MovieChat Forums > The Cult of the Suicide Bomber (2006) Discussion > I thought that I would learn something n...

I thought that I would learn something new here but...

posted 16 years ago by jerryripple
1 reply | jump to latest

But I learned nothing new. Basically it's the same old same old. They are all animals that need to be exterminated. They don't want peace, they don't want prosperity, they don't want anyone to be able to be happy. They just want to follow their mythology and kill anyone that won't bow to their mythological figures. They can't get along with any people, because they aren't people.

And for those too stupid to understand, the koran forbids suicide. So even if allah was something more than a scary story to torture children with, he would send all suicide bombers to hell(if it existed).

Try to follow along here...Strapping a bomb to you chest so that you know there is NO POSSIBLE WAY TO SURVIVE is suicide, not martyrdom. Running out and throwing grenades and shooting at the enemy to give cover fire to your comrades, where you might not live... and you die... that could fall under the definition of martyrdom. But doing anything that you KNOW 100% IS GOING TO KILL YOU... that is suicide. But these animals are too stupid to live in peace and let others live in peace so I wouldn't expect them to understand something so basic. They are mesmerised by their criminal religious leaders. Here's something to chew on... those lunatics that preach suicide bombers... if it is such a great thing... why don't they become suicide bombers???

But really to see these monsters parading their small children around with toy guns and toy bomb packs on their chests.... that is really disturbing.

Forcing any religion on children is child abuse... but that is just beyond words.

They never should have invaded iraq or afghanistan, they should have just bomb the hell out of them and let it be. Would have been cheaper, and the money we saved could have been better spent on bombing a few more countries... say iran, pakistan, syria and france.

[–] palisade-1 15 years ago

It would appear the OP did not actually watch this film (or if s/he did, had the sound turned off).

This film was informative precisely because it illuminated aspects of the "suicide bomber" phenomenon that are not explicated in most media coverage.

It is true that Islam forbids suicide. Thus the average person who follows world events, and knows something of the tenets of Islam, must well wonder -- how then there can be so many volunteers for "suicide bombing," since according to the Koran, a person who commits suicide goes to Hell?

Robert Baer does an outstanding job of interviewing people, like the families of suicide bombers, to understand their perspective. Our "western" caricature (as exemplified by the OP) is clearly off-base. These bombers are not volunteering for Hell, they are expecting immediate reward in Heaven.

The segment on the 1980's genesis of the phenomenon -- a 13-year-old Iranian boy who threw himself in front of an Iraqi tank with explosives wired to his body -- was horrifying, yes, but also enlightening. One got an inside look at the worldview and belief system of the individuals involved, who -- far from being monsters and inhuman -- were ordinary people with aspirations for their children and families, and patriotic desire to defend their homeland and practice their faith.

It became clear that "suicide bombers" (a non-Muslim term) are not considered suicides by the majority of the Islamic faithful. Someone who, in battle, goes to certain death in the name of Allah is a martyr, not a suicide. To go to certain death in defense of the umma and the word of Allah is martyrdom as much as in battle. We may not agreed with this definition, but it is the one which informs their behavior and practice, so it behooves us to understand it.

Interviews with other family members, with individuals trying to find a middle ground, with scholars, with suicide bombers who failed and survived -- all cast more light on the thinking and motivations of people who have a wide influence in an ever-larger part of the world. Robert Baer has no easy answers for us but the message and the insights he provides are timely and urgently needed. For demographic reasons alone, the "western" world needs to wake up, smell the coffee, and develop some kind of rapprochement with Muslim people before they take matters into their own hands.