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A Stanford research scientist published this interesting article yesterday in response to the Orlando shooting. Below are what I consider to be the most salient excerpts:
Her takeaway:
I was surprised by her report that many ISIS sympathizers were converts to Islam, instead of people who'd been born into it and (to borrow that favorite buzzword of New Atheists) essentially "brainwashed" from birth. I'd always assumed the opposite was true. But on second thought, I know of many Christians who report feeling extreme zeal and passion in the wake of a conversion experience. I was one of them. So I guess the same dynamic could apply to Muslims.
I had heard the argument that a certain politician's anti-Muslim plans would actually be counterproductive--ISIS tries to sell its recruits on the idea that the West is the Great Satan and is inherently hateful towards Muslims, and there would be no better confirmation of that idea than the West acting inherently hateful towards Muslims; as such, Middle-Eastern recruits who might've been skeptical will see "proof" of ISIS' claims, and any remaining traces of doubt will be erased from their heads. But I was surprised that the psychology might also apply to American Muslims.
Many assume that people who commit terrorist attacks in the name of Islam are religious zealots. Actually, many Muslim radicals were not particularly religious at the get-go. Indeed, a substantial number of Isis sympathizers are converts to Islam – hardly lifelong devotees.
If not religion, then, what is to blame?
Researchers have long studied the motivations of terrorists, with psychologist Arie Kruglanski proposing a particularly compelling theory: people become terrorists to restore a sense of significance in their lives, a feeling that they matter. Extremist organizations like Isis are experts at giving their recruits that sense of purpose, through status, recognition, and the promise of eternal rewards in the afterlife.
My own survey work supports Kruglanski’s theory. I find that American Muslims who feel a lack of significance in their lives are more likely to support fundamentalist groups and extreme ideologies.
What we really need to know now is, what sets people on this path? How do people lose their sense of purpose?
My research reveals one answer: the more my survey respondents felt they or other Muslims had been discriminated against, the more they reported feeling a lack of meaning in their lives. Respondents who felt culturally homeless – not really American, but also not really a part of their own cultural community – were particularly jarred by messages that they don’t belong. Yet Muslim Americans who felt well integrated in both their American and Muslim communities were more resilient in the face of discrimination.
If not religion, then, what is to blame?
Researchers have long studied the motivations of terrorists, with psychologist Arie Kruglanski proposing a particularly compelling theory: people become terrorists to restore a sense of significance in their lives, a feeling that they matter. Extremist organizations like Isis are experts at giving their recruits that sense of purpose, through status, recognition, and the promise of eternal rewards in the afterlife.
My own survey work supports Kruglanski’s theory. I find that American Muslims who feel a lack of significance in their lives are more likely to support fundamentalist groups and extreme ideologies.
What we really need to know now is, what sets people on this path? How do people lose their sense of purpose?
My research reveals one answer: the more my survey respondents felt they or other Muslims had been discriminated against, the more they reported feeling a lack of meaning in their lives. Respondents who felt culturally homeless – not really American, but also not really a part of their own cultural community – were particularly jarred by messages that they don’t belong. Yet Muslim Americans who felt well integrated in both their American and Muslim communities were more resilient in the face of discrimination.
Her takeaway:
When politicians propose banning Muslim travel or policing Muslim communities, and when other Americans applaud and echo these sentiments, we send the message that a) Muslims are not really Americans, and b) being Muslim is something to be ashamed of.
According to my research, this is the recipe for making American Muslims feel disenfranchised and discriminated against. We are actually planting the seeds for radicalization and essentially helping Isis recruit by fueling the narrative that the west is anti-Islam.
So, yes, I condemn Islamophobia, but not just because I think it’s morally wrong to discriminate against a religious community. I condemn Islamophobia because the evidence shows that it is only going to worsen the problem we are trying to solve. Does this mean the American government shouldn’t do something about Isis, or that American citizens shouldn’t fight homegrown terrorism? Absolutely not. But we need to reframe our approach, and realize that targeting an entire religion is not going to get us anywhere good.
According to my research, this is the recipe for making American Muslims feel disenfranchised and discriminated against. We are actually planting the seeds for radicalization and essentially helping Isis recruit by fueling the narrative that the west is anti-Islam.
So, yes, I condemn Islamophobia, but not just because I think it’s morally wrong to discriminate against a religious community. I condemn Islamophobia because the evidence shows that it is only going to worsen the problem we are trying to solve. Does this mean the American government shouldn’t do something about Isis, or that American citizens shouldn’t fight homegrown terrorism? Absolutely not. But we need to reframe our approach, and realize that targeting an entire religion is not going to get us anywhere good.
I was surprised by her report that many ISIS sympathizers were converts to Islam, instead of people who'd been born into it and (to borrow that favorite buzzword of New Atheists) essentially "brainwashed" from birth. I'd always assumed the opposite was true. But on second thought, I know of many Christians who report feeling extreme zeal and passion in the wake of a conversion experience. I was one of them. So I guess the same dynamic could apply to Muslims.
I had heard the argument that a certain politician's anti-Muslim plans would actually be counterproductive--ISIS tries to sell its recruits on the idea that the West is the Great Satan and is inherently hateful towards Muslims, and there would be no better confirmation of that idea than the West acting inherently hateful towards Muslims; as such, Middle-Eastern recruits who might've been skeptical will see "proof" of ISIS' claims, and any remaining traces of doubt will be erased from their heads. But I was surprised that the psychology might also apply to American Muslims.
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