Oct. 15, 2001

MARINA DEL REY, CA--The actions of Islamic terrorists are motivated by at least two fundamental ideas of Islam, said Dr. Edwin A. Locke, a senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute.

First: In Islamic thought, it is a moral duty and a moral virtue to kill 'infidels'-- those who do not accept Islam. This is not to say all Muslims agree with this idea, but the terrorists take these teachings of the Koran seriously and literally. In his 'Declaration of War against the Americans,' Osama bin Laden repeatedly cites the Koran to justify his holy war. He especially favors martyrdom and boasts that Islamic youths 'love death as you [Americans] love life.' Islam may oppose suicide, but it glorifies dying in battle, which is how the terrorists view slaughtering five thousand helpless victims.

Second: Islam, unlike Christianity (since Thomas Aquinas), has no respect for reason as a means of gaining knowledge or guiding actions. Islam advocates total domination of every sphere of life by religion, including the legal system, politics, economics, and family life. The individual must not think or act independently; he must subordinate himself, mind and body, to Islam, which literally means 'submission.' Islamic fanatics demand unquestioning obedience based on faith and reject any attempt to question religious dogma. The fanatic cannot be reasoned with, because he rejects reason totally.

Although there are other possible interpretations of Islam, noted Dr. Locke, the terrorist fanatics are consistent and uncompromising advocates of its doctrines. When they surrender their reason and accept killing infidels as a moral duty, murder and terrorism become virtues in the name of Islam. However, said Dr. Locke, the West's biggest danger is not terrorist attacks but our own attacks of moral self-doubt. We must defend--with absolute moral certainty--the values the terrorists are attempting to destroy: reason, rights, freedom, material prosperity, and personal happiness on this earth.

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