Obligatory post on Terrorism

Maldivians were shocked and dismayed by the recent terrorist attacks. One main reason was because it was targeted towards tourists, our only livelihood. The other was because this was an unprecedented, bold and outrageous move by young men. What I find to be deeply disturbing is that few empathise with the victims, and the human suffering.

We had developed an understanding of why such previous attacks had happened – as the result of Western imperialism or the rise of materialism – and as such some would rather gloss over the danger and disruptive aspects of fundamentalist thought. Most believe that fundamentalism or extremism is a recent phenomenon and needs to be studied carefully, to be confronted by preaching true Islamic values and hopefully righteousness will prevail.

But when we have failed to empathise with human suffering, it could be said that something fundamental has gone wrong with our culture, education and upbringing. And this rise in extremism, or religious fundamentalism is nothing new as there have been several such events, usually known as “Great Awakenings” that had happened in the past, from which we could learn. In confronting this radicalisation of society, we have used the most ineffective tools, forceful coercion and violence. Instead we have better tools, and good research has been done on the subject. By classifying this as uniquely Islamic fundamentalism we have disassociated with decades of research into confronting this type of extremism and what it really is ; Destructive cults.

Thaler Singer, who wrote a book called "Cults in our Midst", describes some common features of any dangerous cult.

• These cults have a preoccupation with bringing in new members. They usually target people in extremely vulnerable situations.
  
• The leadership is not accountable to any moral or financial authority.
  
• The disciples are discouraged and punished for questioning the leadership. The disciples will be obsessively devoted to the person, principle or thing.
  
• They create an external monolithic fear, or a "us vs them" mentality.
  
• "Ends justify the means" and readiness to use unethical means to achieve group objectives.
  
• The disciples are required to socialise only with members of the cult. In extreme cases the cult requires the disciples to cut ties with old friends, family members and the outside community.
  
• The disciple under this controlled environment will undergo suppression of previous beliefs and will be given a new closed system of logic. The disciples are given something greater than themselves, and the group objectives seem more important than anything in their past or anything in their future.

Cults differ from mainstream religions in a very fundamental way. Cults discourage critical thinking and doubt. They also discourage research and original ideas. Instead it’s disciples are told to rely on authoritarian figures(mullahs, priests) for clarity. In any religion a person can rely on a number of ideas, written by different people with diverse opinion and come to his/her own personal understanding of how his/her religion works. Cults discourage dialogue and disparity. Its disciples are told that there is only one single pure way of thinking, and usually it’s what the mullah, priest or sheikh is purporting.

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