacred duty in their religion to please God.  However, there may be a difference between religious terrorism and a holy war (jihad or crusade).  A religious war would be having a spiritual objective.  However, terrorism is unpredictable and involves certain individuals who would be dedicated to doing anything such as a terrorism conflict.  Today most of the terrorist groups are not considered as a part of any mainstream cult or sect, or they may have been in the past a part of such a group or sect.  Today most of the terrorists are considered as fundamentalists, extremists and true believers that can be differentiated from the mainstream religion practitioners.  Most of the individuals who engage in terrorism may interpret the sacred texts to directly or indirectly demand that the true believers of the religion have a sacred duty.  They feel that the mainstream religious practitioners may be neglecting their sacred duty even if it involves picking up a violent path.  Religious terrorists may consciously not enjoy violence and for this reason may not consider themselves to be terrorists.  Instead they may consider themselves to be Soldiers of God or Religious Activists.  As religious terrorists do not enjoy violence, for this reason, it is not considered as the most dangerous type of terrorism.  Various other forms of terrorism such as political and social terrorism may succumb to military, political, diplomatic actions and negotiations, but religious terrorism would not succumb to these.  Many of the religious terrorists may want to fail in their mission and offer martyrdom to demonstrate that they have failed in a world filled with evil.  This may be dangerous for the world, as often they are involved in suicide attacks that would destroy other people.  The world is really at a huge risk, if the religious terrorists have weapons of mass destruction in their hands (OConnor, 2010).

Relationship between Religion and Terrorism
There are four aspects of religion that may encourage terrorism.  Firstly, religion requires the community to take part in rituals.  Secondly, the religious believers have to believe in the supernatural and means of means of pleasing God.  Thirdly, there would be someday a judgment day in which God would separate out the good from the bad, the sacred from the irreligious.  Fourthly, the adolescent or the teenage phase is important for the development of religious values and beliefs (Sosis, 2007).

Hoffman (1998) strongly believed that a rise in religious motivation could result in lethality of the terrorist attacks.  Of all the terrorist activity since 1980 to 2003, about 3 have been religious terrorist, but it accounts for about 50 of all fatalities.  Hoffman 1998 considers that religious motivations could result in greater suicidal attacks.  The highest cases of suicidal attacks from a terrorist group have been from the LTTE in Sri Lanka which is not a religious terrorist group.  It has been observed that religion can help to institute a suicide attack of terrorism in an individual or a group.  Recent research has provided that several factors for terrorism may be different from what was previously anticipated (Sosis, 2007).  Berrebi 2003 considers that the Palestine suicide bombers had a better educational status than the average population and had a better socioeconomic status.  Krueger 2002 found that socioeconomic status did not play a role in participation in terrorism.  Besides, the psychological status of people who participate in terrorism seems to be normal.  Many religious terrorist groups believe that the people who are a part of the group have a normal mental status.  Besides, it can be said that although the suicide bombers end their life, they do it with a purpose and hope of bringing good.  However, since the terrorists are not crazy then why is there is a strong relationship between terrorism (Sosis, 2007).  However, Bloom 2005 considers that religious terrorists may not even have certain religious goals, but may in fact have certain political goals in mind.  Besides, it is found that religion influences politics strongly.  Religion may in fact be a mean of the way the terrorists would achieve their goal.  It is here where religious motivation can help the individual to justify the violence to be caused.  Many of the terrorist group would convert their political struggles into religious issues and use the same to demonstrate that people have been persecuted by religion.  As the cause of such liberations is justified and attributed to be divine, strong motivation and participation would be expected.  Bin Laden has been converting his grievances with the US into motivating terrorists to kill and destroy the Western World.  Many of the terrorists feel that they are fighting for a morally strong cause, which would further improve the motivation for such terrorist attacks.  For many terrorist groups, it feels that they are good who are fighting evil.  Here again religion is used as a tool to demonize opposing views.  Often a suicide terrorist would like to kill individuals belonging to other groups.  For example, the LTTE which is a Hindu group is hugely successful in suicide attacks over the Sri Lankan population which is predominately Buddhist.  Another huge motivation for the religious terrorists is certain spiritual and eternal rewards that seem would make them feel that they are larger than life images.  In certain cases, dying for a religions cause through terrorism would mean that the individual would have several after-life benefits in another world.  For example, it is believed that the hijackers of the 911 attack are now in heaven.  The motivation would also be higher if certain religious symbols, myths and rituals are being used than social or political symbols.  The religious terrorists are better united through such symbols and myths (Sosis, 2007).

Religious terrorism in various parts of the World
Religious terrorism has been seen throughout the world including Ireland, Sri Lanka, India, Israel, North Africa and Eurasia.  In Ireland, most Catholics resided in the South and Protestants resided in the North.  The first time conflict arose between the 2 groups was in 1916, when the town of Dublin was destroyed by the British.  This lead to the form of the Irish Republican Army and finally a peace truce was decided in 1994 to end with a cease fire.  Michael Collins was the founder of the IRA.  They strongly believed in protecting their homeland from abuse from the British forces.

In Sri Lanka and South India, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been a Tamil-speaking Hindu group that opposite the ethnic Sinhalese Buddhist-dominated rule.  They demanded Tamil-speaking parts of North Tamil Nadu as a separate state.

In the Indian State of Kashmir, there is a conflict between the Muslim groups of Kashmir and India, for the demand of Kashmir as a separate state.  Thousands of people die each year and several hundred of thousands of troops are involved.

In central Europe, there is conflict between the Chechen Muslims and the Russians since the year 1991.  Many Chechen terrorist groups have connections with the Al-Qaeda and the Mujahidin.  Several other nations of central Asia and Europe are involved in this conflict.

In Sudan, there is a conflict between the North Arab population and the Southern Christian population.  The current government in Sudan is Islamic and they have introduced strict Islamic code, destroying the Christian communities and ensuring that training camps are held to spread terror to other parts of Africa.  

The Middle East region consists of huge number of Muslims, Christians and Jews.  Most of the wars in the region of Palestine have been over land.  One of the strong Palestine groups that is responsible for causing terrorism in Israel was Fatah.

Conclusion
Often it has been found that terrorist groups that assemble under religious issues may not exactly have religious issues.  Studies have found that most of the issues being present with these groups are politically motivated.  Religion is merely used as an effective tool to create strong motivation through moral feelings, encouraging unification of these groups and further encourage feeling for suicidal attacks (Hassan, 2009).  Religion seems an effective tool to support terrorism.  However religion may be a wrong weapon to utilize with terrorism, as the basic teaching of every religion is peace, non-violence and protection of human life.  Also many terrorist groups utilize suicidal bombings as a mean to devalue ones life for a more important cause for the group.  Having such a cause may not be ideal as God wanted man to protect ones own life.  In case of any conflicts, the Guidelines mentioned under Just War doctrine need to be respected.  There may be serious problems when a terrorist movement shifts from a local problem to a national or a regional problem, comprising the security of the entire state or subcontinent.  Often it may be very difficult to identify religious terrorism (Lizardo, 2008).  However, a close look at the motivating factors may suggest religious terrorism.