Book Review Terror in the Name of God; Why Religious Militants Kill, by Jessica Stern
by Judith Prueitt-Prentice
[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Today we are happy to publish a book review by Judith Prueitt-Prentice, who has a Masters in Family Studies, a special interest in social justice issues, and took my course in the Psychology of War and Peace in the summer of 2011.]
A divinity student turned me on to this book by Jessica Stern, Terror in the Name of God; Why Religious Militants Kill. It documents her interviews with some of the world’s most violent terrorists. Through thoughtful questioning, she inquires into the minds of terrorists both foreign and domestic drawing clear lines of distinction around their decisions to choose the path of violence in their search for God. She tells the reader, terrorism exists, and the beliefs and aspirations of terrorists around the world share commonalities.
Stern is the foremost U.S. expert on terrorism, a lecturer at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a faculty affiliate of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Along with many other accolades she is a concise writer and researcher.
The opening page of the book gives the reader a clear understanding of the inner workings of the mind of a terrorist. “It is about purifying the world. The way forward is clear: kill or be killed. Kill and be rewarded in heaven. Kill and the Messiah will come.” (Stern, 2003)
But we knew that about those Middle Eastern terrorists! They are the bad guys aren’t they? Stern proves that our own domestic terrorists share remarkably similar views, values, and religious perspectives on their paths to perdition. It is a desire to rid the world of “those people” with thoughts and ideas through idealized or actual violence. How can that happen? Aren’t most people basically the same? Yes, and that leads us to look at moral disengagement.
We can discuss Albert Bandura’s theory on moral disengagement here in a clinical way. Moral disengagement is a process of rectifying one’s cognitive dissonance, or mutually opposing ideals that play out in winning the inner battle between one’s moral standards and ones’ actual behaviors. This allows people to behave immorally or tolerate immorality by others, even when these behaviors violate their own moral standards (Malley-Morrison, Young Oh, & Zaveri, 2009, p. 152). More simply put they objectify their perceived enemy and in the case of terrorism. In the mind of a terrorist, it’s okay to hurt them, God wants you to hurt them, it’s a good thing.
Stern goes on to point out that a homegrown bible thumping militia extremists like David Koresh of the Waco Texas compound and conspiracy aficionados like Timothy McVey who blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Both, were just as driven by moral disengagement as Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, suspected of being the number two man in Al Qaida the terrorist organization blamed for the 9/11 attacks on New York’s, World Trade Center.
Although, the book wavers from clinical observation to sometimes sounding like a travel log with more than a bit of interesting back-story about Al Qadia and other militant terrorist organizations in the Middle East and worldwide. It is her interviews with our own homegrown hate mongers that shocked me the most. Domestic terrorists like Neal Horsley who’s website promotes surveillance, violence and murder against anyone who opposes his view on right to life. (Horsley).
Looking at his website today. It seems Horsley has taken down the Unwanted page or “Kill list” described by Jessica Stern as a webpage. A list that publicly displays the names, family members, phone numbers, and addresses along with other private information of abortionists, crossing off the doctors who have been assassinated for their crimes of murder via providing abortions. It was through one of these unwanted posters featuring an obstetrician and abortionist, Dr. John Britton, including his photo, home address, and details about his vehicle used by Horsley acquaintance Paul Hill to carry out Britton’s assassination (SPLC, 2002).
He is still asking his followers to donate money to support the cause and to continue to provide personal information on doctors, nurses, police officers who may have protected women entering abortion clinics along with judges and other lawmakers or supporters of a woman’s right to have a legal abortion. He encourages his followers to act as lone wolf avengers, a term used by terror experts for vigilantes who commit acts of vandalism and terror on their own without connection to a larger organization.
Stern’s opening paragraph sums up the nature of terrorism up in a few simple words. “It is about finding a clear purpose in a confusing world with too many choices. (Stern, 2003)” It is a remarkable book for students of psychology, divinity, and history. I personally recommend it to any book club or individual as just good summer reading.
References
Horsley, N. (2011). Nuremberg Files. Retrieved from http://www.christiangallery.com/atrocity/
Malley-Morrison, K., Young Oh, D., & Zaveri, T. (2009). Beliefs and Values [Peace and conflict: Moral Disengagement and Engagement]. Beliefs and Values, Volume 1(2), 151- 168.
Southern Poverty Law center, SPLC. [Intelligence Report, Spring 2002, Issue Number: 105]. (2002). Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved from http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2002/spring/the-propagandist?page=0,2
Stern, J. (2003). Terror in the name of God, why religious militants kill : [Kindle].