Over the past few weeks I have been asked several times, why I consider it is so important to not disengage the religious motivations from the acts of terrorism committed by Islamic extremists. I am sure many of these inquirers would agree with US Attorney General, Eric Holder, who at a press conference, expressed that he did not think it mattered what they were called. He alleged that the terminology “has little to no impact on what ultimately we have to do.” Here’s the video:

I understand his point. Nonetheless, I argue that true victory can never be achieved if the free world does not have a working understanding of the mindset and motivations of our enemy. Our strategies are useless without it.

On the surface, it would appear that, US Department of State spokesperson, Marie Harf, agrees with me. In an interview with Chris Mathews this week, she commented that “we cannot kill our way out of this war.” She stated that we needed medium and long term plans that would go after the “root causes that lead people to join these groups.” Again, I agree, but Harf suggested that it could be “the lack of opportunity for jobs.” Here’s her video:

Wow. That is disconcerting for a whole slew of reasons.

Let’s be honest. Of course, these people suffer from extreme poverty, and their desperation is exploited in their recruitment. Of course, ISIS does not represent the views of the vast majority of the world’s Muslims (it almost seems like a disservice to these good people to continually disassociate them). Nonetheless, the world will never control these growing threats, until we acknowledge, and begin to understand, the religious motivations intertwined with these terrorist sects.

The Atlantic (definitely not a right-leaning magazine) has published an extraordinary article written by Graeme Wood, entitled, “The Atlantic Takes a Comprehensive Look at the Radical Islamist Theology Undergirding ISIS.” It is a must read for all who truly wish to discover the impetus of ISIS.

Shepherd clearly details how ISIS represents a “distinctive variety of Islam whose beliefs about the path to the Day of Judgment matter to its strategy, and can help the West know its enemy and predict its behavior.” He writes that the actions of ISIS seem nonsensical unless they are viewed in “a light of a sincere, carefully considered commitment to returning civilization to a seventh-century legal environment, and ultimately to bringing about the apocalypse.”

Specifically to my point, Wood states (emphasis mine):

“Virtually every major decision and law promulgated by the Islamic State adheres to what it calls, in its press and pronouncements, and on its billboards, license plates, stationery, and coins, “the Prophetic methodology,” which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail. Muslims can reject the Islamic State; nearly all do. But pretending that it isn’t actually a religious, millenarian group, with theology that must be understood to be combatted, has already led the United States to underestimate it and back foolish schemes to counter it. We’ll need to get acquainted with the Islamic State’s intellectual genealogy if we are to react in a way that will not strengthen it, but instead help it self-immolate in its own excessive zeal.”

Please take a moment to read the entire article.

Brother Richard

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