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Article: Zealots distort meaning of `martyr'.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- September 19, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Osama bin Laden claims that violent actions can pave the way to paradise. If last week's attackers shared his beliefs, they may have seen themselves as religious martyrs, bringing honor to their families while piloting commercial jets straight into symbols of American power. Such a claim strikes most people as unfathomable. It twists an idea found in most every religion: that self-sacrifice may be rewarded by God.
The events are particularly sensitive because there is at least some likelihood that the hijackers were Muslims _ and the association between Islam and terrorism is one that runs deep in the minds of many Westerners after decades of conflict in the ...