Triggers of terror

Terrorism is a term that is used to describe a brand of warfare that I choose to call cowards’ war. There is no formal declaration of war so that the two sides will deploy their soldiers and weapons. There is no battlefront. Even the assailants are usually faceless. It has become a global menace, tormenting even the most formidable of nations. Like the name implies, its main objective is to strike terror into the hearts of the powers that be, unnerve security agents and keep the ordinary folks in perpetual fear. Terror becomes more terrible when human beings are used as weapons of mass destruction, most times with their full cooperation and active connivance.

The sanctity of life is something encoded into every human being naturally. Self-preservation is the first mandate we receive inwardly the moment we get conscious of our environment. Most of our life endeavours are geared towards preserving the self because we perceive it to be very precious. The normal and natural human being can run for miles without stopping if he perceives that his pursuer will harm or kill him if he catches up with him. People have gone to the extent of stealing from or killing others just to preserve the self.

It is against this backdrop that one shudders at the prospect of people lining up as volunteers who are willing to donate their lives to be used as instruments of terror to blow up buildings, aircraft, kill people and destabilize systems. For a human being to agree to give up his life in this most violent and cruel manner, something must have gone wrong with his make-up. His mind must have been badly messed up and his natural programming distorted by systematic disorientation. Our natural programming teaches us to run away from danger. The eye shuts with amazing speed the moment danger approaches. The flight hormone, adrenaline, stimulates the body to flee in the face of any perceived danger. For a human being so programmed to go against this self-preservation mechanism, something has neutralized God’s imprint on such a mind, replacing it with the kind of hatred that consumes both the hated and the hater.

Over the years, we have discovered the culprit but we still keep searching for the sponsors of terrorism, its facilitators and triggers. We keep searching for individuals who fund the various terror organizations when everyone knows the futility of such a quest. No matter who gets arrested as the chief sponsor of any terror movement, such a movement will not collapse until the fundamental cause is tackled.

It is time to take a dispassionate look at the various religious movements we have given unbridled access to our hearts and homes. On the surface, most religions appear harmless and positive but the danger lies in this same apparent harmlessness. It comes with a message of love and peace for ailing humanity. Everyone is persuaded to open their hearts and receive the message of goodness that seeks to make the society better. Gradually, the content is opened up through indoctrination and by the time the process is completed, only a few persons with deep insight will realize that their minds have been altered to despise anyone who is not of their fold even to the point of harming that fellow either physically or psychologically.

It is this subtle mind manipulation that turns innocent children into violent teenagers who can do anything to show their spiritual mentors that they have come of age and that their profession of faith is genuine. It is this subtle but very effective manipulation that turns the mind of a little angel into that of a raving demon that is thirsty for the blood of those who have refused to join his brand of religion.

This places question marks on the personalities of the inventors of such religious groups, especially those who authored the very books and script that form the basis of faith. As they say, there is a thin line between genius and madness. Virtually everyone around whom a religious faith is formed was a genius in his time. For a man or woman to draw such a large followership as to shake the thrones that were cannot be described as a mean feat. For them to utter such powerful words that inspired singers and writers of many ages is also a mark of genius. However, for any such religious leader to make statements that instigate violence and war in the name of God shows that he or she was probably mad at that point. The adherents of such a faith should not hesitate to expunge such provocative aspects of their holy book for the sake of societal peace.

In the past, African religious expression in some places included human sacrifice. With time, the people saw the need to expunge such obnoxious practices from the tradition. Actually, it was because of the presence of such practices as the killing of twins, using human heads for the funeral of certain classes of people and other such evil traditions that the people abandoned the indigenous religions to embrace the invading religions (Abrahamic religions) which promised us peace on earth to all men. Ironically, the peace we bargained for and anticipated has even suffered much more under the new religions. We now see hundreds of people blown away in one minute through the instrumentality of one fellow who is intoxicated with religion and hate. If the African religions could modify their creed to expunge obnoxious contents, I believe that the new religions can do the same. I believe that the practitioners of these religions are essentially good people but they are afraid of adding or subtracting from a book they have proclaimed to be holy and written by God himself. Again, the warnings contained in these books about any alterations and their consequences make them afraid to even dare.

I want to urge these good people to listen to their better judgment which tells them that God did not write any book. Every religion is a human invention based on beliefs and speculations. There is need to do the needful. Expunge all obnoxious provisions from all holy books and save this generation from the rampaging flames of terror fuelled by religion and hate.

Again, the government should look at religion critically. A few laws can be enacted to protect vulnerable groups like children from indoctrination. Adults can handle it better because they are of age to apply reason to whatever they are taught but children are very impressionable and vulnerable.

There is need for all men and women of goodwill to stop pretending on issues of terrorism. We all know its root cause. Let us take the necessary actions to save our society now.

NNENNA Ihebom