https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to terrorism en https://religiondispatches.org/2021/02/23/why-were-not-prepared-prosecute-white-nationalist-violence In the wake of the devastating January 6 th attack on the Capitol, White nationalist domestic terrorism, once relegated to the political extreme, is now mainstream . Under the guise of stopping the spurious ‘ steal ’ of the 2020… Tue, 23 Feb 2021 02:44:44 EST Sara Kamali dbc774c0-83ff-4ed9-a265-73af70c54127 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/01/08/three-qualities-marking-capitol-assault-terrorism While the horrific scenes of the invasion and occupation of the US Capitol building were played out on television, I happened to be in a radio interview for my new book, God at War. The reporter asked if there were… Fri, 08 Jan 2021 04:55:45 EST Mark Juergensmeyer 685ae1c7-f1ca-42f8-8511-2273f3c88d1d https://religiondispatches.org/2017/11/03/saipov-wasnt-member-isis-misses-point Just when we thought the Islamic State was dead, Sayfullo Saipov drove his rented Home Depot truck down a bicycle path in lower Manhattan, killing eight and injuring far more. When his truck ground to a stop after ramming a… Fri, 03 Nov 2017 01:36:38 EDT Mark Juergensmeyer c7460f08-0cc7-4455-b085-0951a168451d https://religiondispatches.org/2017/05/24/manchester-last-gasp-failing-terror-movement The suicide attack by Salman Abedi outside the Manchester arena that killed 22 young people out on a fun evening on the town was claimed by ISIS. On the other hand, the terrorist movement of the Islamic State of Iraq… Wed, 24 May 2017 04:25:09 EDT Mark Juergensmeyer 2770712a-d29a-4c62-bfc0-ad4396e80643 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/01/29/trumps-muslim-ban-gift-terrorists The irony of his actions lies in the fact that they are exactly what groups like ISIS want: to erase the history of Islam and coexistence in this country. Sun, 29 Jan 2017 11:44:58 EST Ali Olomi eeb5ec59-2d6b-48be-b54d-7a0738f60c21 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/09/29/obsession-attackers-backgrounds-misses-point-terrorism As the United States grapples with multiple attacks over the past couple of weeks, the country is asking all the wrong questions. Though the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Daesh) has claimed responsibility for the Minnesota mall stabbings, the… Thu, 29 Sep 2016 01:59:27 EDT Ali Olomi 46700140-f23c-4946-ae0e-c62ed23dbb38 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/08/22/refusing-monsters-maple-street-first-person-commentary-mass-hysteria-jfk The mainstream discourse in the West describes the “War on Terror” as a “geopolitical” mission. When we speak of terrorism, we talk about territories held and lost by “extremists” and “insurgents,” the challenge of migrations and home-grown terror networks, subnational… Mon, 22 Aug 2016 06:00:16 EDT Marion Grau d764d17b-ab55-44f8-9b44-5a2e86d83205 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/07/15/what-did-isis-have-do-nice “He was more into women than religion,” remarked one of the neighbors of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, when asked about the driver of the rented truck that plowed into a celebratory crowd watching fireworks on the beach of the French Riviera city… Fri, 15 Jul 2016 03:25:01 EDT Mark Juergensmeyer dd2dbd6c-c97f-4d3d-b543-574f2600422d https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/23/not-all-muslims-are-terrorists-all-terrorists-are-muslim There’s three definitions of terrorism I see tossed around. One is simple: Violence by a non-state actor. Another is moral: Violence against civilians—usually for a political purpose, and often by a non-state actor. But another is just mainstream: A Muslim… Thu, 23 Jun 2016 12:33:16 EDT Haroon Moghul a50e1a17-296b-4cbf-b67a-79e537175fba https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/13/orlando-massacre-and-isis-illusion-power Omar Mateen’s vicious assault on a Saturday night crowd in an Orlando gay bar either had nothing to do with Islam, or everything to do with it. We don’t yet know all the facts, but what we do know is… Mon, 13 Jun 2016 01:31:29 EDT Mark Juergensmeyer f1c1bcc6-31f0-4057-9a6e-5fadaa3657aa https://religiondispatches.org/2016/03/30/how-do-christians-atheists-compare-muslim-tolerance Despite the clear animus of some high profile atheists, those who don’t believe in God are the most tolerant. Wed, 30 Mar 2016 08:36:40 EDT Darren Sherkat 0ab1fba7-3ee9-4801-af6e-645365a58254 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/03/25/contested-religious-powers-baseball-display-cuba On a historic trip to Cuba this week, and in the wake of a terrorist attack in Brussels, President Obama sat in a Havana stadium extolling the sacred power of baseball to a trio of ESPN commentators: I did not… Fri, 25 Mar 2016 10:55:20 EDT Sean O'Neil f7102a59-5e5e-46db-925a-357fbac86f0e https://religiondispatches.org/2016/01/12/ross-douthat-brink Before I tell you why Ross Douthat’s latest New York Times column, “ Germany on the Brink,” is so very disturbing, let me make clear that he and I see eye-to-eye on some of the issues he discusses. That we… Tue, 12 Jan 2016 09:26:37 EST Haroon Moghul 79ade128-b912-4219-aba3-237a45628659 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/12/15/portrait-islamophobia On December 5 th the New York Times published an editorial on its front page for the first time since 1920 to criticize politicians and call for more stringent gun control and regulation. But that was only half the story… Tue, 15 Dec 2015 04:03:18 EST Mariam Durrani 63c75916-bc21-45f5-a366-5940a8050166 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/12/15/why-wont-president-say-islamic-terrorists Donald Trump has tried to make much about why President Obama won’t use the phrase “ Islamic terrorism”: Although the President and I have not discussed the reasons, I can think of several good ones, at least one of which… Tue, 15 Dec 2015 11:49:42 EST Paula Cooey 40e0169b-a576-4c19-9781-1971a9260af1 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/12/10/i-volunteer-root-out-christian-extremism Dear Director Comey & Secretary Johnson: Director Comey, I sympathize with the frustration you expressed in your testimony before the Senate. I recognize that your agency is understaffed in the face of the unprecedented challenge of Internet-based radicalization and extremist… Thu, 10 Dec 2015 10:34:06 EST Peter Laarman 88a4f8f7-4662-4d17-bf60-de819e0f63a2 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/11/19/answering-top-5-questions-about-isis After the brutal attacks in Paris on November 13th, more and more people are worried about an ISIS attack in our country, and are asking big questions: Where does the movement come from? What is its connection to Islam? And… Thu, 19 Nov 2015 02:29:27 EST Haroon Moghul 02a21e14-2219-478f-b0dd-f12c6acc0555 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/11/19/isis-isil-or-daesh-either-way-obama-gets-it-right Last week, a terrorist group launched a coordinated attack across Paris. In the past few weeks, the very same group took down a Russian airliner full of returning tourists, bombed a neighborhood in Beirut, and struck at a peace rally… Thu, 19 Nov 2015 01:13:34 EST Haroon Moghul 586c1ab6-4ce5-4f1a-9c95-96f3fd10d7d6 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/11/16/tweeting-isis-attacks-lesson-not-learning-lesson After Friday’s horrific attacks on Paris, France, leaving 129 dead, hundreds wounded, a nation traumatized, and a world shocked, we are of course asking: What do we do now? But, of course, we’ve been here before. We overthrew the Taliban… Mon, 16 Nov 2015 05:05:07 EST Haroon Moghul c9fb7e15-e20b-4747-bf81-3d6411b1106b https://religiondispatches.org/2015/11/15/why-isis-war-would-make-paris-attacks-success Update: According to CNN, “the French air force carried out bombing missions on ISIS targets in Raqqa, Syria, for a second day in a row. France is retaliating against Islamist extremist terror attacks that killed at least 129 people in… Sun, 15 Nov 2015 11:56:58 EST Mark Juergensmeyer 977d2d11-180c-4f9a-a451-b25043e9ae0c https://religiondispatches.org/2015/07/24/its-still-your-fault-cubits-guide-blaming For the past three weeks, The Cubit has explored blame in the twenty-first century. We approached scholars, scientists, policy experts, and theologians to ask how blame takes shape in the contemporary public square. If you haven’t been keeping up, you… Fri, 24 Jul 2015 03:41:39 EDT Andrew Aghapour, Michael Schulson 43bd141b-13e5-49d8-9acb-89155da7a2b2 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/07/16/white-supremacy-mental-illness-or-society-whats-blame-religious-violence This article is part of It’s Your Fault, The Cubit ’s series on blame in contemporary society. In this essay, RD associate editor Michael Schulson analyzes the patterns of blame that emerge in the aftermath of religious and ideological violence… Thu, 16 Jul 2015 04:16:31 EDT Michael Schulson 45eee1d1-63ce-4c30-b422-21ec0275d5c3 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/06/22/not-all-christians-are-terrorists “I know that not all Christians are right-wing extremist terrorists, but why are all right-wing extremist terrorists Christians?” This is the question I’m never asked. But as somebody who actually knows something about Islam and about the complex history of… Mon, 22 Jun 2015 07:23:27 EDT Reuven Firestone 411f7896-4a41-445b-b5c4-f08a748d7d83 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/01/15/religious-freedom-issue-may-cost-accused-boston-bomber-his-life Forget the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should worry about “death-qualifying” the jury. Thu, 15 Jan 2015 04:37:46 EST Anthony Santoro d09a39f1-5562-451f-81bc-18a203e4e271 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/09/09/must-james-foley-and-steven-sotloff-be-martyrs-not-have-died-vain The recent arrival of ISIS in the international spotlight has demonstrated once again that there is no easy way to talk about religious extremism and the martyrs, real or imagined, that it produces. There’s the understandable urge to breathe righteousness… Tue, 09 Sep 2014 04:55:55 EDT Alana Massey 225147af-4999-4ab4-ad6a-cc465d5b0f43