To root out terrorism we need, first and foremost, to understand what makes the terrorists tick. To begin, let’s dispose of some popular red herrings: poverty; ignorance; national liberation [see below]
What drives terrorists into action? The answer is “religion” – or, to be more precise, that kind of it which is called “idolatry” [see below]
Can the problem that is lodged in the mind be solved through social, economic, or military means? How to treat a malady that is rooted in religion?
Here is one helpful piece of statistics: of the hundreds of millions of people around the world to whom it is obvious that Mohammed had been a prophet and who matter-of-factly rely on Koran as the ultimate record of God’s will, only a mere 0% have the actual ability to determine whether this is so, or not. The remaining 100% of self-proclaimed “True Believers” cannot possibly know what they are talking about.
We call them “evil,” but in fact they are merely WRONG – wrong about their ability to know what is God’s word and what isn’t, wrong to claim to know who is a prophet and who isn’t.
So what should be done to rid the world of terrorism?
The answer is simple: we must heal their minds [see below] by showing the “True Believers” the fatal flaw in their worldview.
Welcome to the site. I hope it will deepen your understanding, I hope it will make you think.
Red Herrings: Poverty; Ignorance; National Liberation
Why are they red herrings? Let’s see. True, it is terrible to be poor, but not everyone who lives below the poverty line is a gangster – and not every gangster lives below the poverty line. It is well-known that the 9/11 hijackers were all well-to-do, educated fellows. Which invalidates the “ignorance” argument – in fact, one needs to be quite sophisticated to be able to distill grievances, whether real or imaginary, into a coherent and appealing call for a terrorist action. And planning and executing an attack that is more than a mere fistfight requires a good deal of thought and planning.
The “national liberation struggle” is nonsense, too. It is as if “national liberty” had anything to do with liberty. It is as if Iran, or North Korea, or China, or Saudi Arabia – all of them “nationally liberated” – were free countries. They are not – because when an individual is not free, there is no freedom. There is no “national liberty” – only individual liberty. “National liberation” is a tool of depriving people of freedoms, not of giving them freedoms. Terrorists may well use the slogan of “national liberation” – and they do use it well, and liberally too – but let’s not fall under the spell of their demagoguery.
Idolatry
Idolatry is godlessness of the religious.
Idolaters have no doubt that their religion is right; they are zealous in worship and observance – hence, they are religious. Yet, their god is merely a thing of their own invention, having nothing at all to do with real God – therefore, they are godless.
To the Hebrew prophets who first noted the phenomenon of wasteful, misguided, but sincerely pure-hearted religious zeal, the term “idolatry” meant just the worship of objects made with hands.
But to think of it, there is no difference between this kind, and the gods imagined in one’s mind. That kind of gods does not exist in reality either – and worshipping them is just as wasteful, just as wrong, and just as idolatrous.
Which brings into the realm of idolatry the whole new set of characters – the so-called “True Believers” – people like Osama bin Laden, ayatollah Khomeini, and a few hundred million others, who claim that their “scripture” is God’s word – and act as if it were.
Why are the “True Believers” wrong, and idolatrous to boot? Because a basic problem of cognition, the problem of the third party, completely de-legitimizes their claim to know what is God’s word. It denies them the ability to know whether their “scripture” is the word of God, or not. The reality is very different from what they imagine it to be. In reality, they cannot possibly know whether Mohammed was a prophet or whether Koran was God’s word, and err when they think they do.
Which is precisely what idolatry is all about – ignoring reality as God made it, and inventing a reality of one’s own, all complete with a God of one’s own invention, either made of stone, or imprinted on the mind from some “scripture.”
Paradoxically, it does not even matter if idolater’s Truth is indeed true: even in that case he remains just a mere idolater.
Idolatry is not an innocent thing. Idolater’s Truth inspires him to action – because others also need to see the light of the Truth and deviations from the Truth must be punished. Free thought must be suppressed, for where can it lead but away from the Truth? Iran, and North Korea, and China, and Saudi Arabia are all based on the Truth – which explains why they are so oppressive. Idolater’s Truth, be it religious, social, or any other kind, leads only to oppression and spiritual death. And physical death, too – what we saw on 9/11, 2001 was idolatry in action.
Winning Hearts, Healing Minds
There is a lot of talk of “winning the hearts and minds” of our adversaries. This is plain nonsense. True Believers look down upon us from the lofty perch of their Truth and see benighted, foul creatures, devoid of the spark of the Divine, completely cut off from God, doomed to perdition. Can such a dirty creature insinuate itself into good graces of the one wrapped in the pure light of holiness? Forget it. There can be condescending compromises; temporary, tactical truces are possible. But winning full acceptance as a fellow-creature, as an equally-endowed child of God? Never.
Well, if the mountain does not come to Mohammed, than Mohammed should go to the mountain. The lofty mind of a True Believer does not condescend to consider a godless westerner his equal? Put the True Believer a peg down. True Believer’s mind is sick with idolatrous self-importance that distorts the reality – so explain the reality to him. Examine his facts and logic, show him where he has it wrong, explain why he cannot possibly know what he is talking about – and why this turns him into an idolater. Heal his mind by bringing him to his senses.
The site was built around my book, The Pitfall of Truth: Holy War, its Rationale and Folly
As to “contact and credentials“:
Please e-mail me at nirtist @ yahoo.com
I read all e-mails, and do my best to reply. Thanks for writing to me!
As to the “credentials:” all my sources are in the public domain; I don’t use classified information; my conclusions did not result from some abstruse experiments that require sophisticated instruments. Everything is in plain view.
So I do not ask you to “trust me.” In fact, you shouldn’t trust me, but should do your own thinking – and see if you come up with different conclusions. Understanding what’s going on in religion and politics is anyone’s game. There should be no room here for “credentials.”
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PLEASE NOTE: The navigation within the site has been lost; links within pages works, but those on the central panel, don’t
so here are the direct links — they might be useful for the remainder of the site’s life:
home page: http://rootoutterrorism.com/
8 Prerequisites of Victory: http://www.rootoutterrorism.com/prereqs.shtml
“Faith” versus “True Faith”: http://www.rootoutterrorism.com/faith.shtml
Is “War on Terror” a “War on Islam?”: http://www.rootoutterrorism.com/war.shtml
Religion after war on terror: http://www.rootoutterrorism.com/religion.shtml
Blog, part 1: http://www.rootoutterrorism.com/blog.shtml
Blog, part 2: http://www.rootoutterrorism.com/blg2.shtml
Contact & credentials: http://www.rootoutterrorism.com/contact.shtml
Victory and free speech: http://rootoutterrorism.com/freespeech.shtml