How Human Brain Is (Religiously) Radicalised

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 2 July 2022 Radicalization Is A Process Of Developing Extremist Beliefs, Emotions, And Behaviours Main Points: 1. It’s important to understand the whole phenomenon of radicalisation. 2. Radicalisation is often associated with inveterate religious beliefs. 3. Religion is an ingrained evolutionary phenomenon. 4. Human religious behaviour is often impulsive and based on involuntary reflexes. ----- Following the gruesome beheading of a tailor by two fanatics in Udaipur, the whole world is wondering how people can be so monomaniac in their mission in life that the consequences of such an act don't bother them even a bit. This is radicalised behaviour. Before that, it's important to understand the whole phenomenon of radicalisation. Radicalization is a process of developing extremist beliefs, emotions, and behaviours. The extremist beliefs are profound convictions that oppose the fundamental values of society, the laws of democracy and universal human rights by advocating the supremacy of a particular group (racial, religious, political, economic, social etc.). The extremist emotions and behaviour may be expressed both in non-violent pressure and coercion and in actions that deviate from the norm and show contempt for life, freedom, and human rights. Though radicalisation is often associated with inveterate religious beliefs, other factors like country/nation and ethnicity also play a pivotal role. You've the example of LTTE's suicide bombers to bolster the point that it's not always religion that radicalises certain individuals. The radicalised Tamil suicide bombers blew themselves up to establish an independent Tamil Ealam or a Tamil nation. However, the roots of religious indoctrination or radicalisation are far greater and stronger. The question is: Why? Richard Dawkins, world's foremost atheist and evolutionary biologist, is of the opinion that religion is present as a 'percolation process' among humans. It needs some kind of an enumeration. More than any other belief, religion passes through generations. Any other belief has a periodic or at the most, a lifetime influence on a person. It doesn't carry forward. But religion is an ingrained evolutionary phenomenon. Our parents, their parents and a ladder of ancestors did believe in some religion and god. That naturally percolated down to all of us. That's the reason, now neurologists have found that there's a god-spot in a human brain and there's a god gene as well; active, super-active and dormant. And interestingly, it's there even in an avowed atheist's neuro-genetic makeup. Human religious behaviour is often impulsive and based on involuntary reflexes. So much so that even a man like Dawkins once exclaimed on TV ' Oh my god!' when he was stumped by a question asked by a very learned believer! This very presence of bequeathed/percolated religious behaviour makes some humans religiously fanatic. Because we've already had the wherewithal to attract the radicalisation process. So, the moment preachers, religious groups, handlers, priests, clerics, among others approach religiously devout and vulnerable individuals that ever-present religious inclination gets stronger and people become zealots. This is the reason, sociologists and sane people advise young minds to stay away from religious preachers and their hateful sermons. These preachers directly hit vulnerable individuals' god-spot in the brain and radicalise them. Who were those ten Pakistani youngsters who came to Bombay to kill people on 26/11 or who was Egyptian Muhammad Musa, the mastermind, who demolished Twin Towers on 9/11? They were all religiously radicalised people, even educated ones, who were made scapegoats by religious leaders and preachers. It's, therefore, my appeal to the government of India to block the access to all the Pakistani religious channels in India so that Muslim youth will not be radicalised by listening to the egregious religious gibberish of preachers like Mufti Tariq Masood, Maulana Tariq Jameel, among others. There're useless Indian Muslim preachers as well. Listen to their Bayaan and yarns. Rest assured, any sane person will puke. Whenever I feel depressed, I watch these morons' ridiculous sermons for a couple of minutes and have a hearty laugh. They help dispel my blues. Indian and sub-continental Muslim youth have already 'learnt' 'significant' lessons in terrorism and sabotage from an extremely dubious and rogue preacher like Dr Zakir Naik. Remember the Holey Artisan Cafe attack that shook Bangladesh in July, 2016. All the perpetrators were radicalised by Zakir Naik's religiously volatile lectures. These two criminals, involved in the Udaipur killing, are also very fond of Zakir Naik's incendiary sermons. To save all youth (esp. Muslim youngsters) from getting radicalised, putting the mockers on the sermons of all preachers is a sine qua non. Will the reasonably sagacious minds among the Muslims do something quick and worthwhile in this regard? It's high time. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/human-brain-religiously-radicalised/d/127387 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism