ithin the narrow bounds of its theology, the Islamic State hums with energy, even creativity. Outside those bounds, it could hardly be more arid and silent: a vision of life as obedience, order, and destiny. Musa Cerantonio and Anjem Choudary could mentally shift from contemplating mass death and eternal torture to discussing the virtues of Vietnamese coffee or treacly pastry, with apparent delight in each, yet to me it seemed that to embrace their views would be to see all the flavors of this world grow insipid compared with the vivid grotesqueries of the hereafter.
I could enjoy their company, as a guilty intellectual exercise, up to a point. In reviewing Mein Kampf in March 1940, George Orwell confessed that he had “never been able to dislike Hitler”; something about the man projected an underdog quality, even when his goals were cowardly or loathsome. “If he were killing a mouse he would know how to make it seem like a dragon.” The Islamic State’s partisans have much the same allure. They believe that they are personally involved in struggles beyond their own lives, and that merely to be swept up in the drama, on the side of righteousness, is a privilege and a pleasure””especially when it is also a burden.
Fascism, Orwell continued, is
psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life ”¦ Whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a more grudging way, have said to people “I offer you a good time,” Hitler has said to them, “I offer you struggle, danger, and death,” and as a result a whole nation flings itself at his feet ”¦ We ought not to underrate its emotional appeal.
This entire essay is well worth reading.
The political narrative that terrorists hijacked a religion to give cover for their evil deeds leads to the question of why pose as Muslims. I would like to hear the State Department on that one.
Thanks for sharing this. We forget we’ve had to deal with neighbors like these – both politically and religiously – before. But, then, knowledge of history has never been a quick money maker or brought social advantage.