My Plan to End Religious Terror and Violence and Achieve Lasting Peace by LC

     In Section Ten of Mark Juergensmeyer’s book, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, several ways as to how terror can put to an end are discussed.  They consist of the idea that terrorists can be eradicated by force, governments can crack down on terrorism by implementing strict punishments, terrorism can win, religion and politics can be separated completely, or that secular authorities can adopt moral values.  Although alone all these various ideas have numerous benefits as well as draw backs, one may consider that if these various ideas were put into action together in combination or series that they may be more successful in putting an end to religious terror.  
     Furthermore, I believe that if a proactive stance is taken against acts of religious terrorism, then a more positive result will follow.  This is why my plan to end religious terror and violence and achieve lasting peace would be to propose that terrorism be dealt with by first implementing a plan where terrorists were eradicated by force.  Then any remaining terrorists would be subject to strict adherence to government regulations and any acts of terror or insubordination would not be tolerated.  Also at the same time, programs to help with economic reform of countries subject to terrorism would be put into place in order to prevent terrorist groups from taking hold once again.  Once these first two steps were complete, then steps could be taken to separate religion from politics in government to prevent religious terrorism from happening again.
     This multi-step plan may be effective against terrorism because firstly, any current terrorists either plotting to commit acts of terror or that have already carried out such acts cannot be rehabilitated or deterred from acting violently by any other way other than force.  They have already acted violently or have considered doing so and can only be stopped by forceful action.  This ideology has been seen in various instances for example in Section Twelve Juergensmeyer states that, “The U.S. government, joined by other governments around the world, is working through intelligence, law enforcement, military, financial, and diplomatic channels to identify, disrupt, capture, or kill individual terrorists.” (Juergensmeyer 12.2)  
Furthermore, the U.S. has even threatened other countries suspected of offering sanctuary to terrorists that force will be used against them as well if they do no give up suspected terrorists.  The ultimate goal being that terrorists are kept on the run and therefore cannot plan attacks and will ultimately tire and make mistakes after which they will be caught or killed by authorities.  
Additionally, the U.S. has spent a great deal of its economic resources in making the country’s borders more secure by actively seeking out terrorists who try to enter or exit.  For instance it has even been recommended that, “The U.S. border security system should be integrated into a larger network of screening points…” and that, “…Extending those standards among other governments could dramatically strengthen America and the world’s collective ability to intercept individuals who pose catastrophic threats.” (Juergensmeyer 12.4)  The idea of securing countries such as the U.S. and it borders furthers the idea of a proactive attitude towards eradicating terrorists and has thus far kept the U.S. safe since its implementation post 9/11.  
However, remaining proactive and forcefully trying to eradicate terrorism alone will not work to achieve a peaceful, terror-free society.  Once must also set into effect strict penalties and repercussions for those who are not caught and eradicated by force.  Governments should put into effect strict punishments for committing or planning acts of terror that will serve as a deterrent for others considering committing terrorist acts, thus creating an end to further acts of violence once the initial terrorists have been either captured or killed.  
In addition to a strict crack down on potential terrorists, governments should also work towards ways of improving the economy of nations who are considered at risk for being havens for terrorism so that these countries do not have to rely on the money that terrorist groups bring in to survive.  This idea has already been looked into to combat terrorism post 9/11.  For example in the 9/11 Commission Report, it is recommended that the U.S. should engage other nations in helping such countries to develop their economies by creating economic policies that encourage development, more open societies and opportunities to improve living conditions.  
Finally, with the forceful eradication of terrorists, the crack down on remaining terrorist organizations and improved economic conditions for countries susceptible to terrorism, government would be free to implement the final stage of the plan to end terrorism.  The final step would be to completely separate religion and politics.  This would be effective in helping to end religious terrorism because if religion and politics were kept as separate entities, then religious terrorism would be less likely to reoccur due to the act that ruling political parties could have no say in religious matters.  This would mean that potential terrorists could not attack political targets because they simply no longer have anything to do with religious matters.  This is also demonstrated when Juergensmeyer states in his paper, Religious Terror and Global War that, “Politics have become religionized as struggles in the real world become baptized with the absolutism of religious fever.” (Juergensmeyer 5)  In other words, in some instances where religious terror is rampant the line is blurred between religion and politics, which increases the instance of religious terror.  If there was a clear separation of where one societal aspect ended and the other began then the two issues would not be mixed together and conflict would not result.  
In conclusion, there is not one set scenario by which all religious terror can be eradicated.  However, perhaps by combining a few different methods of combating terror, lasting peace may be achieved.  By taking Juergensmeyer’s ideas of using force to eradicate terrorists, followed by enforcing a strict crack down on terror.  And then using economic reform coupled with the separation of religion and politics, it is my hope that such peace can one day be achieved.

Works Cited

Juergensmeyer, Mark.  Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society) University of California Press; 3rd Rev&Up edition (September 1, 2003)

The 9/11 Commission Report.  Accessed from http://webcampus.fdu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_16493_1 on December 12, 2005.

Juergensmeyer, Mark.  Religious Terror and Global War.  Global & International Studies Program.  University of California, Santa Barbara, 2002.  Pp. 1-13.