Spring Break
Speakers discuss relationship between religion, terrorism
Interfaith Dialouge Student's Forum addresses misconceptions regarding Islamic extremism
By: Chris Hokanson
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: News
Hasan Arslan spends most of the hours in his day monitoring terrorist groups and activity. In fact, he said, he and his organization spend 24 hours a day, 365 days a year doing so.
Arslan isn't part of the FBI or CIA, he's the assistant director of Sam Houston State University's Institute for the Study of Violent Groups. While terrorism has increased dramatically in the past two decades, he said, much of it hasn't been in the form of Islamic extremism.
Arslan addressed common misconceptions about the relationship of Islam to modern terror groups Tuesday at the Interfaith Dialouge Student's Forum, which focused on religion's relationship with violence and terrorism. The forum, "Religion and Violence: The Role of Religion in the Age of Violence," addressed issues like the impact of terrorism and a proper religious response to acts of violence.
Dean Bresciani, A&M's vice president for student affairs and a speaker at Tuesday's event, said colleges and universities must be places where sensitive issues like religion and its relationship to violence are discussed, but are often avoided because people are afraid of what they might learn.
"Colleges have been environments where it's very difficult to have 'out of the box' conversations," Bresciani said. "With the rich diversity we have at A&M, why do we avoid public conversations about history, religion or sexual preference and a host of other supposedly controversial topics?"
Bresciani said that humans are often scared of what they don't know - and that leads to a fear that what they do know might be wrong. Attitudes like this prevent proper discussion, and instead lead to misunderstandings and conflict.
While religion seems to be the cause of so much of today's violence, Arslan pointed to underlying factors, like political struggle and poverty, as leading elements in terrorist action.
"One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter," he said. "Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the United States government until 1990."
Arslan isn't part of the FBI or CIA, he's the assistant director of Sam Houston State University's Institute for the Study of Violent Groups. While terrorism has increased dramatically in the past two decades, he said, much of it hasn't been in the form of Islamic extremism.
Arslan addressed common misconceptions about the relationship of Islam to modern terror groups Tuesday at the Interfaith Dialouge Student's Forum, which focused on religion's relationship with violence and terrorism. The forum, "Religion and Violence: The Role of Religion in the Age of Violence," addressed issues like the impact of terrorism and a proper religious response to acts of violence.
Dean Bresciani, A&M's vice president for student affairs and a speaker at Tuesday's event, said colleges and universities must be places where sensitive issues like religion and its relationship to violence are discussed, but are often avoided because people are afraid of what they might learn.
"Colleges have been environments where it's very difficult to have 'out of the box' conversations," Bresciani said. "With the rich diversity we have at A&M, why do we avoid public conversations about history, religion or sexual preference and a host of other supposedly controversial topics?"
Bresciani said that humans are often scared of what they don't know - and that leads to a fear that what they do know might be wrong. Attitudes like this prevent proper discussion, and instead lead to misunderstandings and conflict.
While religion seems to be the cause of so much of today's violence, Arslan pointed to underlying factors, like political struggle and poverty, as leading elements in terrorist action.
"One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter," he said. "Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the United States government until 1990."
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