Good and Evil

Terrorist attacks are happening at an alarming rate. Almost daily, there is another attack going on in a part of the world that very few people pay attention to. People are losing their lives, and cities and countries are falling to ruin. The very fabric of the will of the people is being tested by acts that are by our definition, the very heart of evil. As rational human beings, it is difficult to understand how those who are responsible for these reprehensible acts can validate and justify the random killing of innocent individuals. No one safe from these atrocities that include women, children, and the elderly. Likewise, no one is immune from the evil that these men (and women) do.

In the past week, there have been approximately ten terrorist attacks claimed by several different groups. While many of them were focused throughout the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, one attack made its way to Europe. It is inconceivable to believe that we now live in a world where terror is just around the corner and even the world’s superpowers cannot defend itself properly against terror as it can against another regime.

There has always been a battle between good and evil in the world. Many religions, including all Abrahamic faiths, are built upon this foundation. However, the idea of good and evil when it comes to terrorism differs as we understand that groups themselves are not evil, but it is individuals who carry the will to do evil deeds (Waller, 2005). Being part of a group only amplifies the pre-existing behaviors and opinions that an individual may have. Group polarization aids in these extreme views that individuals take on as a result of being part of a group (Sunstein, 2002). Therefore, the group only exists in their evilness as a result of the individuals’ beliefs that make up the group (Waller, 2005).

Societal factors encompass several sub factors. One of the major issues is socioeconomic status and the frustration that comes as a result. Boko Haram has focused on this issue when it has come down to fighting for their cause. They are in a part of Nigeria which is largely known to be poor. The majority of the north lives in a dire situation and it is said that 60% of the people in the north live in poverty (Onuoha, 2010). Boko Haram appeals to people in once sense because they have resources to address the issue of the dire poverty that’s taking place in the north. Many of the people see how Western civilizations are thriving and their own country is in need (Onuoha, 2010). The economic differences lead to increasing frustration with Western society as a whole (Eneh, 2011).

Another societal factor is the disagreement with the political system. Oftentimes, groups cite widespread corruption as the reason they are targeting a particular country or government. Their solution is to replace it with their own form of government. In some cases, it is non-secular. ISIS has been attempting to do this and restore the caliphate, which was last known during the Ottoman Empire.

Situational factors include those factors that does not originate from the individual, but from environmental influences. In Palestine, there are many affected by the ongoing abuse by the Israel Defense Forces, extremist Israeli settlers, the checkpoints, walls, and lack of access to to basic necessities (Gregg, 2014). This has led some to join forces with various groups in the region to fight against Israel. The people see how they are being treated, how their houses have been taken away, or families killed and this has led to a life of terrorism because they feel they have nothing else to lose (Lazarus, 2015). For those who leave families behind, there is an advantage, in some instances in doing so, by way of financial recompense (Miller, 2004).

Culture plays a role in terrorism by separating themselves into one group in opposition to another. For instance, a particular group such as al Qaeda, may feel that Westernization is a threat to its existence by way of their religious ideology. Therefore, the group looks at Westerners and all those who support Western policy and ideology, as a threat to their being able to practice their beliefs. Religion, in this instance, is a huge cultural identifier in which the group belongs (Kluch & Vaux, 2015). Because groups such as al Qaeda plays on religion as their cultural aspect, it has been easy to branch into other countries in which there is a large Muslim population.

Although there is no one factor that can completely determine why an individual may become evil, the case of what is evil is always relative to the person who is doing the act. I remember reading a quote that stated that the definition of a terrorist has to take three perspectives into consideration: the terrorist, the victim, and the public. We have seen groups listed as terrorists in the past only to be redeemed as being freedom fighters later on (Hedlund, 2014). However, I believe once you look at the perspective that a person may be coming from, the act could possibly be legitimate.

References

Eneh, O. C. (2011). Failed development vision, political leadership and Nigeria's underdevelopment: A critique. Asian Journal of Rural Development. ↩
Gregg, H. S. (2014). Defining and distinguishing secular and religious terrorism. Perspectives on Terrorism, 8(2). ↩
Hedlund, E. (2014). Good intentions, bad results, and ineffective redress: The story of the no fly and selectee lists and a suggestion for change. Journal of Air Law and Commerce, 79, 597. ↩
Kluch, S. P., & Vaux, A. (2015). Culture and terrorism: The role of cultural factors in worldwide terrorism (1970–2013). Terrorism and Political Violence, 1–19. http://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2015.1038523 ↩
Lazarus, N. (2015). Twenty years of Israeli-Palestinian peace education: A research retrospective. Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics, and Culture, 21(2), 75–82. ↩
Miller, A. (Ed.). (2004). A situationist perspective on the psychology of evil: Understanding how good people are transformed into perpetrators (pp. 21–50). New York: Guilford. ↩
Onuoha, F. C. (2010). The Islamist challenge: Nigeria's Boko Haram crisis explained. African Security Review, 19(2), 54–67. http://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2010.503061 ↩1 ↩2
Sunstein, C. R. (2002). The law of group polarization. Journal of Political Philosophy, 10(2), 175–195. http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9760.00148 ↩
Waller, J. E. (2005). Becoming evil : The making of terrorists : Terrorism and the modern world. International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, 42(2), 167–188. ↩1 ↩2