UCSB scholars joined forces Tuesday for a discussion aimed at battling misunderstanding about Islam in Santa Barbara.
As organizer Porter Abbott, head of the university's Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, put it: "To start thinking. To cast our intellectual net as broadly as possible."
When terrorism struck American soil on Sept. 11, UCSB went to work in planning a series of forums covering everything from religion to terrorism called: "Thinking Through the Catastrophe."
The community was hungry for an explanation, and more than 350 participants of all ages showed up Tuesday. Many even sat on the ground to watch the forum on a television screen outside the full Hatlen Theatre.
"I want to support a peaceful resolution. We really can't support violence. It's madness. That's what we saw in New York," said Elizabeth Colon, who attended the lecture after she got off work in the medical records department of UCSB's Student Health Center.
Four panelists from the school's religious studies and history departments talked about Islam and the broad interpretations of the Koran that exist among the more than 1 billion Muslims around the world.
As many experts are doing these days, the group distanced most forms of Islam from the fundamentalist interpretation adopted by the Afghan Taliban government and terrorist Osama bin Laden.
The group explained the mind-set of the zealots as that of people obsessed with religion and eager for the ultimate religious battle.
"They have decided that the cosmic struggle has come," said Stephen Humphreys, a history professor.
Many Muslim moderates who could balance this violent, extremist dialogue for the public abroad have already left for the West. And of those, many left because they were threatened or expelled because of their beliefs. Others were murdered.
In the end, the panel talked about somehow bringing a "religious pluralism" to the Middle East, including Israel, that would embody the kind of tolerance for other religions more prominent in the United States.
Religious studies professor Richard Hecht explained the "three components critical to terrorism."
First, the violence goes beyond a specific strategic or tactical goal to a symbolic target, such as the World Trade Center as a bastion of Western capitalism. Second, the group believes in its one absolute truth. And third, the terrorists connect themselves with a long, historical religious struggle.
More than one speaker added that the terrorists' societies are marginalized. They are poor -- some even starving -- and look to fundamentalism as an escape. Or their governments are oppressive.
"Naturally you should expect people to be involved in some sort of resistance," said Juan Campo, a religious studies professor.
While the panel explained that most Muslims aren't terrorists, graduate student Joshua Miller said he was disappointed that it didn't give enough information about the brand of Islam considered dangerous to the U.S.
"The fact that that exists and Osama bin Laden exists is a danger. There is a circle of people who share his views," he said. "I think they're afraid of inflaming the crowd."
Mr. Miller said he looked forward to a lecture in the series Oct. 25 supposed to address the politics of the area.