What would Freud say?

Do suicidal Salafists suffer from sexual hangups? According to former Salafist Tawfik Hamid, they do. He thinks the West is in denial about this, and about the nature of the Salafist threat:

“North Americans are too squeamish about discussing the obvious sexual dynamic behind suicide bombings. If they understood contemporary Islamic society, they would understand the sheer sexual tension of Sunni Muslim men. Look at the figures for suicide bombings and see how few are from the Shiite world. Terrorism and violence yes, but not suicide. The overwhelming majority are from Sunnis. Now within the Shiite world there are what is known as temporary marriages, lasting anywhere from an hour to 95 years. It enables men to release their sexual frustrations.
“Islam condemns extra-marital sex as well as masturbation, which is also taught in the Christian tradition. But Islam also tells of unlimited sexual ecstasy in paradise with beautiful virgins for the martyr who gives his life for the faith. Don’t for a moment underestimate this blinding passion or its influence on those who accept fundamentalism.”
A pause. “I know. I was one who accepted it.”
This partial explanation is shocking more for its banality than its horror. Mass murder provoked partly by simple lust. But it cannot be denied that letters written by suicide bombers frequently dwell on waiting virgins and sexual gratification.
“The sexual aspect is, of course, just one part of this. But I can tell you what it is not about. Not about Israel, not about Iraq, not about Afghanistan. They are mere excuses. Algerian Muslim fundamentalists murdered 150,000 other Algerian Muslims, sometimes slitting the throats of children in front of their parents. Are you seriously telling me that this was because of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians or American foreign policy?”
He’s exasperated now, visibly angry at what he sees as a willful Western foolishness. “Stop asking what you have done wrong. Stop it! They’re slaughtering you like sheep and you still look within. You criticize your history, your institutions, your churches. Why can’t you realize that it has nothing to do with what you have done but with what they want.”
Then he leaves — for where, he cannot say. A voice that is silenced in its homeland and too often ignored by those who prefer convenient revision to disturbing truth. The tragedy is that Tawfik Hamid is almost used to it.

(Via Darleen Click.)
This raises interesting issues. I try not to be squeamish about discussing sexual dynamics in general, and I guess there must be a sexual component motivating people who would deliberately blow themselves up.
Is it bigoted to wonder how many of them have emotionally satisfying sex lives?
Might be something for those engaged in screening to ponder. I mean, if we can’t profile the religious views of suicidal Salafists, what’s left?
The problem is, screeners have no training in psychiatry or psychology, much less in measuring sexual frustration levels, so I don’t know how sexual frustration screening might be implemented.
Hmm….
I’m thinking that the cheapest way to do this might be to offer complementary copies of Playboy or Hustler to suspicious-looking passengers, then watch for reactions. Or maybe place flashing red “ADULT XXX” signs somewhere above the metal detectors, and watch for signs of agitation.
But what do I know? This being a democracy and all, there should probably be a national debate.


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

5 responses to “What would Freud say?”

  1. bkw Avatar
    bkw

    I’m of the opinion that we should blanket the middle east with free satellite TV. I’m talking the Premier Choice Plus Platinum package.
    I think many problems would solve themselves within a generation.

  2. Harkonnendog Avatar

    Half the 14 year-olds I knew when I was 14 would have considered a homicide bombing if they thought it means sweet punani in the hereafter… If those same guys never got a taste all the way through early adulthood, look out. Tafik Hawmid has been loved up by the correct in that post.

  3. John Burgess Avatar

    The supposed analysis fails. The ringleaders of 9/11 were living in Western Europe. Sex is not unavailable for anyone wishing to partake, especially if he has a few bucks to spare.
    Within traditional Islamic societies, it’s a bit more of an issue, but societies have a way of dealing with it more or less. Teenage homosexual sex is not approved of, but it’s not harshly condemned nor punished, unless it reaches the rape level. Daisy chains and circle jerks have long been a staple of the Gulf States.

  4. Harkonnendog Avatar

    well crap now I think the theory is stupid… I’ve lost my ability to think on my own… I can now only choose betwixt different bloggers.

  5. Eric Scheie Avatar

    Stupid? Why, I thought I’d put together a very serious proposal, just in time for the TSA to implement for the holidays!