Why Do They Do It?

Early yesterday, Londoners paused for two minutes of silence to honor the victims of last week's bombings. It must have been quite a sight to see--and hear!

Following closely on the heels of this was the announcement that the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. A disturbing development, to be sure.

And it's one that got me thinking: Just what is it that causes someone to become a suicide bomber?

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in psychology, religion, or politics, nor do I claim to be able to read anyone's mind, but I have developed a theory that there are three basic types of suicide killers.

Type one: This is a person who lives in abject poverty every day. Ignored by society in general, every day is a struggle to survive. Suddenly, they are approached by a kindly-looking man (or possibly a woman). This person tells them that there is a way out of their miserable existence. There is a way for them to be taken straight into paradise, where their every need and want will be fulfilled. All they need do is walk into a crowd of non-believers with explosives strapped to their body and set them off. Most of them jump at the chance.

The only way to stop this type of bomber is to fix the cause of his or her poverty in the first place. An admirable goal, to be sure, but not one likely to happen in the near future.

Type two: This is a person who has been trained almost from birth that all infidels must die! It is the will of God to destroy as many non-believers as possible, and the quickest and easiest way to do it is to walk into a crowd with a Semtex vest and press a button. After that, you will instantly be taken into paradise.

The only way to stop this type of bomber is a bullet. Sadly, we may never be rid of this type.

Type three: This is the most complicated (and possibly most insidious) type. This person is usually very young, possibly early teens. He or she is a child of reasonably well-to-do parents. The parents are just like any other parents--they are overworked and rarely home when their child is, and even then, their social interaction with this child is limited to a few hours, or even a few minutes.

This child (I still call him or her a child at this point, since that is where he or she is emotionally) goes to their selected place of worship on a regular basis. The leader of said institution, or another important figure within said place of worship, befriends the child.

Normally, this would not be a problem. But in this particular place of worship, said authority figure is an extremist. He or she begins to teach the child, subtly at first, but becoming more and more blatant over time, about the evils of the infidel (any person not of their faith). Slowly, gradually, the child begins to believe at first that infidels are bad, and will be punished in the afterlife. Soon, he or she believes that they will and should be punished for their evils on this earth. Eventually, the child has become so far brainwashed that he or she believes that the infidels must be punished on earth, NOW! And that the best way to punish them is to kill them while killing him or herself.

Like I said, this may be the most insidious form of suicide attacker--the kind that would normally grow up to be a normal, decent human being, but that has been corrupted by the political agenda of an extremist religious authority figure.

Please note that this type of extremist brainwashing is by no means limited to any one religion. It has occurred far too many times in the past, in most, if not all, of the organized religions of the world. It is the kind of extremism that teaches people to lay waste to entire cities, killing everyone and everything within. It is the kind of extremism that teaches people to throw bricks through the windows of Muslim businesses, and then kill the owners of said businesses when they come out to defend themselves. It is the kind of extremism that teaches people to give their children Kool-Aid laced with cyanide before taking it themselves. It is the kind of extremism that tells people to wait outside Planned Parenthood clinics with Molotov cocktails or sniper rifles. And it is the type of extremism that teaches four young men to carry backpacks filled with explosives onto subway trains and public transit buses and detonate them during rush hour, killing themselves and killing or wounding hundreds of others. It continues to happen today, and will probably continue to happen for the forseeable future.

The only possible solution to this type of extremism may be to refuse to allow the extremists to occupy any position of authority in any religion. Sadly, that is probably impossible.

Please note that I believe that I have taken what I believe are great pains to single out no specific religion and/or faith in this post. Extremism can and has been the downfall of many faiths, and those that remain today continue to be in constant danger from it!

In addition, I welcome any comments and/or criticisms of this analysis. Like I said, I am not an expert in psychology, religion, or politics. This is merely my opinion as a layperson.