So is it being part of the group or the virgins awaiting them? BTW, with all the suicide bombings going on, hasn’t heaven run out of virgins yet?
Inside The Mind Of A Suicide Bomber
Suicide bombers are not mentally ill or unhinged, but acting rationally in pursuit of the ‘benefits’ they perceive from being part of a strict and close-knit religious enterprise, according to a University of Nottingham academic.
Research by Dr David Stevens, of the School of Politics and International Relations, suggests that the widely-held view of suicide bombers as brain-washed religious fanatics, vulnerable through youth and poverty, is not an accurate one.
Dr Stevens argues that while religion plays a central role — there are few instances of non-religiously motivated suicide attacks — the suicide bomber is also driven on another level by a rational thought process. This is the desire to be part of a group that engenders strength and solidarity from strictness, and encourages members to submit totally to the collective aims of the group.
Being part of an exclusive group with very strict beliefs requires intense commitment, and engenders a deep belief in shared experience and self-sacrifice, according to a recent paper by Dr Stevens.
Suicide bombers are thus motivated by a “simple cost-benefit analysis”, in which the ‘benefits’ of self-destruction outweigh the cost. The benefits are perceived by the terrorist to be so great — in terms of membership of the group, achievement of collective goals, the promise of benefits in the after-life, and so on — that they outweigh the cost.
Wish I could say the same for the wellness of my grammar.
#15 – smartalix,
… their tactics are appropriate to the venue and tools available.
Sorry, I can’t agree with this. It was unconscionable for the U.S. military to select Hiroshima as a target precisely because it was not strictly a military target and would have greater psychological effect (see wikipedia http://tinyurl.com/3u583 under Choice of Targets).
It is equally unconscionable for any group, especially a group hiding among civilians on their own side, to target civilians over military personnel. As Heinlein said in The Notebooks of Lazarus Long:
“All’s fair in love and war”-what a contemptible lie!
#19 – RBG,
Exactly correct.
#20 – RBG,
Haven’t seen this with Dems. Perhaps though, it’s because so many people I know that vote democrat, myself included, do so as a lesser of two evils, and not so religiously. I’d hope that people aren’t voting dogmatically for a particular party rather than for their ideas and ideals, but am probably mistaken, especially given recent presidential elections. I can’t imagine anyone thought they’d get less government spending from W, for example.
@19, Ok RGB, i guess we’re back to brainwashing in perpetuity again.
@20, so contrary to popular belief, democrats aren’t mentally ill or unhinged, just desperate?
I think they should so this hobby just like any other DIY hobby. They should keep it to the privacy of their houses and to those special friends.
Could it be that they see us as their special friends? if that’s so, thanks, but no thanks!
22. “In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War found Hiroshima again a large-scale army base of operations and the city prospered as wars and incidents occurred: Manchurinan Incident, the Shanghai Incident, and the China Incident.
In 1941 the army and navy of Japan launched an attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and on the British on the Malay Peninsula. Hiroshima military installations and heavy industries were rapidly developed to support the army and to support the nearby massive Kure naval shipyard, home of the Imperial Japanese Fleet.” http://www.ww2pacific.com/hiroshima.html
“Hiroshima, a center of war industries and military operations, became the first objective.”
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/histryotln/newdeal.htm
I read comments like those above, and I think Bush has been the one brainwashing. Calling SBs stupid is just what the study debunks. Most SBs are rational.
This is from the Qur’an, ” O ye who believe!… [do not] kill yourselves, for truly Allah has been to you Most Merciful. If any do that in rancour and injustice, soon shall We cast him into the Fire…” (Qur’an 4:29-30).
If we were had a half a brain, we would be quoting this verse from the Qur’an to the Arab insurgents day and night. Instead Rush Limbaugh/Bush irrationally say Arab terrorists are nut jobs and we just need to kill them. And news flash: the Arabs are listening to what Bush says. Unlike us, they actually have translators.
Among Palestinians, the SBs are regarded as heros, and the Saudi Arabian benefactors provide for the families of SBs. Given the lack of hope and a future among most Palestinian families, one of the best things one can do for one’s family is be a SB. If those families were given some hope and we held Saudi Arabia accountable, chances are recruiting SBs would be much harder.
It really troubles me that those in our leadership has not looked into the motivation of a SB better. It is good news that SBs are rational; that means by definition they can be reasoned with… if we would actually ever try that route.
I see this thread persisting through the weekend, and for good reason.
I’ll be back this evening to take on all comers, but before I depart on errands, I’m gonna lay it down right now:
Only a truly stupid – unintelligent, superstitious, and unknowledgable – would ever even consider the concept that the very creator of the universe expects and approves of deliberately, horribly inflicting violent death on one’s fellow humans.
Suicide bombers are primitive, egocentric, gullible, brainwashed morons. One and all, without exception.
It’s never been a coïncidence that as intelligence drops, religious belief rises. Religion is an artifact of childhood emotional conditioning, followed by a lack of both ability and desire to think dispassionately and objectively in adulthood – which is as good a definition of stupidity as most any…
27, half a brain is all they have at the White House these days. Total.
#28 – Lauren the Ghoti,
There is something a tad, shall we say fishy, in your line of reasoning. If there were an omnipotent and omniscient being in our universe, then by definition, said being likes war, famine, pestilence, drought, and yes, suicide bombers. It was said quite well in the following lyrics. Clearly, such a hypothetical being is already getting exactly what s/he wants, by definition.
http://tinyurl.com/2dgckb
30. To add to that, Muslims believe EVERYTHING and every moment is pre-ordained by God. Thus they say “insha’Allah” (God-willing) after every statement that might somehow indicate that they, themselves, have a say in the matter. ie: “I’m going to buy some milk this afternoon, insha’Allah.”
27. You’re right, Muslims believe that if you willfully commit suicide, you don’t get to go to paradise. Whaaat? But they (the radical militant ones, anyway) also believe you can do whatever it takes to defeat the enemy. Are you not essentially committing suicide when you attack a larger, superior force as the Prophet did at the Battle of Badr? (This is my own, likely correct, interpretation.) I would like to hear a moderate Muslim’s response that might invalidate that viewpoint.
RBG
31. “Are you not essentially committing suicide when you attack a larger, superior force”
That should probably more clearly read, “Are you not essentially committing what appears to be suicide when you attack a larger, superior force.”
#31 – I would like to hear a moderate Muslim’s response that might invalidate that viewpoint.
Do you think there is such a thing as a moderate Muslim? After reading the various posts in this and other threads, I conclude than many people do not believe that there is such a thing.
33,
And you believe that Everything you hear about Christians is TRUE…
And if you were in the middle East, there are only 2 groups they hate MOST… Jews and Christians…
As in lumping ALL of the Europeon White man RACE into 1 Big LUMP, is a Christian.
31,32.
ITS NOT that you attack First…Its that they ATTACK you, Then you are defending yourself.
31. “I would like to hear a moderate Muslim’s response that might invalidate that viewpoint.”
That’s odd. There appears to be no Muslims reading DU.
RBG
#34 – What? I don’t “hear” about Christians… I grew up in the Midwest, ethnically (if you can say that) I AM Christian… Though as an adult I am an atheist.
It isn’t like I’m from a far off land that doesn’t have a God myth. While I can’t claim to be a professional theologian, I do know more than the average bear about Christians… and Jews… and Rastafarians… and Zoroastrians… and Pagans… and Wiccans…. and {insert religion here}.
Actually… I know very little about Hindus. That’s a blind spot for me.
there are only 2 groups they hate MOST
Who is “they”? All Muslims? All Muslims hate Christians and Jews? Are you certain about that? Have you polled them all? Did you email them and ask?
I submit that you don’t know jack about the average Muslim in the Middle East.
33.
“On September 11th 2004 you are invited to participate in a solemn walk for peace.
The Islamic Center of New Mexico, Congregation Nahalat Shalom, The Muslim-Jewish PeaceWalk, the Center for Peace and Justice, Hillel at UNM, the Muslim Students Association of UNM, Hearts of Peace, the Out ch’Yonda Theatre Company and other communities and individuals concerned with the escalation of violence in our world will walk on a pilgrimage of prayer between the Islamic Center, the Center for Peace and Justice and Hillel at UNM to give witness to our conviction that peace is possible. ”
http://peacewalk.blogspot.com/
#36 – I submit that you don’t know jack about the average Muslim in the Middle East.
Sorry.
I respectfully submit that you don’t know jack about the average Muslim in the Middle East.
You can say anything if you say it respectfully
37. I can hardly wait for the democrats to run the Great Satan out of Iraq so this country will finally be able to set up such walks free from foreign interference.
(That’s sarcasm, btw.)
RBG
#15, smartalix,
I have to agree with you. Soldiers are brainwashed from the moment they step off the bus NOT to think. It has only been in the past few decades that soldiers started understanding that the trick was to make the other guy die for his country.
Right up to 150 years ago, armies still lined up and just shot at each other until one decided that was enough and ran. 90 years ago they sat in trenches as the enemy rained artillery down on them and then would stand up and run at machine guns. 65 years ago, the Russians and Japanese still had massed attacks against machine guns. 56 years ago the Chinese sent mass attacks against American positions. And die they did.
But back then the difference between the equipment of each army wasn’t as stark as it is today. Today, a suicide bomber blows up a bus on one side and the other has a F-15 drop a 1 ton high explosive bomb on an apartment building. I still don’t understand how one is acceptable while the other is condemned.