[Milton-L] [Fwd: Re: [lbo-talk] Query re study of suicide bombing]

[John Geraghty]

I think for SA  it's Post-colonial meets Post-lintel.

-John

P uts forth no visual BEAM.
O mirror of our fickle state,
S ince man on earth unparallel'd!
T he rarer thy example stands,


B E A M
P       P
O      O
S       S
T      T


 Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
       With golden ARCHITRAVE; nor did there want
      Cornice or frieze, with bossy sculptures graven;
    T    he roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon
   N     or great Alcairo such magnificence
 E      qualled in all their glories, to enshrine
   B     elus or Serapis their gods, or seat
     Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove
      In wealth and luxury. Th' ascending pile
       Stood fixed her stately height, and STRAIGHT the doors,

The Arch:

  EN
B    T
P    P
O    O
S    S
T    T


The text then reads that Samson “bent powerfully” in his effort to dislodge
the pillars. The Hebrew term nātāh (bend), while a common word, contains
connotations of bending under a force or effort. Issachar bends his shoulder
to the burden (Gn 49:15). A wadi, riverbed, is said to bend or slope (Nm
21:15).

The word used in conjunction with the term “bend” is bekōha, literally “in
strength.” The assumed root of the term is khh, meaning “the capacity to
act.” The term is an expression of potency and refers to the subject’s
capacity to produce. Moreover, the usual intent is to denote physical
strength (Oswalt 1980: 436–37).
 
<http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2008/07/Between-the-Pillars-Revisiting
-Samson-and-the-House-of-Dagon.aspx>
http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2008/07/Between-the-Pillars-Revisiting-
Samson-and-the-House-of-Dagon.aspx


-----Original Message-----
From: milton-l-bounces at lists.richmond.edu
[mailto:milton-l-bounces at lists.richmond.edu] On Behalf Of Carrol Cox
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 11:14 AM
To: John Milton Discussion List
Subject: [Milton-L] [Fwd: Re: [lbo-talk] Query re study of suicide bombing]


See end of post for another fwd which criticizes the study.)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Query re study of suicide bombing
Date: Sun, 10 May 2009 17:34:55 +0100
From: HMFJ <hardwin1 at googlemail.com>
Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
References: <4A07005C.6C8B8B74 at ilstu.edu>

Hi, is this the one?

Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (2005; ISBN
1-4000-6317-5) is Robert Pape's analysis of suicide terrorism from a
strategic, social, and psychological point of view. It is based on a
database he has compiled at the University of Chicago, where he directs the
Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism. The book's conclusions are based on
data from 315 suicide terrorism campaigns around the world from 1980 through
2003 and 462 individual suicide terrorists. Published in May 2005, Pape's
volume has been widely noticed by the press, the public, and policymakers
alike, and has earned praise from the likes of Peter Bergen, Congressman Ron
Paul (R-Texas), Michael Scheuer, and Noam Chomsky.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_to_Win

On 5/10/09, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
>
> A couple years ago a university of Chicago professor published a study
> of suicide bombers, emphasizing their motives were nationalistic
> rather than religious. Can anyone give me the citations for this. Name
> of author, title of book, title of any articles, web sites, etc
>
> Carrol
>

Here is the second response to my query. I have great respect for Chip
Berlet, who with his colleagues has made a continuing study in depth of
rightist religious currents both in the U.S. and elsewhere, both Christian
and other religions. You can find many of those studies by googling "Chip
Berlet," which will give you the web page of his group.
You can decide for yourself which analysis to accept. I won't post further
on this, since it would carry us further and further away from Milton, but I
do want to insist that when writers speak of "suicide bombers" they should
recognize that the subject is a complex one. The phrase is firmly embedded
in contemporary politics, and to use it raises contemporary political
issuesd. (Just as it is impossible to discuss Milton's concept of freedom in
PL without overlapping 21st-c theological
disputes.)

Carrol

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Query re study of suicide bombing
Date: Sun, 10 May 2009 13:00:35 -0400
From: Chip Berlet <c.berlet at publiceye.org>
Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
References:
<4A07005C.6C8B8B74 at ilstu.edu><d15777030905100934q67bc6887u13c93de72e22b194 at m
ail.gmail.com>


Highly flawed analysis because the concepts of apocalyptic belief and
religious nationalism were simply dismissed.

See:

http://www.publiceye.org/liberty/terrorism/insurgency/biblio.html#relvio

http://www.publiceye.org/liberty/terrorism/insurgency/biblio.html#islam

especially:


Juergensmeyer, Mark. 2000. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of
Religious Violence. Berkeley: University of California.

Kaplan, Jeffrey. 1997. Radical Religion in America: Millenarian Movements
from the Far Right to the Children of Noah. Syracuse, N.Y.:
Syracuse University Press.

Robbins, Thomas and Susan J. Palmer, eds. 1997. Millennium, Messiahs, and
Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements. New York: Routledge.

Stern, Jessica. 2003. Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants
Kill. New York: Ecco/Harper Collins.

-Chip

--------
From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org on behalf of HMFJ [CLIP] 

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