Terrorism often appears to be motivated by religion. To me it seems as if we are bombarded by images of people committing atrocities on behalf of their god. This is, in my opinion, highly paradoxical. All religions teach that divinity is present in all forms of life, so to destroy life is to destroy that which is divine. How then can religion be a factor in a terrorist's motivation for killing?
Terrorism is the name given to any act of war which is unjustified in the eyes of the international community. In truth there are always opposing views on the justification for any violent act, be that a fist-fight, a riot or a full-scale military conflict. Therefore, to at least one person, every act of war can be seen as terrorism. What we see as a terrorist attack may be seen by others as justifiable, just as what we see as a justified war may be seen as a terrorist atrocity. Even Nelson Mandela, possibly the most famous modern day fighter for freedom was seen as a terrorist. Of course, we can look back and know that he was morally justified in his militant activities against the apartheid state at that time, but the fact still remains that to some people he inspired dread. It's all a matter of perception. With that in mind, the justification for terrorism can be looked at in the same we as we find reasons for going to war. Almost all wars are motivated by politics and power struggles. Throughout the ages, control and not belief has remained the prevalent reason for any group of people to take up arms. Religious institutions have been involved in violent acts, many religious groups over the millennia have raised armies from their followers. In these cases, however, it has been religious leaders seeking to control what people believe who have instigated the violence. Rarely, if ever, has anyone acted on belief alone. No religion justifies mass-murder in it's teachings. However, those who preach any religion have a great amount of power of their followers. To control what someone believes in is to control their view of the entire universe. In this way, it is very possible for a preacher of any religion to justify any amount of violence, or anything else for that matter, in the minds of their followers. Suicide cults are another example of this ability to use faith to create an atmosphere where even the most extreme actions appear to be right thing to do. People who have such extreme views to us seem 'brain-washed', but this is simply our word for describing someone who's faith in something which we deem to be far from reality is absolute. In their minds, they are acting on the will of god. In reality, a person or group of people have abused their faith to fit an agenda. And so terrorists commit murder because of the agenda of those they follow, not because of their religion.
Faith to me is something which brings hope, peace, understanding and a feeling of connection with the universe. People of true faith, regardless of what religion (if any) they follow, are often inspired by what they believe to make the lives of others better in whatever way they can. I am not a religious person, I do not believe that faith has to be organised in order for this to happen, although I have nothing against the concept of organised beliefs. I see a lot of good which can come from the teachings of religious leaders from all religions, even though I follow none myself. As all religions teach that all life is in some sense divine, I cannot see how any terrorist can truly say they are religious. A terrorist may have a strong sense of belief, but this to me is not belief based on religion. How could it be possible for someone to believe that god exists in all living things and that it is in god's name that they commit mass-murder? So-called fundamentalists ('extremist' is a much more accurate term) see themselves as the few who are are true believers, yet they are always the ones who miss the fundamental concepts of their religions. A true fundamentalist of any religion would have to be entirely selfless and devoted completely to celebrating all forms of existence. The fact that we call people who use religion in such a massively negative fashion 'fundamentalists' shows how little we understand the true meaning of faith. If we think that spreading fear and controlling people's views are at the very heart of religion then it is easy to see why bigotry is so unfortunately common in modern societies. It is also clear why we are so quick to accept the religious smokescreen which hides the agenda of terrorists. The fact that we do accept it is rather worrying, as this allows us to think that people of the same religion which the terrorists claim to believe in are dangerous. Of course, the vast majority of religious people do have faith in the proper sense of the word, and are therefore people who should be respected. Terrorism damages the view of whatever religion the terrorist appears to follow, which in turn creates an atmosphere of persecution and so gives people with extremist beliefs more ammunition for trying to justify terrorist attacks. In this way the perceived link between terrorism and religion causes terrorism to be self perpetuating, as well as causing people with true faith to be persecuted unjustly. This is something which I feel needs to be addressed if we are ever to truly be free from this form of violence.
Does religion have anything to do with terrorism? In my opinion, no. Real religious followers are people who seek peace and understanding, the divinity of life preached by religions simply does not allow for such acts of violence to be justified. Terrorists therefore cannot be religious. They are simply extremists willing to twist the belief systems of religions to suit their own needs and to falsely justify their actions.