Could suicide bombers be members of a cult ??

[AussieDave]

And if so, does this make Bush the leader of a cult ??

I heard an interesting interview on ABC (Australia) Radio National this morning with Walid Ali, a lawyer who is on the Executive of the Islamic Council of Victoria. He

"says that the young men, men with seemingly everything to live for, who become suicide bombers, should be seen as members of a cult, a death cult perhaps. They show that same dedication to their leader, sense of isolation from the rest of society as cult members. And there are the same difficulties in rescuing them from the cult - it is usually only through the discrediting of the leader, by former members that a cult can be weakened."

Doesn't this sound like the Republican party, Christian fundamentalists, and evangelicals and all the others who have drunk the Kool-Aid ?? The Cult of W ??

Here's a link to the interview (transcript of the whole thing early next week):

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/saturday/stories/s1415277.htm

[rwenos]

1. Ever Read About the Thugees?

Cult of death-worshippers in Northern India, late in 19th Century.

A rare example of a British colonial atrocity with an actual PURPOSE. From what I recall, they basically waded in and "liquidated" the whole cult.

[AussieDave]

3. I've heard of them, but don't know much about them

- didn't they go around killing people randomly as part of their worship ??

[rwenos]

6. Called "Thugs"

A quick yahoo search tells me they existed in India until the 1890's. The Indian population supported British efforts to hang the ones they captured. They killed lots of Indians, but apparently no Brits. Fascinating parallel to modern suicide bombers, I think.

[CityZen-X]

2. How About The.....

Cult of Ka-Boom! Or the Ka-Boom Cult?

[AussieDave]

4. Maybe they just like playing with fire....

[notadmblnd]

5. hypnosis.. mind control

I've often wondered how these people do it? I think the human psyche is built for survival. It's human nature to not want to die for the most part.

Does it become easier if the person feels hopeless and has nothing to live for? I suppose.

But I've noticed, the people blowing themselves up and killing others with them, have quite a bit to live for.. their futures are not hopeless. They're well educated and appear to be middle class.

So, who is making them do it and how?