DATE=4/12/2000
TYPE=ENGLISH PROGRAMS FEATURE
TITLE=GLOBAL RISE OF TERRORISM
NUMBER=7-33605
BYLINE=ZLATICA HOKE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=SWANEY
TELEPHONE=619-0935
CONTENT=
_
INTRO: The police in Uganda are still searching for
mass graves of the followers of a religious
cult who were killed (in March) last month.
In 1998, a series of bombs exploded in the
American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In
1995, poisonous gas released in the Tokyo
subway harmed several thousand passengers.
These are just some of the acts of violence
that have shocked the world in recent years.
Zlatica Hoke discussed what causes individuals
and groups to commit such terrorist acts with
two American scholars.
TEXT: Mark Juergensmeyer [pron: JER-ghens-my-er],
director of global and international studies
at the University of California - Santa
Barbara, has written a book titled "Terror in
the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious
Violence." In his opinion, all terrorism is
motivated by fundamentalist religious
ideologies. He says terrorist attacks are
committed by people who are confused by global
changes and perceive the world as becoming too
secular. Professor Juergensmeyer notes that
there has been an increase of such attacks in
the 1990-s.
TAPE CUT ONE - JUERGENSMEYER :32
"In a post cold-war era -- where there isn't
the same sense of certainty about the way in
which the world is organized -- and the rise
of geopolitics and of a global economic
system, that although in some way unites
everybody, it also disrupts traditional
societies and gives a sense of uncertainty to
people who feel that they are not a part of
the new world or are not really certain what
the new world is going to become. And in some
way, they feel paranoid about the control of
the new world."
TEXT: Professor Juergensmeyer says the United
States, having become the leader of the
secular western world, is often the target of
terrorist groups from more traditional
societies. But he adds bomb attacks on
abortion clinics and other public places in
the United States indicate that many Americans
also feel uncomfortable with the new world
order and its powerful leaders. Professor
Juergensmeyer says it is because they fear
losing their individual liberties and
traditions.
The California professor says during the cold
war the world was divided into the communist
East and non-communist West, with the Third
World balancing in between. He says when this
division ended, a new one began. On one side
are societies connected -- albeit
superficially -- by technology, media and
rapid communication. And on the other side
are traditional communities who feel
threatened by this emerging global society in
which they see no role for themselves.
Professor Juergensmeyer also says religious
nationalism has replaced communism as the new
enemy of the secular West. In his opinion,
most people who commit violent acts -- such as
bombing government buildings, abortion
clinics, or sports arenas -- see the world as
being at war, a "cosmic war," as he calls it.
Those who engage in it employ religious images
of the divine struggle against evil, and place
them in the service of worldly political
battles. And while they may not expect to
win, they want to draw attention to their
ideology.
TAPE CUT TWO - JUERGENSMEYER :30
"I define terrorism in my book as performance
violence. That is, acts of violence that are
performed in a public sphere in order to
awaken or shock us, mobilize us in some way -
quite different from the kind of terrorism
that we used to associate with left-wing
Marxist movements that were much more
strategic -- politically. They had a goal.
But bombing the World Trade Center (in New
York), for example, or the Oklahoma City
federal building, or putting nerve gas in the
Tokyo (Japan) subways -- these are not acts
with specific goals."
TEXT: Here in Washington, Mitchell Hammer, professor
of international relations at American
University, agrees that groups that commit
violent acts do it mostly to gain public
attention. But he distinguishes terrorist
groups with a political agenda from religious
cults. Professor Hammer says both may be
fanatical about a cause or ideology, but
members of political groups are usually free
to leave the group. Religious cults always
function in a strictly controlled environment.
TAPE CUT THREE - HAMMER :20
"The people who are members of a cult have
their behavior prescribed, where there are
rewards and punishments that are given for
even the smallest acts of either obedience or
deviance. There is often a charismatic leader
that controls how people live with one
another."
TEXT: Mitchell Hammer cites the recent case of mass
murder in Uganda as a typical example of cult
violence.
TAPE CUT FOUR - HAMMER :27
"The religious leader(s) that formed that cult
seduced people -- through deception -- into
joining, clearly engaged in coercion that
disoriented people and then a conversion
process involved a kind of a snapping that
takes place when one whole set of worldviews
is replaced by another and then a very strong
maintenance process."
TEXT: Mitchell Hammer says in order to curb the rise
of terrorist attacks, countries must improve
their monitoring of political and religious
groups. He says this can be done through
educating communities to recognize groups with
violent agendas and to warn the authorities
about them. Mitchell Hammer and Mark
Juergensmeyer agree that increasing security
measures alone will not curb terrorism.
Professor Juergensmeyer also thinks that the
new digital and secular society must be more
understanding of the other side. He says
groups with religious and traditional views
should be respected and encouraged to speak in
public forums. In his opinion, they will be
less violent if they do not feel threatened.
12-Apr-2000 16:06 PM EDT (12-Apr-2000 2006 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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