Lectures
The Religious Dimension of the “War on Terror” - Understanding Radical Islam
Synopsis
Islamist extremists are not shy about stating their goals and justifying them. Indeed, they are the most garrulous of enemies: repeatedly and at length they explain their actions in a plethora of videotapes, audiotapes, declarations, books, letters, fatwas, magazines and websites. Each bombing or other atrocity is accompanied invariably by all but a press kit attempting to justify their actions in terms of Islamic teaching and history. Consistently, they outline their program to restore a unified Muslim ummah, ruled by a new Caliphate, governed by reactionary Islamic sharia law, and organized to wage jihad on the rest of the world. We cannot understand our current “war on terror” unless we understand its fundamental religious dimension. In this inaugural lecture of the John Jay Institute for Faith, Society and Law Dr. Paul Marshall discusses the religious motivation and character of radical Islam and sharia law as well as the prospects for the emergence of democracy in the Middle East. Dr. Marshall is Senior Fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom House, Washington, D.C., America’s oldest human rights organization.
