According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Definitions of terrorism are usually complex and controversial, and, because of the inherent ferocity and violence of terrorism, the term in its popular usage has developed an intense stigma".
The word 'terror' originated from the Latin 'terrere', to frighten, to intimidate in order to feel safer.
It is in the nature of some animals to appear bigger or actually to increase the volume of their bodies, when frightened, threatened, terrorised or intimidated by danger. This is done in order to be more impressive, more terrorising, in order to frighten those who threaten them. In fact, the fear caused by perceived danger provides the extra energy needed to assume these menacing postures.
As terrorising attitudes are mainly provoked by fear one could deduce that it is possible to eliminate these attitudes by helping the terrorising animals to feel less frightened.
Most probably, because of his neotony, man never developed such threatening or intimidating physical attributes.
Instead, with the appearance of the Mind, man invented the idea of his superiority and the desire to be bigger. As the Mind developed, man also created the idea of decorations, ornaments, tattoos, big hats and epaulettes, with which to impress, to appear more important than he was in reality.
Not only did the Mind invent wishful beliefs, its power of transcendence imposed the idea that one 's own wishful belief was superior to someone else's.
As a way of strengthening our sense of superiority or importance, we tend to denigrate or degrade others. We take pleasure in criticising, belittling or destroying important or successful people.
As with any other belief, the Mind's belief in the superiority of its wishful beliefs is clouded by doubts. In order to eliminate his doubts, a believer puts his trust in the superiority of his wishful beliefs and this becomes blind faith. It is blind faith that turns a believer into a fanatic.
Faith, in essence, is a tragicomic game of the Mind. Faith implies trust or confidence. Followers of a faith base their trust or confidence in fragile and wishful beliefs. To put our trust in a fragile or doubtful belief is not a rational thing to do. It may be that man's Mind does so because only by eliminating rationality is it possible for the faith to become established. Faith requires the elimination of rationality in order to eliminate the questioning or examination of the beliefs that constitute the faith. In order for a faith to become established, it also requires the elimination of the believer's sensitivity. When we place our faith in beliefs, we tend to become blind to facts, or reality, that might show the beliefs to which we are subscribing to be ridiculous.
When a fanatic elevates his belief in the superiority of his wishful beliefs into a faith and becomes a slave to it, he becomes terrorised by his craving for the superiority of his faith to become a reality. A terrorised fanatic becomes a fanatical terrorist; he has to prove the righteousness of his faith, to prove it or perish as a believer. A believers' faith, becomes, in fact a source of a unique aggressiveness, typical of man, an aggressiveness inspired by an abstract idea of superiority, which is an infatuation.
Having eliminated the efficiency of the new cortex, which deals with rationality, and the efficiency of the brain's limbic system, which deals with feelings and memory, a fanatical believer is left with the oldest part of the brain inherited from the reptilian past. The chief characteristics of the reptilian brain are rigidity, insensitivity, violence, cruelty and arrogance.
A self-terrorised believer is convinced, by his reptilian logic that by frightening, intimidating or terrorising the enemies of his beliefs he can convince them of the superiority of his convictions. Trapped in his reptilian unilateral reasoning, a fanatical believer does not realise that he forces his enemies to react by reinforcing their own conviction in the superiority of their own wishful beliefs. Now, having quelled doubt the only path for the terrorised is to protect his superior belief by repelling the terrorist or dying, and for some, even in the dying win. With the power of the Mind's transcendence, many come to believe in an eternal life after death, which implies that they can sacrifice this life for the life to come. After all, how can such a superior being not transcend death? Once a slave to this idea it becomes extremely difficult to regain rationality.
Terrorism is a contagious mental disorder. It generates revolts, rebellions and hatred, which release significant aggressive energies. During World War II the Nazi troops were instructed to use terror in the countries they occupied and particularly in areas of Eastern Europe. This policy provoked partisan resistance, which was a major contribution towards Germany 's ultimate defeat.
The ridiculous thing about our belief in our own superiority is that, being only a belief, our superiority does not really exist. Superiority is an invention of the Mind, a wishful desire inspired by the Mind's fragility, discontent and fears. It is the Mind's inferiorities, which inspire its dreams or fantasies about superiority. The Mind's fantasy of superiority seldom translates into real superiority as it carries the attributes of its original inferiority, the very opposite of the superiority that it aspires to.
Superiority has no existence except in the Mind. In the real world the truly superior person has none of the negative attributes that go with the Mind's idea of superiority but is benevolent, generous, understanding, magnanimous and non-aggressive.
The Mind's sense of superiority may be measured by the abuses it perpetrates, by its exploitation of others. The Mind's belief in its superiority is built on its corresponding belief in other people's inferiority.
The Mind's conviction in the superiority of its wishful beliefs generates hatred, intolerance, contempt and enmity for those who hold different beliefs.
Judaeo-Christianity was one of the principal sources of the Mind's assumption of its superiority. When the Judaeo-Christian God gave man, but not woman, dominion over the rest of the living world, he instilled in man the idea that he was the most superior living thing in all creation. Man has exercised this dominion by force, ravaging the earth and terrorising all living creatures. Our God was not wise in leading man to think himself superior since his sense of superiority makes him unable to improve, to advance towards maturity, to evolve beyond the juvenile stage of believing, towards greater rationality. In fact, it seems that man has not improved much since his God created the first man in his own image.
History provides many examples of the Mind's attempts to escape its uncertainty, fears, discontent and failures by convincing itself of its superiority. Our Mind's wishfulness, coupled with its fantasies and imaginings, is able to transform defeats into victories,and innocuous peoples into enemies that can be defeated, thus confirming the power of its superiority.
The Jews' belief that they were God's chosen people was most probably their way of overcoming their humiliating experiences of Egyptian captivity, deportation to Babylonia, and the Roman occupation.
To counter his feeling of inferiority when faced with the generally greater maturity of woman, man's Mind convinced him in the belief that he was superior to her. Christianity, which glorifies man, encouraged him in that belief and helped him to subjugate his partner, his mother, his sisters, and his daughters. The Virgin Mary is only revered 'By the Grace of God' as an innocent vessel for his purpose, setting the scene for all females to come.
Man's belief in his superiority over women certainly damaged our quality of life because it dismissed as irrelevant, women's main attributes and virtues such as caring, loving, nurturing, sharing, empathising, and sympathising. Those women who strive for success by emulating man and his selfish love are doing an even greater damage to the quality of life.
Christianity's belief in its superiority over Islam was inspired by the events of the late 12th century, when the Muslims captured Jerusalem and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Christians. Terrorised by these major successes of Islam the Pope in Rome mobilised Western Christendom in the name of the superior Christian faith, organising the First Crusade to drive the infidels from the Holy Places. The Pope promised full remission of their sins to all who fought for the superiority of the Christian faith and the certainty of going to Heaven if they perished on the battlefield (a belief common to many religions).
Fearing the growing power of the bourgeoisie and its wealth, in the 13th century the Latin Church set up the Inquisition, the most perfectly organised terror in history.
Terrorised by a belief in its superiority, Western Christendom launched itself into the conquest of the colonies.
The most important festive date in the Serbian calendar is 28 June. On that date in 1389 the Serbs were defeated by the Turks in the battle of Kosovo and thereafter were occupied by the Ottoman Empire for more than four centuries. Serbian popular fantasy transformed the defeat into a victory by inventing a myth. It was said that the day before the battle their leader had a vision in which God asked him to choose between a material kingdom in this life and the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven. If he chose the former, he would be victorious in battle and if he chose the latter, he would be defeated. He chose the Kingdom of Heaven and lost the battle.
The Hungarians invented a similar myth after their army was annihilated by the Turks in the battle of Mohacs in 1526, claiming that they had sacrificed themselves to the Turks' superior forces of men and weapons in order to save the Christian West from conquest by Islam. Bravery is the most highly admired virtue among Hungarians even today. The Mind, as ever, transcends defeat into something glorious or poignant.
In 1794 the French revolutionaries became possessed by the fear of losing power and in their terror introduced 'La grande terreur', in which thousands of people were sent to the guillotine. In imitation of the Inquisition, the executions during 'La grande terreur' took place in public, as a lesson to the populace. Following their reptilian logic, the revolutionaries arrived at the belief that 'terror generates respect'.
The Prussians, feeling threatened by this French hegemony, attempted to reduce their anxiety by creating a belief in their own military superiority, which they then had to prove. In 1870, goaded by this belief created in fear, they invaded France and defeated the French. The humiliated French, in defiance of their defeat, created French chauvinism, a fanatical belief in their national superiority. This became a major contributing factor to the tragedy of the First World War.
After the Great War, French and English politicians demonstrated their superiority over the Germans by imposing terms that reduced Germany to a state of helplessness and hopelessness. Blinded by their belief in their superiority they both failed to realise that a helpless and hopeless people would develop, in their fantasies and dreams, a belief in their own superiority. The Germans, suffering in the aftermath of this defeat, put the blame on their politicians for loosing the war, and in the process glorified their 'invincible' army. When inflation created hardship, they blamed the Jews, underpinning their belief in a mythological and supreme 'Arian Race'.
The belief in their army's invincibility inspired German Nazism, which was organised on military lines, with special uniforms and decorations, strict discipline, martial marches and military music, and characterised by intimidating propaganda and bellicose behaviour.
Russia's defeat by Germany in 1917 opened the way to power for Lenin, who promised that Communism would help the Russian people be victorious,and lead the world into a new era and a better future.
Mussolini conquered the Minds of the Italian people by promising to rebuild the Roman Empire on Fascist principles. The glorious prospect appealed to the Italians who had come out of the First World War, and the Treaty of Versailles that concluded the peace, feeling humiliated.
In the Balkans, civil wars broke out after the death of Tito because the peoples of Yugoslavia felt lost, disoriented and frightened without their strong leader. In order to escape from this state the diverse populations of Yugoslavia sought their separate solutions believing in the superiority of their different ethnic or religious traditions. Being a fantasy of the Mind, ethnicor religious superiority is aggressive and violent, and frequently leads to cruel ethnic or religious cleansing and civil wars.
American politicians, in the last half of the 20th and first few years of the 21st Century used and exaggerated the idea of threats from within and abroad to prop up their ailing ideals of democracy. They attributed its failures to evil foreign (or un-American) conspirators determined to overthrow the American way of 'life, liberty and freedom in the pursuit of happiness'.
America is not a nation; it is a country of individuals with no cohesion except against an external threat, such as Britain and her colonial taxes, Communism, and now Islam.
Without an enemy, there is no struggle, without struggle there is no unity, and a 'War on Terrorism' is as good as any.
Mental Terrorism, on the other hand, is an insidious enemy that should be recognised.The Mind's uncertainty and doubt make us extremely susceptible to suggestions. A tone of voice or a deliberately placing of a piece of information, true or otherwise, manipulates us, according to the whim of others.
Even when shown evidence that information is incorrect we tend to believe we are being conned, and feel confused, which increases our doubts and fears.
When news travelled at a more pedestrian pace, it was old before we received it, and therefore less threatening, allowing us time to react or act more rationally. Now it is immediate and we have no time to ask 'who?', 'when?', 'where?' and 'why? 'fundamental questions which allow us to make informed judgements on the veracity of the news or information.
Democratically elected governments take advantage of this and enslave the electorate by suggesting they are under threat. The voters demand they act with speed against this threat, otherwise they will not be re-elected.
In the name of a better life, we are accepting more and more restrictions, laws and legislation 'to protect the more vulnerable in our society' or in order to cut costs. Instead of praising and encouraging common sense, we are condoning common fear. 'Fear of crime' is a new target for policing budgets, possibly at the expense of solving crime. However, suggest to people that they might be fearful and they will find a reason to be so, and the question creates the problem.
We are building paper ghettoes and our services are enslaved to the process rather than the function. Mental terrorism is being afraid to act rationally and perhaps reasonably, in case this does not meet with current policies. Moreover, it is increasing pro rata with the dissolution of our families and communities.
It would be difficult to eradicate terrorism as long as slavery holds an attraction for some people.
Many people find an escape from their existential uncertainty by acquiring a slave mentality. They achieve a sense of security, without responsibility, by becoming a slave of religious or ideological dogmas or beliefs or just rules and regulations and even fashion; a slave of a loved or admired one; a slave of a political or military leader, a slave of their own inflated ego or their own Mind's illusions or pretensions. A slave mentality even encompasses the allure of addictive substances.
This is a voluntary and absurd incarceration. Slavery demands sacrifice, even death. However, this total submission also provides a slave with pleasure and contentment, and such an existence proves hard and frightening to give up.
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