How many times have we been told that the Bible supplies passages in support of whatever point of view or behavior one wishes to follow? This appears to be true of the Koran as well.
Throughout the world, certain individuals -- acting alone or as a member of a cult organization -- are committing crimes and acts of terror and are convinced they do so with God's approval and blessing.
"Religious terrorism arises from pain and loss and from impatience with a God who is slow to respond to our plight, who doesn't answer." So begins Jessica Stern's book "Terror in the Name of God," an attempt to come to grips with people who righteously kill and maim.
This is a scholarly work with a sort of popular overlay consisting of riveting passages detailing Stern's interviews with actual terrorists, at times conducted on their turf. I finished reading this book with two definite impressions of the author: She is exceptionally bright and uncommonly courageous.
Stern's book is the account of her personal journey from merely studying chemical warfare and terrorism to traveling to at least six countries for the purpose of interviewing terrorists -- sometimes in dangerous situations. As a result of her efforts, she can offer much to our collective struggle in trying to understand the minds of individuals who, as she states, "profess to have moral values" yet "do evil things."
Understanding and information are what Stern is after. She carefully lays out her motives for becoming involved in risky behaviors. Brought up in a secular Jewish home, she wants to penetrate the mysteries of faith and even professes to envying the strong and certain faith of a violent apocalyptic terrorist, Kerry Noble, "even as I was horrified by his cult's plots and crimes."
This is no light or easy read. Stern's research is comprehensive, and her personal experiences punctuate and illuminate her theses. She begins, interestingly enough, by describing her interviews with American Christian terrorists, members of the cult CSA -- the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord. This group focused on hastening the return of the Messiah by causing Armageddon on earth in the form of poisoning or eliminating in other ways Jews, blacks, homosexuals and socialists. The group amassed huge stocks of weapons with which to "carry out God's judgments."
CSA remains an active conspiracy group. Kerry Noble, a reformed CSA member who has served time in prison, says of another, still-active member, that he becomes agitated at signs of the coming Apocalypse and "Any sign that he sees could make him turn violent."
Stern has organized her work into two parts. The first discusses root causes for terrorism, such as alienation, humiliation or territory. The second describes how terrorist groups are formed and operate. In this section, I found her experience with the recently executed Presbyterian minister Paul Hill of particular interest.
Hill is what Stern calls "an inspirational leader." He led an effort to stop abortion, what he calls "the innocent unborn," by encouraging his followers to fight this scourge as people fought Hitler's killing of Jews. He sees this as a moral equivalent and died by lethal injection for his murder of an abortion doctor and a security guard. Stern is excellent at explaining how men like Hill inspire a "congregation," as in a "normal" religion. But unlike most religions, she states, the aim of these leaders is to "inspire followers to take violent action on behalf of the in-group in opposition to an out-group."
That sums up what happens worldwide with these organizations. Wherever Stern travels, she finds the terrorists' emphasis to be on taking violent action. From Arkansas and Florida to Pakistan and Kashmir, she talks to individuals waging their jihads or crusades and discovers similarities of intent, methods of operation and fundraising. Basically, the groups are funded through a network of "charities." The people at the top live rather well, even luxuriously in some cases. The foot soldiers receive training and subsistence. Terrorism, you see, has become a big business.
Stern's research covered a period of at least five years, during which she held positions at various prestigious institutions and achieved expertise on terrorism issues. At present, she lectures on the subject at Harvard. Her insights, which at one time were original, have become part of the public consciousness regarding terrorists. She learned, for example, why suicide bombers flourished. They are, simply put, cheap. A suicide bomber needs little training, little support. He does not require years of being steeped in religious thought to develop the zeal for his mission. He needs only a moment of courage to wreak havoc.
Of greater value, perhaps, is her insight into the system of madrassahs, the religious schools that flourish throughout Islam. These schools -- an estimated 48,000 of them in Pakistan alone -- teach young boys the Koran and very little else. Math, science and literature -- which flourished under the Golden Age of Islam a thousand years ago -- are eliminated.
Stern asks a fifth-grader what he wants to be when he grows up. He wants to be a mujaheed and kill non-Muslims. She then asks what he thinks of America. "Down with America" is his answer. She asks why he feels that way. "Everyone says that." Do you know why? Stern presses. He answers, "No."
The biggest threats to the survival of militant Islamist groups are free secular education, a rise in the literacy rate and a higher standard of living for the poor. Depriving a society of these keeps such groups well supplied with recruits.
Alan Wolfe, author of the current "The Transformation of American Religion" says that the best thing we have done is to treat our war on terror as a war against terrorist groups and not as a holy war against Islam. He also thinks that the tradition of American religion is one of change and innovation. Nothing could be further from the tenets of Islam as practiced by terrorists.
Stern's book illuminates this divide. Yet I found many things lacking in this work in matters of style and choice in the writing. The chapters are introduced with lecture-like summaries and declarations, which makes the tone seem pedagogical. Stern has admitted she wanted to write a purely academic book that would be published by a university press. Instead, her editor persuaded her to include narratives of her interviews with terrorists, and not bury them in footnotes as she had planned. A good move, except Stern is not really a storyteller. She carefully doles out information of her personal experiences, but the reader often is left wondering about colorful but incomplete details, and what else was going on.
A glossary would have been helpful. She lists so many jihadi groups and intelligence organizations, it would have provided an easy reference point. Also, I found her diction awkward in crucial places. Frequently, when describing her encounters with terrorist subjects, she uses past and present tense and first and third person voices indiscriminately, sometimes all in one paragraph. This is difficult, particularly so because she does not present her material on any sort of timeline. It is not clear in what order she met various people and how she formed her opinions.
Here is a real nitpick: She mentions Harvard -- a lot.
These shortcomings aside, I highly recommend this work. Stern was able to wiggle herself into contact with people who are uncommon to know. She was the first American woman some of her subjects had ever seen. Her experiences are valuable to contemplate. Also of value is her final chapter, in which she talks about terrorism as a virus and offers some policy recommendations that may or may not be useful but are based on solid research and personal observation.
Stern makes the point that she is not a reporter, yet I could not help thinking of Daniel Pearl and his horrible death while trying to contact the very type of person she is interviewing. The same dangers attended her meetings.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, we all have been forced to look more closely at what extreme beliefs can produce in human beings. Jessica Stern's book helps to clarify that process. I admire her courage and am grateful for the information she has provided.