(Times of Israel) Dr. Stuart Chesner - We need to dispense of many long-held misconceptions about the roots of terrorism. Terror is somewhat correlated with poverty, however many terrorists are products of middle-class, educated families. Terror is correlated with perceived political oppression, however history is replete with numerous examples of political oppression where the oppressed did not opt for terror. Remember Gandhi or Martin Luther King? Many terrorists are religious, however the overwhelming majority of people throughout the world of all religions find terrorism to be anathema to the principles of religion. I suggest that the underlying cause of terrorism is an educational/ideological system that glorifies murder as the ultimate expression of human meaning. Oliver Wendell Holmes said that the right of free speech does not confer the right to shout "fire" in a crowded theater. The educational system of Palestinian society is shouting fire and espousing murder. The writer is a clinical psychologist.
2016-01-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive