The Essence of Terrorism
By Peter Michaelson

In order to rid the world of terrorism, humanity has to evolve to another level of understanding and compassion. The human race broke through to a higher consciousness when slavery as an institution was defeated in the 19^th Century and when racist segregation was beaten back in the 20^th Century. Now we have to understand the mentality behind terrorism.

In our search for understanding of 9/11, Americans have examined political, religious, economic, and cultural factors. However, terrorism can perhaps best be understood through psychology.

Terrorists of all stripes are steeped in a victim mentality. They are prone to experience challenging situations through feelings of deprivation, helplessness, domination, and defeat. Their interest is not in reform but in the ongoing experience of themselves as victims of injustice and oppression.

Their violent reactions, designed to blame others for their negative feelings, cover up or defend against their unconscious determination to maintain, and even indulge in, their sense of victimization. By striking out with violence, the terrorist can claim in his inner defense that he is not passively experiencing his situation through negative feelings, but that he has power and right on his side.

The terrorist experiences the power of others, whether nations or individuals, through feelings of being humiliated, overlooked, pushed aside, and otherwise victimized. Inwardly, the terrorist identifies with negative feelings. It is through negativity that he knows himself. However, he wants to believe, as an inner cover-up or denial of the dark elements in his psyche, that his hateful  impressions of others are an objective guide to truth and action.

The Islamic extremist hates to see others enjoying freedom, and thus, like all fundamentalists, he is obsessed with regulating personal behaviors. He is so repressed in himself, so closed in his mind and heart, that he is compelled to repress others.

His psychological profile includes other symptoms.

^* The terrorist is enmeshed in helplessness, alienation, and despair. Suicide is an option because, in his entanglement in the shadow elements of his psyche, he is not connected to his essence, his ultimate value. The terrorist creates his life to mirror his inner darkness. He may feel he has little to live for other than suicidal revenge, which when acted upon represents the ultimate denial of his psychological problems and his own self.

^* As a fanatic, his mind and emotions have been taken over by dogma or by the agenda of others, and he doesn't think for himself. He is a bewildered soul, separated from his own truth and his own self. In his search for orientation, this individual embraces a cause that makes him feel real or powerful, while his dogma is a twisted rationalization for his inner discord.

^* The terrorist feels pushed aside and rendered invisible. His pathological anti-social behavior covers up his attachment to such feelings, and it says, in effect: "I have power! I can destroy you! Now you will pay attention to me!" He is very sensitive to feeling disrespected. Yet the terrorist has little respect for the sanctity of others and no respect even for his own life.

^* The terrorist's hatred is another symptom of knowing himself through hopelessness and inner passivity. Like the person who goes around inwardly beating up on himself, the terrorist is utterly passive to his own inner aggression. The greater his passivity, the more extreme is his hatred, first of self, then projected onto others and external circumstances. The greater his hatred, the more likely he will act on it. His terrorism is a defense against his seeing, feeling, and owning his own sense of worthlessness and self-loathing.

^* His claim to be fighting for reform or legitimate goals is a rationalization, a cover for the aggressive and hateful impulses that spring from his inner embrace of negative convictions. If reform were truly the aim of the Islamic terrorist, he would use discourse and the power of persuasion to advance justice and democracy. His extreme negativity creates an inner desperation and a lack of patience that block this option.

^* The terrorist's severe egotism accounts for his self-righteousness. He is under the influence of infantile egotism and acts from the same impulse as a child who slaps another child who touches his toy. The terrorist feels entitled to act on his primitive emotions, particularly when he becomes bonded with a cadre of similarly emotionally impaired individuals.

Western psychology has been ignored in the Islamic world, and even in the West a majority of us do not understand many of its basic principles. It will help when all of us can see ourselves more objectively, more profoundly, so that humanity can grow beyond primitive emotionalism.