hi, my name is.. i am a suicide bomber

[bus2bondi]

why is 'my name is..' a suicide bomber. i'm not a suicide bomber, but why is '...' a suicide bomber?

[RickLewis]

That's an extremely good question. Never having been a suicide bomber (not even once), it is hard for me to comment but presumably you could approach the problem from several angles, including the ideological angle and the psychological angle.

In terms of ideology, of knowing why the particular belief system called Islamic fundamentalism seems to lend support to suicide bombers, a good start might be a book like "The Islamist" by Ed Hussain. He used to hang out with extremists, he became disillusioned (interestingly, partly because he thought they weren't religious enough!) and so he left and wrote a book about his experiences. It is not enough, though. It has interesting insights about the nature of Islamic fundamentalism in the West as a form of identity politics, but is less informative about why some fundamentalists want to blow themselves up.

However, the psychological angle might also be worth examining. People have often made the very good point that suicide bombings should really be called "murder bombings", putting the focus on the victims, where it belongs, and not on the murderer. However, from the viewpoint of those committing them (which is what we are talking about here), they are also suicides, of course. In fact, part of the problem seems to me to be that the people who become bombers are so tied up in their own intense drama of grievance, suffering and revenge that they forget that their potential victims have worries too, and people who love them. In that sense, the problem of suicide bombers is a problem of extreme selfishness. Still, that doesn't remove the need for us to understand suicide bombings so as to try to stop them from happening. Albert Camus once wrote that "there is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide." Presumably some of the philosophical questions of meaning which bear on other suicidal people also have relevance to suicide bombers too.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

That's an extremely good question. Never having been a suicide bomber (not even once), it is hard for me to comment but presumably you could approach the problem from several angles, including the ideological angle and the psychological angle.

In terms of ideology, of knowing why the particular belief system called Islamic fundamentalism seems to lend support to suicide bombers, a good start might be a book like "The Islamist" by Ed Hussain. He used to hang out with extremists, he became disillusioned (interestingly, partly because he thought they weren't religious enough!) and so he left and wrote a book about his experiences. It is not enough, though. It has interesting insights about the nature of Islamic fundamentalism in the West as a form of identity politics, but is less informative about why some fundamentalists want to blow themselves up.

However, the psychological angle might also be worth examining. People have often made the very good point that suicide bombings should really be called "murder bombings", putting the focus on the victims, where it belongs, and not on the murderer. However, from the viewpoint of those committing them (which is what we are talking about here), they are also suicides, of course. In fact, part of the problem seems to me to be that the people who become bombers are so tied up in their own intense drama of grievance, suffering and revenge that they forget that their potential victims have worries too, and people who love them. In that sense, the problem of suicide bombers is a problem of extreme selfishness. Still, that doesn't remove the need for us to understand suicide bombings so as to try to stop them from happening. Albert Camus once wrote that "there is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide." Presumably some of the philosophical questions of meaning which bear on other suicidal people also have relevance to suicide bombers too.

They don't see it as suicide. They think they are going to eternal life in paradise to be entertained by virgins.

[bus2bondi]

hi Rick, thanks for your reply. i think i've heard of the book "The Islamist". and i read a few others, one called 'Boomerang' that if i'm recalling correctly got into some things related to the topic.

from what i've learned in college from various professionals and on my own, most of them are born and trapped into fundamentalism, and then to add fuel to the fire, some of them often react like a kid being bullyed that finally fights back.

so they are born trapped in radical religious and national fundamentalism, or if not, are eventually turned on by it due to various other wars.

they find it meaningful perhaps because they think they are doing a good deed, just like, maybe soldiers from other places in the world excercise their own form of radical fundamentalism.

i'm not for it, just because i'm discussing it. but i wonder how it could be solved?

i wonder if the stronger ones could help this problem in a way that does not make it worse?

[bus2bondi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ygYATgy ... ure=relmfu

[hiiamme]

hi Rick, thanks for your reply. i think i've heard of the book "The Islamist". and i read a few others, one called 'Boomerang' that if i'm recalling correctly got into some things related to the topic.

from what i've learned in college from various professionals and on my own, most of them are born and trapped into fundamentalism, and then to add fuel to the fire, some of them often react like a kid being bullyed that finally fights back.

so they are born trapped in radical religious and national fundamentalism, or if not, are eventually turned on by it due to various other wars.

they find it meaningful perhaps because they think they are doing a good deed, just like, maybe soldiers from other places in the world excercise their own form of radical fundamentalism.

i'm not for it, just because i'm discussing it. but i wonder how it could be solved?

i wonder if the stronger ones could help this problem in a way that does not make it worse?

Well, step one could be leaving these people to their own devices... however, I doubt very much if anything will change with radical Islam (I know you didn't specifically mention Islam but yeah) until "moderates" are able to change the culture from within. Civil rights and what not... It reminds me a lot of the "how do you stop illegal immigration" question... They would have no reason to immigrate/suicide bomb if they were born into places where there were better possibilities than blowing yourself up

[reasonvemotion]

Suicide is against Islam. Martyrdom is not.

"Suicide bomber" is a derogatory term invented in the West to try and describe what in Islam is known as a Fedayeen or Shahid... a martyr. The point of the bomber isn't suicide - it is to kill infidels in battle. This is not just permitted by Muhammad, but encouraged with liberal promises of earthy rewards in heaven.

Organisers of suicide attacks, all of them senior commanders. How does their psychology compare?

Their psychology is very different. They are not dependent - they are manipulative. They are much more intelligent than the bombers and are also older - 27 on average in a study, compared with 19 for the bombers. Some had university education. They were not psychopathic. They were very pragmatic, they believed they were doing it for their nation and that it was the right thing to do. They did not express any moral doubts about it.




Kamikaze attacks from the Japanese, were done with 'the highest hope is to die for our emperor'. For this reason the Japanese emperor decided to form a special attack unit. 24 pilots volunteered for the mission. It was their task to crash into Allied ships and kill as many sailors as possible. Voluntary suicide.

[Impenitent]

"suicide" bomber is a poor choice of words...

those who are bombed are not suicidal

-Imp

[bus2bondi]

hello hiiamme,

i wonder if the stronger and more intelligent nations could stop abusing and using these ancient cultures for their own benefit? for example, it would be like me being born into the modern world and all i could think about and dedicate my life to was to torture what is often referred to as 'rednecks' etc..

every 'redneck' i saw, i'd take advantage of the situation, rob and blow his/her head off? on top of that kill and torture their children.(?) after all that, one of them fought back and i'd take out big ads and blame it on them and call them a terrorist

[bus2bondi]

i mean after all that, how can you go wrong, it still took care of the ancient 'rednecks', made a hell of alot of money for myself, and came out looking like a flying golden eagle without a drop of shit hanging from my ass

[bus2bondi]

have no fear.. i would never do this to someone who is often referred to as a 'redneck', even if i could.

[bus2bondi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvyCaM2FmXs

[bus2bondi]

i grew up in the back of a pickup truck, and that is no lie. if you want to talk about the core of a redneck, i'm more redneck than any redneck out there. most of the rednecks these days, their all about the 'poser redneck scene', kind of like how i felt when certain new country singers would come onto the scene dancing and prancing around in their hats like pure redneck fackoffs. (don't say that to them tho) anyhow, (sort of getting off topic) the day i started hating country music was when it stopped being country.

[bus2bondi]

'if your gonna be a redneck, be one. i can spot 90,000 fakes from a mile off'

[bus2bondi]

if i were a horrible person, i'd say watch 90,000 rednecks run, i'd catch them in my sites and boom! which one of you is a true redneck. i won't do that. even if i could.