My Plan To End Religious Terror and Violence and Achieve Lasting Peace by MB

     To fully convey a manageable and feasible solution to ending religious terror, one must start from the beginning and examine the entire process of how religious terrorism came about.  Once we understand its origination and foundations, we can then maybe devise a plan to end it.
     Terrorism comes from the Latin word “terrere,” which means, “to cause to tremble,” and came into being during the political battles of the French Revolution (Jurgensmeyer (J) 5).  It is definitively the public’s response, or their trembling in response to the act, that gives it its name.   The fact that religion has found a way to intertwine itself with acts of terrorism is no surprise, as religion and politics have seemed to share common threads throughout history.
     Because of the co-dependency between religion and politics, my plan involves allowing, “violence to return to its roots of political negotiation to solve the struggles behind the violence” (Barry, Likelihood of Scenarios Discussion).  By submitting to violence, and allowing terrorism to win, we can diffuse the whole basis of tension and eliminate it as a cause.  The symbolic actions of terrorism would need to be replaced with some type of strategic planning aimed at achieving goals (J 239). This “domestication of violence,” worked for the Sinn Fein party in Ireland. While there were renegade members who did not agree with the conditions of the compromise and still acted out their displeasure through terroristic activities, as a whole, the solution worked. These renegade groups are not unusual, however, as, “strong beliefs (in religion) transform into intense dedication to a cause and this intense dedication, in some unbalanced people, can manifest itself as violence and terrorism” (Barry Essay 1 page 1).
     The first step in my plan involves feeding into the idea of cosmic war. We already know that acts of terrorism focus on the public’s reaction to the act, which makes each act like a play on a stage (Barry Essay 2, Page 2). We also know that religious terrorists are dedicated and often use religion as a justification for their behavior (J 221). In essence, we must set the stage as a political affair, get all nations’ leaders involved and dwell on the egos of these religious terrorists. By allowing violence to win, one is not actually agreeing upon the use of violence with religion, nor are they showing “signs of weakness” (Rohani, Scenarios and Our Self Interest Discussion). They are using politics as a ploy to gain the trust of these religious terrorists and make them believe they won, so that they can control the behaviors of their allegiant cohorts. Take the Aum Shinriko, for example. Members were carefully selected to be gullible and ability to easily follow (Barry Essay 2, Page 2). They were also so enchanted by the movement, that some members deny to this day that their “peaceful” leader, Asahara, played any part in the subway bombings (Barry, Essay 2, Page 3). Knowing these traits of religious terrorist, how could we not exploit them under false circumstances and use this naivety to our advantage to attempt to end terrorism?
     Step two in my plan, provided that we have now entranced religious terrorists with the allusion that they are victorious in their efforts, involves the political side of the scheme.  Religious terrorists use their influence as a bargaining tool. They all want to gain something in the political world, whether it be the land that they feel they rightfully own (Palestinians v. Israelis), or a more sacred interpretation of religion in politics (Christian militia). This “religious devaluation” (J, 229) has been at the heart of most acts of religious terrorism. As a society, we must then try to find some political way to incorporate religious basis into our government in a more traditional way.  In the case of Sri Lanka, they gave into the Buddhist extremists.  Not only did they allow them to win, but they created a government which “reflected Buddhist values” (J, 244). This solution may work in foreign countries whose terrorists live on civil soil, but will not work in the case of the United States, who is hated worldwide.  
     Which brings me to my final step; how the United States can let violence win. While we do have groups on our own soil that do not agree with the culture here (Christian militia), most of our “enemies,” are abroad.  We must then, change direction in our humanitarian efforts, and start to work with these groups that cause religious terror.  Instead of trying to rebuild Iraq, against the desires of the al Qaeda, we must work with the Al Qaeda, under their terms, in creating an Iraq that pleases them. We must first stay out of other countries’ business. I know America is known as the international peacekeeper but putting ourselves in the spotlight, has led to horrible counterstrikes against us on domestic soil. Once we eliminate our backing of, “un-Islamic governments,” we can erase the number one reason why Islam despises us (J, 183). Second, we must support modern culture only here on American soil and stop trying to force our globalized influences on less developed nations. Our “American-style,” individualism can continue to flourish here in America, but we must cut ties abroad and allow Islam to modernize in its own time and way. Along these lines, we must also support these governments and speak out in their favor, admitting that we have strayed from religious ideals and while it is too late for America to redeem itself in the eyes of God, our countries still have a chance to return to their religious roots and have salvation. We must also use our economic leverage to aid these religious terrorist groups once it has been agreed upon that they will retire from their violent escapades. Too often, as a collective, the world funds the groups, which we believe to be the “victims.” But as we learned, these terrorist groups see themselves as the victims, so our aid is often misinterpreted. We must make sure that the country gets the money but through the efforts of the terrorist groups, allowing them to use and disperse the funds to their citizens as they see fit.
     We must be able to set aside our extreme loathing for religious terrorist groups and allow them to think they have won the battle of cosmic war. Once the world has dismantled these groups, we can then begin to forge a new way of looking at religion and towards a bright future that doe not involve violence.