DEPROGRAMMING FORMER MEMBERS OF AL-QAEDA
{Historical note: The Original title of this cyber-sermon was
"Deprogramming Osama Bin Laden".
But the founder and inspiration for al-Qaeda was killed on May 1, 2011,
almost 10 years after the attacks of 9-11-2001.
Hence the title and content were updated to
"Deprogramming Former Members of Al-Qaeda".

SYNOPSIS:  

    As improbable as it seems at first,
changing the mind of a dedicated terrorist is not impossible.
People who were once willing to die for their world-view
have been able to recover from what they later realize
were deep distortions of religious belief.

    When a human mind has been programmed to believe something,
there is the potential for that same human mind to be deprogrammed.  

    Can religious leaders belonging to the same faith-tradition
help adherents to abandon their violent ways?

OUTLINE:

I. ANTI-ABORTION TERRORISTS

II. MAFIA CONVERSIONS

III. LITTLE BIN LADENS

DEPROGRAMMING FORMER MEMBERS OF AL-QAEDA

by James Leonard Park

    Now that Osama bin Laden is dead,
it might be possible to help some of his former followers 
to abandon his strange religious ideas. 

    Al-Qaeda will never again have such a charismatic leader.
Like other religious cults of all stripes,
this murder-suicide cult will probably not survive the death of its founder.
The people who made personal commitments to follow his orders
even if that meant killing themselves will re-think their life-plans.
The world is a safer place because Osama bin Laden is dead.

    We already have hundreds of his followers in custody.
Can they be deprogrammed and re-civilized?

    Using military force to change religious beliefs usually does not work.
Killing true-believers only turns them into martyrs,
whose life-story and ultimate fate are used to recruit more religious fanatics. 

    But the final life-style of Osama bin Laden—living in luxury in Pakistan—
and the facts surrounding his death,
followed by the quick disposal of his body at sea,
should prevent him from becoming a symbol for his cause.

    Violent 'Muslims' will continue to exist on Earth,
but their efforts will be more directed toward
the nationalism of expelling foreign oppressors
and ethnic struggled among different groups within their home countries.

    Can Westerners understand the minds of 'Muslim' militants?
Might their thinking be compared with the mind-set
of anti-abortion terrorists and Mafia families?

I. ANTI-ABORTION TERRORISTS

    Luckily for the world, there are only a few people
who are willing to kill to prevent abortions.  
These people call it "justifiable homicide"
when they kill doctors who provide abortion services.  
Their thinking is that for each abortion-provider killed
means that a certain number of abortions will be prevented.
 
    (However, this does not seem very likely.
Women who need to terminate unwanted pregnancies will find other means.
And the abortion pill will make it even more difficult
for anti-abortion terrorists
to locate doctors who prescribe chemical means
of ending unwanted pregnancies.)  

    Sometimes the anti-abortion terrorists are motivated by religious ideas.  
But these beliefs are so different from any Christian beliefs
that the organized churches never support the activities of anti-abortion fanatics.  
The same is true of organized Muslim religious organizations:  
Organized Islam does not support the activities
of the terrorists of September 11, 2001, for example.
Instead of saying that the 9/11 terrorists went to Paradise,
as they had been taught to believe by their leaders,
organized Islam says that they are now suffering in Hell.  
However, this thought is not often heard,
because there are other issues such as nationalism involved.  

    When anti-abortion terrorists support their position
by citing the position of the Roman Catholic Church against abortion,
they are completely distorting Roman Catholic belief.  
If these anti-abortion terrorists were raised Roman Catholic,
they have many friends and family members
who are just as committed to Catholicism as they are
but who do not believe that Christ calls for killing abortion-providers.  
Main-stream Christianity does not condone such acts of murder.  

    And the process of deprogramming anti-abortion terrorists
would include putting these misguided souls
back in touch with the real Christian religion.  
It is hard to predict what percentage of anti-abortion terrorists
could be converted back to the Christian faith,
but it might still be worth trying in every case.  

    Roman Catholic priests could visit the anti-abortion terrorists in jail
and help them to find their way back to Roman Catholic belief at its best.  
And perhaps the Pope himself could be convinced
to issue a clear and convincing statement
showing that Roman Catholic faith would never condone murder,
even in an attempt to prevent abortions. 
If the Pope were to issue a clear statement condemning murder,
then perhaps some anti-abortion terrorists would be turned away
from their plans to kill abortion-providers.
For example, would the Pope excommunicate such killers from the Church
and declare that they will spend eternity in Hell?

    Other anti-abortion terrorists come from fundamentalist Protestant roots.
But the same approach to deprogramming might work for them.  
They would have to be kept in jail to prevent them from killing more abortion-providers
and bombing more abortion clinics.  
But they could be visited in jail by believers from the same Protestant tradition
who do not believe that murder is the best way to prevent abortions.  

    Also family members who share a faith-tradition with the anti-abortion terrorists
could be called upon to help the terrorist member of the family
to see that murder is not the proper way to attempt to prevent abortions.  

    Only a certain percentage of anti-abortion terrorists can be deprogrammed.
But shouldn't we try to change as many of these minds as we can?
Those who remain a danger to the public
might have to remain in jail for the rest of their lives.  
We will know that they really have been deprogrammed
if they begin to provide valid and useful information
about the terrorists organizations they used to belong to.  
Usually anti-abortion terrorists have discussed their beliefs
with others who think along similar lines.
And they might be able to provide names and addresses
of other terrorists who are now conspiring to commit
more crimes against abortion-providers
if they are not caught before they kill.
 
II. MAFIA CONVERSIONS

    Another form of organized crime that might provide a model is the Mafia.
These family groups are very closely-knit.  
They usually protect one another even unto death,
never giving up the secrets of the crime family.  

    But there are notable exceptions to the code of silence.  
Some former members of crime families changed their minds radically.
And these few people who abandon the mafia belief-system
have been able to provide very valuable information
which has helped law-enforcement to locate and capture
other members of the crime gangs.  

    We know that former mafia members have really had a change of heart
if they in fact do lead police to the capture of their former colleagues in crime.  
And such informants usually need to be protected
for the rest of their lives from retaliation by other members of the gang,
who might be able to discover who told the police.
"Witness protection programs" give the defectors from the Mafia
new identities and new lives so that they can never be located by the crime families.   

    The same kind of protection will have to be provided
for the first members of al-Qaeda
who begin to tell the secrets of this terrorist organization.  
They will never again be able to associate with their former comrades in arms.  
But they might be welcomed back into the arms of their families.  

    Osama bin Laden himself had a very large family-of-origin.
And the vast majority of the other bin Ladens did not support his terrorist ideology.
Will the bin Laden family now fund programs to rehabilitate young men
who were temporarily led astray by their terrorist brother or uncle?

III. LITTLE BIN LADENS

    Any efforts to deprogram members of al-Qaeda
will have to start with terrorists already in custody.  
There are about 100 would-be suicide-bombers in jail in Israel.  
These individuals were not necessarily trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
But they share similar ways of thinking.  
They believe that they should kill themselves
in the process of killing as many Jews as possible.  
And they believe that they will go immediately to Paradise
for doing such a 'holy' act of murder-suicide.  

    However, other Muslims in Israel do not agree with this belief-system.
These Muslims can be encouraged by the Israeli authorities
to talk with the terrorists who were caught before they could blow themselves up.  
Some of these were recent recruits to the movement.
And they are glad that they did not kill themselves.  
They are ready to give away the secrets of the groups
that recruited them to be suicide-bombers.  

    Another country that has a large number of 'Muslim' militants in jail is Saudi Arabia.
This might be an even better place for deprogramming to be tried.  
Egypt is another predominantly-Muslim country
where terrorists are now in jail.  
A third country that might join this holy war against terrorism is Pakistan.
When the deprogrammers are not seen as foreign oppressors,
their efforts are more likely to succeed.

    If Jews in Israel attempted to deprogram Arabs,
they would be seen as the enemy, not as friends.  
But when the deprogramming takes place within a Muslim country,
conducted by well-known Muslim leaders,
then the chance of success are much higher.  

    And when a few high-profile cases of successful deprogramming become known,
then others will be encouraged to try this approach.  

    As with former members of the Mafia,
we will know that the former suicide-bombers have really changed their minds
when they provide important information
that will enable the police in their country to capture other would-be terrorists
before they can kill themselves—and several others.  

    Religious ideas must be met with other religious ideas.
The military establishment of every nation
is not equipped to help people abandon foolish religious beliefs.
We have seen military methods of attempting to use torture
as a way to get information about 'the enemy'.  
But much better effect would be achieved
if one of the people who used to be a true-believer
can be convinced that the religious ideology of the cult was deeply mistaken.  
Then this convert will want to save others from making the same mistake.
He or she will be a great help in finding and de-fusing other cult cells.  
Working with inside information will always be better
than trying to attack religious cults from outside.  

    If one Muslim country is successful in deprogramming former cult members,
other countries might decide to send their detainees
for deprogramming in that country.  

    And the very first examples of former cult members
who have given up the ideology
can become examples for others who are ready to be deprogrammed.  
Many cult members do not need to be deprogrammed.  
As they grow older and wiser,
they realize the foolishness of their former belief-system.
It is possible to deprogram oneself.  

    Islam at its best is not a violent religion.  
Muslims have lived at peace with their non-Muslim neighbors literally for centuries.  
The small minority of Muslims who want to use violence
to destroy the 'infidels' might be converted back to main-stream Islam.  
And even if deprogramming does not work with many,
it is still worth the effort for the few individuals who can be shown
that Islam presents a better way of life than killing others while killing oneself.

    Warfare, torture, & other military methods used against terrorists
have often created more terrorists than have been taken out of action.
'Muslims' on the margin have been pushed toward terrorism
when they see what has happened to other Muslims anywhere.
But compassionate methods of deprogramming
will not radicalize a new generation of terrorists.

    Islam means submission to the will of God.
Can former violent 'Muslims' be led to understand
that killing themselves and others is not God's will?

    As committed Christians can work with anti-abortion terrorists,
committed Muslims can work with 'Muslim' terrorists.  
Osama bin Laden himself was never captured and deprogrammed.
But what would happen if one of his former followers
had a profound change of heart, mind, & spirit?

    Using violence to overcome violence
only seems to encourage more people to join the violent struggle.
Military force only makes 'the enemy' more angry. 

    Why not try love and compassion?

Created August 22, 2004; revised 11-4-2006; 11-13-2009; 12-10-2010; 5-3-2011; 5-4-2011; 12-14-2012

AUTHOR:

    James Park is an existential philosopher
with deep interest in all religious phenomena.  
He has studied the literature exploring the cult phenomena. 
He has created a bibliography of books on cults:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/B-CULTS.html
    Here is the beginning of a bibliography on terrorism based on religion:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/B-TERROR.html

    "Religious Prisons to Rehabilitate Islamic Terrorists"
carries forward the ideas of  "Deprogramming Former Members of Al-Qaeda":
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-PRIS.html

    You might also want to read:
"Peaceful Muslims & Violent Muslims":
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-P&V-M.html

    A related cyber-sermon is called
"Holy War Against Terrorism":
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-HOLYW.html

    Much more about James Park will be discovered on his website,
An Existential Philosopher's Museum,
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/
which has more than 1,000 rooms.  

Go to the opening page for Heart, Mind, & Spirit
—an electronic magazine for UUs on campus.

Go to other cyber-sermons by James Park,
organized into 10 subject-areas.

Go to the index page for the
First Unitarian Universalist Church of the Internet .

Go to the opening page for Free Cyber-Sermons .

Return to the UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM page.

Return to the opening page for this website:
An Existential Philosopher's Museum








   






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