Lopez 1

Brianna Lopez
John Kubler
English 115
25 September 2014
If We Only Understood
When people think about insanity, they think about other people who do things to the
extreme; people like dare devils or adrenaline seekers. They like to do things that most people
wouldnt want to do because it involves their lives being at risk. To dare devils and adrenaline
seekers though, it is their way of life; it fulfills a sense of purpose for them despite how taboo it is
for most people who see their lives. They are driven by what dangerous events do, and they live to
be on edge. Although it is their way of life, based on the social norm, it could be categorize as
insanity. Religious practices such as whipping your back during Easter (which is a popular
tradition in the Philippines) could also be considered to be insane even though to Filipinos who
follow tradition, it is their way of life. They believe that its something that will bring them closer
to God, the same way terrorists feel when they do terrorists acts. To them it is their way of life and
fulfillment of a higher purpose that is identified all over the world as insane. In western
civilizations who are trying to resolve issues like the ISIS (an Islamic group who beheaded two
American journalist, and who is causing great mayhem in the Middle East) crisis in the Middle
East, they tend to neglect the religious aspect of their Islamic actions, and often wonder why
terrorist organizations, like ISIS, are very extreme in their actions. In an article written by Peggy
Fletcher Stack, a religious journalist for The Salt Lake Tribute, got her graduate in theology
studies from Berkeley, California, wrote about insanity and the association it possibly has with
religion, Historic figures who started new religious movementsincluding Martin Luther (The
Reformation), Joseph Smith (Mormonism), Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science), Ellen White-

Lopez 2
- were viewed by outsiders as delusional (Fleet 1), This shows that people who have dont great
things in history were also called insane due to their religious acts all for what they believe was for
the glory of God. I believe that people do insane and extreme things because of their religion
that gives people incentives to do things that simple material and wealth cannot offer and that
ideally will please God, which usually results into extreme acts that other people out side the
organization will never understand; thus, results to ideal solutions that end up not helping, but
destroying the world community.
People do insane things because of religion. Marjane Satrapi wrote a graphic novel,
Persepolis, about her childhood during the time when Iran and Iraq were at war and during the
overruling of the Shah. During the part when Iran was at war with Iraq, young teenage boys were
being recruited to the military. They were given keys to paradise as an incentive to go to war for
the regime: the key to paradise was for poor people. Thousands of young kids, promised a better
life, exploded on he minefields with their keys around their necks (Satrapi 102). These boys were
promised a better life after their life so that they could have a reason to fight in a war Iran got itself
into. These kids, of course, are like any other kids. They want to hang out, have a future, and
possibly get married. But because religion, in this case the concept of heaven, was appealing to
these boys of at least 14 years old, they decided to give up everything just to be in paradise, which
no kid in America would do because war to Americans are for young adult and older people, not
children who should be going to school and playing on playgrounds. The religious leaders in their
country were manipulating children to give up their lives as children in order to do soldier like
duties that are ideally carried out by adults. In an article called, Psychological Manipulation by
the Psychological Harassment Information Association, which is an association that focuses on
psychological harassment, discrimination, and sexual harassment, explained, psychological
harassment and psychological manipulation mind control can induce psychological and physical

Lopez 3
disorders (PSYCHOLOGICAL HARASSMENT INFORMATION ASSOCIATION 1). And,
according to oxforddictionaries.com, which is a credible dictionary that is used all over the world,
it explains that insanity is, the state of being seriously mentally ill (Insanity 1). Based off the
two sources, it is possible to conclude that the religious leaders were pushing these children to
sacrifice their rights as children in order to become soldiers from this illusion that they will be in
paradise that brings these children to commit acts of insanity of going to an adult war due to the
manipulation of their religious leaders.
Religion also gives the incentive of bringing people together for one purpose: to please god
and to do his will according to what they think he wants. Terrorist groups are everywhere, but
religious terrorist groups are known to be worst than secular terrorist groups. According to Dr.
Jones who has a Ph. D in Spiritual Ambiguities, a Professor of Religion and an Adjunct Professor
of Clinical Psychology in Rutgers University: A series of studies on the psychological impact of
considering an activity as sacred, found that those who denote a facet of life as sacred place a
higher priority on that aspect of life, invest more energy in it, and derive more meaning from it
than happens with things not denoted as sacred. Denoting something as sacred appears to have
significant emotional and behavioral consequences, maybe even if that something is the jihad or
ending abortion and turning America into a Biblical theocracy (Jones 1). He argues that people
who are involved in religious affairs are motivated to take it into the extreme because theyre
driven to do something, especially if it is something considered sacred. When people are
motivated and driven to do something, they become stubborn to change their ways, especially
their faith. For example, in Persepolis, when Satrapis uncle just got out of prison because the
revolution ended, he said: Its not important. Everything will turn out fine. In a country where half
the population is illiterate you cannot unite the people around Marx. The only thing that can really
unite them is nationalism or a religious ethic (Satrapi 62). Satrapis uncle, Anoosh, was stating

Lopez 4
that if a government wants to unite people and have them follow the government, the government
would have to motivate people through either nationalism or religion. And according to
Persepolis, the country was brought together through mostly religion reasons and through
religious leaders.
Once someone is committed to religion, it becomes even more concrete when theyre
joined with other people who feel as strongly as they do, and these kinds of groups usually end up
as either cults or terrorist groups who take things into the extreme. Bruce Hoffman, the director of
the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University, and a specialist in the study of
terrorism, wrote about why terrorism is extreme when it is collaborated with religion: religious
terrorists see themselves not as components of a system worth preserving at all but as outsiders
seeking fundamental changes in the existing order. This sense of alienation further enables the
religious terrorist to contemplate far more destructive and deadly types of terrorist operations than
secular terrorists-and reinforces the tendency to embrace a far more open-ended category of
enemies for attack (Hoffman). Hoffman explains that because the group has one purpose
together that is so broad; it is easier for them to create ever more destruction. They believe that
their group is the only group who believes in what they believe in, which makes them feel like
outsiders from everyone else. In Persepolis, Satrapi is between the midst of war, Iraq v. Iran and
she explains the atmosphere of what was happening, In fact, Iraq proposed a settlement, and
Saudi Arabia was willing to pay for reconstruction to restore peace to the area. But our
government was against it they eventually admitted that the survival of the regime depended on
the war (115-116). The Iran government knew that in order for people to stay within the Islamic
regime, they have to all have a purpose, and that purpose for them was war against Iraq and to win
the holy city. It brought people together, even though it created so many casualties. Thus, religion
and beliefs creates a sense of purpose for these people, which could lead into insane activities.

Lopez 5
So, what is the point in understanding why people do insane things just for the sake of
religion? Or why does religion cause so much mayhem on insane affairs? Why should we care
what it does to us today? It is because understanding religion and what it does to society is going
to help equip future world affair decisions that could either lead us to the next World War III or to
world peace. Whom we choose to represent our voice and who will lead our country, goes into
consideration whether or not we go to war against countries whose religion and culture we dont
completely understand. The United States of America went to war with Afghanistan, and just
recently started taking out troops. Now, with ISIS, because of two journalists who died, America
wants to go back to war? Shouldnt the general public understand that America came into
Afghanistan not understanding their culture and their way of life, hence, creating even more
mayhem than when they left than when we first came? The United States created a monster, even
beyond their own control, (Erdbrink 1) according to Amir Hosein Mohammadi who is a
radiologist in Iran who said this in the NewYorkTimes. ISIS is a monster created through the
outcome of America coming in, on which Americans back then, voted for the army to invade the
Middle East. Ignorance is a trap many people fall into. If people in general dont start educating
themselves about the world around and their religion/culture, we will never understand how to
deal with another country beneficially, hence, could create chaos and potential war. People would
understand important issues like giving refugees aid, food, and water instead of changing a whole
other countrys way of government. Madeline Albright, a former US Ambassador, wrote about
how religion should be understood in order to maintain harmony and peace in the world, religion
at its best can reinforce the core values necessary for people from different cultures to live in some
degree of harmony: we should make the most of that possibility (Albright, 42). Albright is
encouraging the idea of understanding religion and culture so that we can make world solutions
that would make both parties satisfied. So that, we wont have to face conflict, hence we wouldnt

Lopez 6
have to see our loved ones risk their lives for a battle that could be prevented just by the
acknowledgment of one anothers culture and religion.

Lopez 7
Works Cited
Jones, James W. "Sacred Terror: How Religion Makes Terrorism Worse." Psychology Today.
Sussex Publishers, 26 June 2010. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.
Hoffman, Bruce. "Site-wide Navigation." Revival of Religious Terrorism Begs for Broader U.S.
Policy | RAND. Rand Corporation, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.
Albright, Madeline. "The Mighty and the Almighty." Faith and Diplomacy (n.d.): 34-42. Print.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York, NY: Pantheon, 2003. Print.
Fleet, Josh. "Drawing The Line Between Religious Inspiration And Insanity." The Huffington
Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 Dec. 2010. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
Erdbrink, Thomas. "For Many Iranians, the Evidence Is Clear: ISIS Is an American
Invention." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
"PSYCHOLOGICAL HARASSMENT INFORMATION ASSOCIATION." Psychological
Manipulation. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
"Insanity." : Definition of in Oxford Dictionary (British & World English). N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2014.