Islamic extremism fuels increase in religiously motivated terrorism

Four extreme Islamist groups were responsible for two-thirds of deaths in claimed terrorist attacks in 2013. Those groups were the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), Boko Haram, the Taliban, and al Qaeda, according to a new report.

At least two of them, ISIS and Boko Haram, have sometimes targeted Christians with violence. In Iraq in March, ISIS gave Raqqa’s Christians three choices: Convert, pay a protection tax, or face the sword. In Nigeria, Boko Haram has abducted and brutalized women and children, many of them Christian.

The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) released its Global Terrorism Index on Nov. 18, summarizing terrorism trends from 2000 through 2013. During that period, religiously based terrorism grew dramatically. IEP also found a significant increase in terrorism in 2013, with 61 percent more deaths than the prior year.

The uptick in religiously motivated terrorism was the result of the Arab Spring, according to Will McCants of the Brookings Institution. McCants, director of the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, said that movement opened up a “security vacuum in the Arabic-speaking world” and left many vying for power.

IEP’s report found more than 80 percent of deaths from terrorist acts were concentrated in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria. India, Somalia, Yemen, the Philippines, and Thailand rounded out the 10 most impacted countries.

Douglas Johnston, president of the International Center on Religion and Democracy, said Muslims were most often caught up in the violence.

“Muslims are clearly suffering the most, although I would say minority religions such as Christians in Iraq, Egypt, and elsewhere have suffered a great deal as well. But in terms of absolute numbers, Muslims are suffering the most,” Johnston said.

Todd Daniels of International Christian Concern agreed.

“Christians or those of minority faiths are often specifically targeted by extremists as we have seen in Iraq,” he said. “It has happened in Syria, Libya also. These communities already only make up a tiny fraction of the population and yet they will be targeted in an attempt to completely cleanse the area of ‘unbelievers.’”

IEP’s report did mention targeting of Christians and attacks on religious institutions. The bombing of All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, and al-Shabaab’s attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, were both in the top 10 deadliest attacks of 2013.

Experts said there was “no panacea” for terrorism, since different countries will need different solutions.

“Over the last decade, the increase in terrorism has been linked to radical Islamic groups whose violent theologies have been broadly taught,” Steve Killelea, the founder of IEP, said in a press release. “To counter-act these influences, moderate forms of Sunni theologies need to be championed by Sunni Muslim nations. Given the theological nature of the problem, it is difficult for outside actors to be influential.”

Daniels said counteracting extremist ideology “needs to be part of the process” along with a security response, but justice also is essential: “The biblical mandate for what governments exist to do—to allow good to flourish and punish evil (Romans 13) is greatly needed across the world. A study like this highlights it's absence and man's vicious and deadly response when evil is free to act.”