Description

the suicide bomber quickly became the icon of an Islamic “culture of death.” This led
me to try to think in a sustained way about the contemporary mode of violence that is described by much of the Western media as “Is-
lamic terrorism.” Is there, I asked myself, a religiously motivated ter-
rorism? If so, how does it differ from other cruelties? What makes
its motivation—as opposed to the simple intent to kill—religious?

Where does it stand in relation to other forms of collective violence?
How is the image of the suicide bomber, bringing death to himself
and others, addressed by Christians and post-Christians? My ques-
tions, I stress, arose not primarily from ethical concerns but from
a curiosity about conceptual and material connections.