What scares me about the religious fanatics is not that they think they are right, or that they think the can’t be right unless everyone is forced to believe as they do, or they think violence is a solution, but that some religious nuts think murdering humans in cold blood does not eliminate the assurance of eternal reward.
Take Robert Dear who listened to the political wing nuts like Ted Cruz and decided the best thing for him to do is to murder people. It never surprises me when these evangelicals kill people, I have known enough of them who have told me they carry guns in hopes of an excuse to kill people, but it always surprises me when they think they are going to be rewarded for their actions. In his case he expects to be met by all the aborted fetuses and they would thank him. I wonder if this is the evangelical equivalent to the virgins meeting the suicide bomber,or if this is just a kink specific to Dear.
I think in fighting terrorism this is something we have to incorporate. Dear, who was of course living in North Carolina, perhaps worshipped not the almighty but perhaps was more enamored by the ministers and pastors who reinforced his need to believe he had the right to kill people. I say this so that people do not think that I believe the almighty promotes hate. Some of these religious figures were themselves murderers, others like Cruz merely was part of a family that thought some people were not inherently worthy of life.While I absolutely believe that all religious needs to be treated equitably, I also believe that no religion should have state protection, and those who promote violence should be targeted by law enforcement to prevent them participating in murder.