7. Militants and Martyrs: Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion and Terrorism
Year: 2019

Recent theoretical developments in the evolutionary study of religion focus on four crossculturally recurrent features of religion: communal participation in costly ritual, belief in supernatural agents and counterintuitive concepts, separation of the sacred and the profane, and adolescence as the critical life phase for the transmission of religious beliefs and values. These four characteristics constitute an adaptive complex that evolved to solve problems of group cooperation and commitment, problems faced by all terrorist organizations. In this chapter we examine how terrorists employ these features of religion to achieve their goals and argue that evolutionary analyses of religion are essential for understanding current trends in terrorist activity. Terrorists utilize costly rituals to conditionally associate emotions with sanctified symbols and signal group commitments. These sanctified symbols are emotionally evocative and motivationally powerful, fostering in group solidarity, trust, and cooperation. Religious beliefs, including promised rewards in the afterlife, further serve to facilitate cooperation by altering the perceived payoffs of costly actions, including suicide terrorism. Patterns of brain development unique to adolescence render this the ideal developmental stage to attract recruits, expose them to sacred beliefs, and enlist them in high risk behaviors. We conclude by offering areas for future research and policy recommendations based on our evolutionary analysis. For Natural Security: A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World, eds. Rafe Sagarin Terrence Taylor, University of California Press. Militants and Martyrs Sosis and Alcorta 2 The main argument of this chapter is that evolutionary studies of religion are vital for understanding the proliferation, patterns, and logic of current trends in terrorist activity. The importance of this message is becoming increasingly evident. As Simon and Benjamin (2000:59) prophetically warned before 9/11, the threat of terrorism will "intensify, because the old paradigm of predominantly state sponsored terrorism has been joined by a new, religiously motivated terrorism." Indeed, in recent years there has been a rise in the proportion of terrorists motivated by religious concerns and there is a significant correlation between religious motivation and lethality (Hoffman 1998) Simon and Benjamin argue that state sponsored terrorism is somewhat constrained since states do not want to undercut their claims of legitimacy and alienate potential supporters who would revile indiscriminate violence against civilians. In contrast, the new religiously motivated terrorists "want a lot of people watching and a lot of people dead" (Simon and Benjamin 2000:71) Why is religiously motivated terrorism becoming more common? And why is it more deadly? What governmental policies can stem religiously motivated violence? We believe evolutionary research on religion can provide novel insights and timely answers to these pressing questions. In this chapter we first examine the relationship between religion and terrorist activity and clarify religion's role in causing, motivating, and facilitating terror. Next we present recent work on the evolution of religion and show how this research can help us understand current patterns of terrorism. The chapter concludes with future research questions and policy implications derived from our evolutionary approach. What is the Relationship between Religion and Terrorism? While the literature on terrorism offers widely divergent opinions on almost every topic, one matter is clear; not all terrorists are religious fanatics, or even religious. Nonetheless, it is also apparent that religiously motivated terrorism is on the rise and it is alarmingly more lethal than other forms of terrorism. One possible explanation for the lethality of religious terrorism is that it is more closely linked to suicide terrorism, which accounts for only 3% of all terrorist activity from 1980 through 2003, but 48% of the fatalities (Pape 2005:6) Some researchers have indeed argued that religious motivations are more commonly associated with suicide terrorism (Berman and Laitin 2005; Hoffman 2003) although others have rejected this connection (Bloom Militants and Martyrs Sosis and Alcorta 3 2005; Pape 2005) In support of the latter position, it has been widely observed that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a Marxist Leninist group demanding independence from Sri Lanka, were the world leaders in suicide terrorism prior to the current insurgency in Iraq. Furthermore, Pape's (2005:210) analysis of data on suicide terrorism from 1980 to 2003 found that less than half of the suicide bombings documented during this period were religiously motivated. However, even if religiously motivated suicide bombers are not more common than their secular counterparts, they may be more successful in causing fatalities, as Berman and Laitin's (2005) data suggest. Below we argue that religion can institutionally and individually facilitate suicide attacks and other forms of terrorism, and that specific evolved elements of religion differentially contribute to these effects. We also contend that these evolved elements of religion are employed by both secular and religious terrorists alike in order to achieve their goals and create a committed and cohesive following. The media may be responsible for the popular belief that religion and terror are strongly associated. Terrorists, especially suicide terrorists, are often depicted in the media as delusional religious fundamentalists, hopelessly brainwashed and out of touch with reality. The picture that is emerging from recent research, however, is far different. For example, Berrebi (2003) has shown that Palestinian suicide bombers have above average education and are economically better off than the general population. Krueger and Maleckova (2002) also demonstrate that poverty is not a predictor of participation in political violence or support for terrorism. Moreover, Sageman (2004) found no evidence of psychopathology in an international sample of Muslim terrorists. Leaders of terrorist organizations are clear that recruits may not be depressed or suicidal. As one spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad explains, "to be a martyr bomber you have to want to live" (Richardson 2006:117) Terrorists themselves point out that even suicide bombers have plenty of hope, otherwise there would be no point in killing themselves (Atran 2003) If terrorists in general, and suicide bombers in particular, are not crazed religious zealots, what then is the relationship between religion and terrorism? Various researchers have argued that terrorists have political, not religious goals (Bloom 2005; Juergensmeyer 2003; Pape 2005) Religion is not the root cause of conflicts, but is rather a tool used by terrorists to achieve their goals. Recast in evolutionary terms, religious beliefs, rituals, and institutions are proximate Militants and Martyrs Sosis and Alcorta 4 mechanisms that facilitate otherwise improbable behavioral outcomes. Here we review four main reasons why religion serves as an effective mechanism for terrorists. Framing the conflict. Juergensmeyer (2003) argues that while religion is not the cause of most conflicts involving terror, religion is the means by which terrorists translate a local political struggle into a cosmic war. In other words, terrorists often frame their disputes in religious rather than political terms. This has various advantages, most significantly in motivating others to sacrifice themselves for the cause. This transformation from political to religious struggle encourages actors to perceive that they are participating in something of divine significance that transcends individual self interest. Among Sikh militants in the Punjab, Juergensmeyer describes joining the struggle as "motivated by the heady sense of spiritual fulfillment and the passion of holy war" (2004a:2) It is remarkable how successful contemporary terrorists have been in shaping world views so that they are consistent with their own views. Bin Laden, for instance, has been particularly successful in transforming his local grievance (getting U.S. troops off "Muslim" soil) into a cosmic clash between civilizations. The use of religion to transform local power struggles into cosmic conflicts benefits terrorist groups who may otherwise be viewed as economically and politically self serving. In an age of instantaneous electronic communications, such religious framing of essentially local conflicts serves to broaden both the ideological and geographic base of terrorism. A second consequence of the religious framing of political conflicts is the extension of the horizon for victory. Terrorists perceive that they are fighting a cosmic war in divine time, thus eliminating incentives to "win" within one's own lifetime. Commenting on an interview with Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Rantisi, Juergensmeyer observes that "[i]n his calculation, the struggles of God can endure for eons" (2004b:35) Moral justification. Religion also facilitates terrorists' goals by providing moral legitimacy to their cause (Juergensmeyer 2004c) All contemporary world religions impose a moral framework upon their adherents, thereby enabling terrorists to present their conflicts in morally absolute dichotomies, such as good versus bad or righteous versus evil. While legitimizing ones' own cause, religions are particularly effective at demonizing those with opposing views. The history of religion is replete with examples in which in group passions are aroused and out group hatreds are dangerously ignited. Indeed, one consistent predictor of suicide terrorism is a Militants and Martyrs Sosis and Alcorta 5 religious difference between the perpetrator and victim (Pape 2005) This occurs even when the terrorist group appears to have secular motivations, such as the