Stephen Black <[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote (among other valuable things):
>
>
>"The Black Tigers [Tamil Tigers] constitute the most significant
>proof that suicide terrorism is not merely a religious phenomenon
>and that under certain extreme political and psychological
>circumstances secular volunteers are fully capable of martyrdom.
>The Tamil suicide bombers are not the product of a religious
>cult, but rather a cult of personality".
>
>That opinion clearly supports Wayne Spencer's contention.
>
>From all that has been written, it appears that the members of the Tamil
Tigers are all likely to be religious, even if the movement is not a
religious one itself. The question is not really whether or not a movement
that encourages martydom is religious but whether or not the religiosity of
the members make it easier (or even possible) to convince people to commit
suicidal terrorist acts? I wonder how many of the Tamil suicide bombers did
NOT believe in an afterlife.
On the other side, perhaps, what about the Japanese who "willingly" flew
suicide missions during WWII?
Jeff Nagelbush
Ferris State University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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