Religion Too Often Convenient Justification For Terrorism's Inhumane Politics of Death
Benny Susetyo | April 24, 2013
The threat of terror will spread across the world if injustice and greed, as among the root causes, continue amid the absence of a realization that they actually are important factors pushing for terrorism.
Terrorism, whatever its form, cannot be justified as it triggers the destruction of civilization and gives birth to other forms of terrorism. Vigilance, not violence, is the key in preventing a new wave of terrorism. Violence will only beget further violence.
The bombs in Boston last week reflect a new terrorism threat that uses a much more hidden and detailed modus. The incident reminds the world of previous terror attacks.
Mankind is haunted by the threat of terror across the globe and terrorists can feel satisfaction that they have been successful in spreading fear.
Terrorists hate life, especially that of those that are not in line with their hopes and belief and they feel they only have one way to deal with this, by destroying everything.
They only see one path to settle everything — the use of violence.
Terror, as philosopher F. Budi Hardiman once said, is the politics of death. Fear of death can not only be eliminated but also amplified. This is the technique called terror. The spread of terrorism is equal to the spread of nihilism.
The fearsome image of death and destruction is reproduced in such a way as to spread the unimaginable. That is the main objective behind acts of terror.
Destruction is the main idea behind terrorism and that is why those who value life and peace condemn terrorism. No matter their religion, none would justify terrorism as that very act goes against the value of humanity.
Terrorists are always on the lookout for weakness in their drive for destruction and therefore dealing with them not only requires the vigilance of the security forces and the public in general, but it also requires introspection.
Stopping terrorism requires an understanding that it should be balanced by efforts to repair existing imbalances in the socioeconomic and political spheres.
As terrorism is based on an idea, one cannot rely on physical steps only when facing it. An important step in addressing the problem, is to catch terrorists and bring them to justice.
But it should also be realized that merely catching terrorists would not mean putting an end to the ideas behind terrorism. It is much more important to be able to halt the spread of these ideas if we want to eradicate terrorism down to its roots.
The handling of terrorism cases in various parts of this world is still mostly sporadic and therefore it is not surprising that new forms of terrorism are springing up. Even if terrorism disappears for a while, this does not mean that it will disappear forever. Terrorist organizations constantly study and formulate new strategies to sow destruction on the face of the earth.
Once we find a way to prevent terrorism, new forms would develop and there even appears to be a race between the two. But in either case, the victims are those who advocate and love peace.
Fear is contagious and those who have been living in peace become haunted by it. This is where terrorism has been successful.
The fact that terrorism continues and incident after incident occurs, has made the work of peace advocates harder in their efforts to eradicate it. But terrorism always finds new ways to surface.
Terrorism has been able to take pluralism hostage in its drive for destruction. It targets the concrete manifestation of pluralism for its assault.
When religions are taken hostage by violence, this very same violence gains a seal of approval in the name of religion. And then this religion would become a mere justification for this inhumane acts. Terrorists tend to use religion as something dogmatic, as a justification for violence.
And for many, religion takes on the face of a monster, even though everyone is conscious that religions are there to guide people and build civilizations.
But the fact is that religions are often trapped in their ritual dimension and the fundamental calling they are based on — serving the interest of humanity — is quickly forgotten.
This is the main challenge for religion, to dare perform introspection, to see what role religion plays in the creation of a new world order that is more just.
Benny Susetyo is a social observer.
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