Demonization and religious extremism in law enforcement and terrorism

¶ … Criminology of Terrorism

terrorism has become more dangerous because various groups of religious zealots have demonized members of other religions and cultures.

One word of warning is worthwhile, especially to those in criminal jus-

tice. Demonization is a neutral process. It works for religious terrorists, but it also works for any other group. When police officers dichotomize people into "us and them;' it can be the first step toward demonization. Police offi- cers regularly hear such expressions as

Islamacists, Jewish militants, Christian extremists, and other derogatory phrases used to classify certain groups. Anytime governmental forces use degrading terms to describe groups or par- ticular styles of behavior, they move toward demonization. This is dangerous. The language and the process of demonization have no place in American law enforcement.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS

The last segment of this chapter briefly outlines the major areas of conflict and religious extremism encountered at various points in the text: the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Ireland, and the United

States. There are many areas of religious conflict in the world today, and these cases have been selected because they are included at various points in the text.

India

The historical driving force of religious conflict on the Indian

subcontinent is the confrontation between Islam and Hinduism. While Hinduism

and Buddhism enjoyed a comparatively tranquil coexistence, the clash between Hinduism and Islam is another matter. Muslin1 invaders began moving into India from Mghanistan around 1000 C.E. They were quite successful, subdu- ing the local population of Hinqus and establishing Muslim dynasties. The Hindus resisted the Muslim presence with violent secret terrorist groups.

About 1500, in northwestern India, a mystic claimed that God transcended localized religions. He founded a new religion called Sikhism that combined elements of Hinduism and Islam. While the Sikhs initially sought peace with Hindus and Muslims, their ideas were militandy rejected.

Soon the Sikhs were arming themselves and defending their beliefs.

British and French imperialism dominated the subcontinent from 1600 to

1947. The British, who triumphed over the French in the region, took advan- tage of the religious differences in the subcontinent. They played

Muslims and Hindus against each other and allowed both groups to distrust the Sikhs. This helped a small number of British soldiers and officials keep a large native pop- ulation under control, but by 1900, the Hindus and Muslims formed a politi- cal alliance. Members of both religions worked together against Britain in the 1930s, when the Indian independence movement gained momentum.

CHAPTER 4 RELIGION AND TERROR

57

Lord Louis Mountbatten, a member of the British royal family who would later be murdered by the Irish Republican Army, negotiated independence for India and created separate zones for Muslims and Hindus. This gave rise to the modern nations of Pakistan and India, but the peace was short-lived. After the British departed, Indians and Pakistanis battled over religion for half of a cen- tury. Religion has become part of terrorist violence in the region.

Essentially, there are four religious conflicts on the subcontinent.

The most obvious is the Hindu-Muslim conflict as exemplified by India and Pakistan. The second involves disputed territory between the two countries, the area known as Kashmir. Not only have India and Pakistan fought over the region, but international terrorist groups have joined the fray on one side or the other. The third area of conflict involves struggles with the Sikhs. Militant Sikh ter- rorists have targeted Indians for the past few decades and have been responsi- ble for the assassinations of several people, including a prime minister. Sikhs tend to side with Pakistan in the struggle over Kashmir. The final area of con- flict is more ethnic than religious. It involves a struggle between the dominant

Singhalese population with a minority group of Tamils on the Buddhist

island nation of Sri Lanka.

Ireland

The main religious issue in Ireland is the struggle between ethnic

Protestants and Catholics, but if you talk to mainstream Christian

theologians and call Ireland a religious conflict, you will probably get a strong reaction. Christians, especially Irish Christians, are quick to point out that the conflict in Ireland has little to do with religion. They will most likely tell you that terrorism is the result of people misusing religion. You will probably hear that both Protestant and Catholic extremists are not religious at all. They simply use religion to identify people with politics. These arguments are essentially correct. Yet, they are at the base of religious conflict.

When religion is used to justify terrorist violence, the transcendent nature of theological expression must be replaced by an ethnocentric focus. God is replaced by some form of patriotism or ethnic identity. This process is called ethnocentric transformation. This is exactly what has happened in Ireland. It is not a fight about the nature of religion, it is a conflict about subordinating God to a political cause.

Bruce (1993, pp. 50-67) provides a description of ethnocentric transfor- mation in Ireland. Bruce believes ethnicity takes precedence over religion in Ireland. This means it is more important to be identified with a particular group than it is to be a member of a church. Bruce says religious labels in Ireland are used to place people in distinct ethnic and political groups. If a per- son is Catholic, it does not necessarily mean that the person has committed to a life of faith. Terrorists use the Catholic label to describe nationalistic revolu- tionaries who want no part of Britain. Terrorist "Catholics" will kill British and Irish

Catholics who disagree with their irreconcilable position.

58

PART

THE CRIMINOLOGY OF TERRORISM

Protestantism has the same connotation among violent extremists.

Protestant terrorists do not embrace Presbyterianism or the Anglican church as an expression of religious zeal. Violent Protestant extremists use their religious label to defme those who will use terrorism to keep

Northern Ireland associ- ated with the United Kingdom. Bruce concludes that religious labels in Ireland are synonymous with ethnic identification.

If a theologian argues that the conflict in Ireland is not religious, the argu- ment is correct in the sense that both Catholics and Protestants have been seeking to end terrorism for quite some time. Many priests and pastors hold joint worship services and attempt to provide relief to anyone regardless of reli- gious or ethnic identification. They do not commit terrorist acts over disputes concerning dogma. However,

Catholic and Protestant terrorists make religious dogma subordinate to a political agenda.

The Middle East

There are three main sources of religious strife in the Middle East:

militant Jewish fundamentalists who wish to expand Israel, Muslim

militants wanting to eliminate Israel and restore Palestine, and Islamic fundamentalists who wish to purify their own states. Both sets of Islamic

militants want to eliminate Israel. The sources of these views are presented in detail in Chapter 7. The- ological positions are outlined as follows.

Hoffman (1995) says one of the Middle Eastern threats comes from Jewish

extremists who have endorsed the use of mass terrorism to ensure the existence of Israel. Lal, lrence Hanauer (1995) says these Jewish

fundamentalists have endorsed violence as a means to establish "Eretz

Israel:' or the Greater Israel of biblical times. Three groups, Kach, Kahane

Chai, and Gush Emunim, have identified Israel's traditional covenant with God as a mandate to reclaim the land of ancient Israel and make it exclusively Jewish. They are willing to use force against all non-Jews

and Jews who "betray" the all-Jewish Israel. Their motivation is primarily religious. They wish to restore ancient Israel in prepa- ration for the coming of a messiah.

Militant Islamic fundamentalists not only oppose the Jewish terrorists of Kach and Kahane Chai, but they also reverse the argument about the Palestinian homeland. Militant Muslims believe that Palestine is theirs.

Clarence Bouchat (1996) cautions the West and the United States in particu- lar not to view this radicalized position as the political goal of an Islamic bloc. Militant Muslims who want to eliminate all Jews from Palestine are extremists and no different from the militant Jews of the Greater Israel movement who seek to eliminate Muslims from the same area.

Militant Islam is not limited to questions about Israel.

Fundamentalists in several Islamic countries are threatening to overturn established governments in the name of religion. David Kibble (1996) explains why.

Kibble says every- one in the West needs to understand that there is no separation between church and state in Islamic countries. Governments claim to rule through the Qur'ran, the holy book of Islam. Terrorists who violently attack the establishment do so CHAPTER 4 RELIGION AND TERROR

59

under the guise of theology. Therefore, unlike Ireland, much of the struggle in the Middle East is about theological dogma.

Another form of militant right-wing Christianity can simply be called

Freewheeling Fundamentalism. This form of religion rejects both the blatant racism of Christian Identity and the hybrid nature of Nordic religions. The "tteewheelers" are fiercely patriotic and use religion to reinforce social beliefs, values, and behavior. They tend to believe the federal government is not mys- tically evil, but that it is opposed to the reign of God. They also believe agents of the government are in conspiracy to destroy America's monetary system and national sovereignty.

Many of these groups oppose racism, and some claim they are not anti-Semitic. Freewheeling Fundamentalism is the religion of the Patriot movement.

The last form of religion is called "Creatorism;' a religion originating with the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC). Founded by Ben

Klassen, the WCOTC is secular, deistic, and racist. Klassen's purpose was to divorce white people from weak theistic religions, claiming such religions were ridiculous expressions of utopian ideals. Klassen said the creator placed things in motion and left people on their own. Klassen's slogan was, "Our race is our religion." Creating his own mythology in tracts on naturalistic health and 17te White Man~ Bible, Klassen called

on white people to fight Jews, nonwhite races, and whites who disagreed with racist philosophy. His successor, Matt Hale, who. has taken the secular title Pontifex Maximus from Julius Caesar, calls for vio- lence to protect the white race. The cry of Creatorists is RAHOWA, an' acronym for Racial Holy War.

KEY CONCEPTS

1. Religion and terrorism become related when religious ideas are subor- dinated to political, ethnic, or ideological objectives.

2. Huntington believes nationalism and ideology have dominated interna-tional conflict for the past 200 years. Since there are no longer two competing ideologies dominating international affairs, he believes future conflicts may result from cultural paradigms clashing in certain parts of the world.

3. Hoffman states that religious terrorism is growing. Religious terrorists represent more of a threat than traditional terrorists because they are not limited by the same types of social restraints.

4. Eschatological thinking is dangerous when combined with terrorism because it produces an atmosphere where intolerant holy warriors engage in violence to usher in what they believe to be the final age.

5. Berlet describes the three processes of demonization as scapegoating, conspiracy, and forming an alliance with an ultimate evil force.

6. The major conflicts involving religious terrorism in the world today include: (1) the Indian subcontinent with struggles among Hindus,

Muslims, and Sikhs, and ethnic fighting between the Singhalese and "

These are a few pages I found I hope this helps let me know if not