Christian terrorists hijack a plane

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by GeekyPenguin

Are you then implying that the Crusaders were not as large as the Islamic terrorists? Because I would posit that not only were they larger in scope, they were far better organized and focused on one common goal instead of hundreds of factious ones.

Originally Posted by RACooper

. . . and of course any church associated with Ian Paisley (you know giving finacial aid to the UVF, to help stamp out the Catholic vermin).

I realize that most of the people participating in this thread understand this, but for the few who still don't get it . . .

With both of these examples, as with blueangels' Muslim/Malay insurgents in Thailand (see the Thailand coup thread that she brought over here), the motivations are as much ethnic and political as they are religious. They certainly were with the crusades (and is it completely fair to assess the attitudes of Christians and Christianity today by reference to the Crusades?) and it is true in Northern Ireland. It can often be hard to separate the ethnic and political from the religious, since the ethnic and political divisions can mirror religious divisions, and since religious divisions are used as the fuses, even the pretexts, to further ethnic and political goals. Even with groups like Al-Quada, "we" are targeted not because "we" are Christian per se, but because we are Western/American, and the West is perceived by the terrorists as the enemy of Islam. Trying to confine any of these phenomena to religious or ethnic or political roots is just too simplistic.

[_Opi_]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Even with groups like Al-Quada, "we" are targeted not because "we" are Christian per se, but because we are Western/American, and the West is perceived by the terrorists as the enemy of Islam. Trying to confine any of these phenomena to religious or ethnic or political roots is just too simplistic.

I agree. There are complex, multilayered issues pulling each terrorist organization, and while at face they seem to have the same objectives and motivations, they actually don't. I.e. Hizbullah v. Al-Qieda v. Hamas. I think, in the media, with words flying around flying around like "Islamic terrorism", some would find it hard to differentiate these groups, and just lump them all together based on religion.