Tackling Terrorism Requires Less Fixation With Religion and More Action
According to Greek mythology, Procrustes was a bandit who invited unsuspecting victims to spend the night at his house only to rob and kill them. His modus operandi was stretching or chopping his victims to make them fit into his iron bed. The insistence of many people on turning the debate on terrorism into a debate on religion often seems like an intellectual version of this gruesome exercise. Regardless of the role of individuals, governments, and organizations in generating terrorism, there seems a pathological preoccupation with fitting religion in as the prime mover. Following the attacks in Brussels the same tired old refrains are flying again: We need to focus on the role of religion in terrorism; we need to have an “honest” conversation about Islam; we need to stop being politically correct; we need to name the enemy; we need to support “real” reformers; we need to stop “regressive” liberals from “suppressing” this crucial debate by raising the canard of Islamophobia.
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