DEPROGRAMMING FORMER MEMBERS OF ISIS

SYNOPSIS:  

    As improbable as it seems at first,
changing the mind of a dedicated terrorist is not impossible.
People who were once willing to die for their world-view
have been able to recover from what they later realize
were deep distortions of religious belief.

    When a human mind has been programmed to believe something,
there is the potential for that same human mind to be deprogrammed.  

    Can religious leaders belonging to the same faith-tradition
help adherents to abandon their violent ways?

OUTLINE:

I. ANTI-ABORTION TERRORISTS

II. MAFIA CONVERSIONS

III. LITTLE BIN LADENS

DEPROGRAMMING FORMER MEMBERS OF ISIS

by James Leonard Park

    All around the world, former 'Islamic' terrorists are in custody.
Can they be deprogrammed and re-civilized?

    Using military force to change religious beliefs usually does not work.
Killing true-believers only turns them into martyrs,
whose life-story and ultimate fate are used to recruit more religious fanatics. 

    Can Westerners understand the minds of 'Muslim' militants?
Might their thinking be compared with the mind-set
of anti-abortion terrorists and Mafia families?

I. ANTI-ABORTION TERRORISTS

    Luckily for the world, there are only a few people
who are willing to kill to prevent abortions.  
These people call it "justifiable homicide"
when they kill doctors who provide abortion services. 
Their thinking is as follows:
When a doctor is killed who terminated pregnancies,
a certain number of additional abortions will be prevented. 

    (However, this does not seem very likely.
Women who need to terminate unwanted pregnancies
will find other means.
And the abortion pill will make it even more difficult
for anti-abortion terrorists
to locate doctors who prescribe chemical means
of ending unwanted pregnancies.)  

    Sometimes the anti-abortion terrorists are motivated by religious ideas.  
But these beliefs are so different from any Christian beliefs
that most churches never support the activities of anti-abortion fanatics. 

    The same is true main-stream Muslim organizations:  
Organized Islam does not support the activities
of the terrorists of September 11, 2001, for example.
Some Jihadi groups tell their followers
that they go directly to Paradise when they die killing infidels.
If main-stream Muslims believe in Hell,
should they make it clear that anyone who kills an innocent person
instead of going to Heaven goes directly to Hell?

    When anti-abortion terrorists support their position
by citing the position of the Roman Catholic Church against abortion,
they are completely distorting Roman Catholic belief.  
If these anti-abortion terrorists were raised Roman Catholic,
they have many friends and family members
who are just as committed to Catholicism as they are
but who do not believe that Christ calls for killing abortion-providers.  
Main-stream Christianity does not condone such acts of murder.  

    And the process of deprogramming anti-abortion terrorists
would include putting these misguided souls
back in touch with the real Christian religion.  
It is hard to predict what percentage of anti-abortion terrorists
could be converted back to the Christian faith,
but it might still be worth trying in every case.  

    Roman Catholic priests could visit the anti-abortion terrorists in jail
and help them to find their way back to Roman Catholic belief at its best.  
And perhaps the Pope himself could be convinced
to issue a clear and convincing statement
showing that Roman Catholic faith would never condone murder
—even in an attempt to prevent abortions. 
If the Pope were to issue a clear statement condemning murder,
then perhaps some anti-abortion terrorists would be turned away
from their plans to kill abortion-providers.
For example, would the Pope excommunicate such killers from the Church
and declare that they will spend eternity in Hell?

    Other anti-abortion terrorists come from fundamentalist Protestant roots.
But the same approach to deprogramming might work for them.
Keeping them in jail will prevent them from killing more abortion-providers
and bombing more abortion clinics.  
They could be visited in jail by believers from the same Protestant tradition
who do not believe that murder is the best way to prevent abortions.  

    Also family members who share the same faith-tradition
could be called upon to help the terrorist member of the family
to see that murdering doctors is not the proper way to prevent abortions.  

    Only some anti-abortion terrorists can be deprogrammed.
But shouldn't we try to change as many of these minds as we can?
Those who remain a danger to the public
might have to remain behind bars for the rest of their lives. 
Real deprogramming will be demonstrated
if they provide valid and useful information
about the terrorists organizations they used to belong to.  
Usually anti-abortion terrorists have discussed their beliefs
with others who think along similar lines.
And they might be able to provide names and addresses
of other terrorists who are now conspiring to commit
more crimes against abortion-providers.
 
II. MAFIA CONVERSIONS

    Could the Mafia provide another model for rehabilitation?   
These family groups are very closely-knit.  
They usually protect one another even unto death,
never giving up the secrets of the crime family.  

    But there are notable exceptions to the code of silence.  
Some former members of crime families changed their minds radically.
And these few people who abandon the mafia belief-system
have been able to provide very useful information
which has helped law-enforcement to locate and capture
other members of the crime gangs.  

    We know that former mafia members have really had a change of heart
if they do in fact help police to capture of their former colleagues in crime.  
And such informants usually need to be protected
for the rest of their lives from retaliation by other members of the gang,
who might be able to discover who told the police.
"Witness protection programs" give the defectors from the Mafia
new identities and new lives
so that they can never be located by the crime families.   

    The same kind of protection will have to be provided
for the first Jihadis who tell the secrets of their terrorist organizations.
They will never again associate with their former comrades in arms.  
But they might be welcomed back into their peace-loving families.  

    Osama bin Laden himself had a very large family-of-origin.
And most of the other bin Ladens did not support his terrorist ideology.
Will the bin Laden family now fund programs to rehabilitate young men
who were temporarily led astray by their terrorist brother or uncle?

III. LITTLE BIN LADENS

    Any efforts to deprogram members of al-Qaeda
will have to start with terrorists already in custody.  
There are about 100 would-be suicide-bombers in jail in Israel.  
They were not necessarily trained by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
But they share similar ways of thinking.  
They believe that they should kill themselves
in the process of killing as many Jews as possible.  
And they believe that they will go immediately to Paradise
for doing such a 'holy' act of murder-suicide.  

    However, other Muslims in Israel reject this belief-system.
These Muslims can be encouraged by the Israeli authorities
to talk with the terrorists caught before they blew themselves up.  
Some of these were recent recruits to the movement.
And they are glad that they did not kill themselves.  
They are ready to give away the secrets of the groups
that recruited them to be suicide-bombers.  

    Saudi Arabia also has a large number of 'Muslim' militants in jail.
This might be an even better place for deprogramming to be tried.  
Egypt is another predominantly-Muslim country
where terrorists are now in jail. 
Will Pakistan join this holy war against terrorism?
When the deprogrammers are not seen as foreign oppressors,
their efforts are more likely to succeed.

    If Jews in Israel attempted to deprogram Arabs,
they would be seen as the enemy, not as friends.  
But when the deprogramming takes place within a Muslim country,
conducted by well-known Muslim leaders,
then the chances of success are much higher.  

    And when a few cases of successful deprogramming become known,
then others will be encouraged to try this approach.  

    As with former members of the Mafia,
we will know that the former suicide-bombers have changed their minds
when they provide important information
enabling the police in their country to capture other would-be terrorists
before they can kill themselves—and several others.  

    Religious ideas must be met with other religious ideas.
The military establishment of every nation
is not equipped to help people abandon foolish religious beliefs.
We have seen military methods of attempting to use torture
as a way to get information about 'the enemy'.  
But much better results would be achieved
if one of the people who used to be a true-believer
decides that the religious ideology of the cult was deeply mistaken.  
Then this convert will want to save others from the same mistake.
He or she might help find and de-fuse other cult cells.  
Working with inside information will always be better
than trying to attack religious cults from outside.  

    If one Muslim country successfully deprograms cult members,
other countries might decide to send their detainees
for deprogramming in that country.  

    And the very first examples of former cult members
who have given up the ideology
can become patterns for others who are ready to be deprogrammed.  
Many cult members do not need to be deprogrammed.  
As they grow older and wiser,
they realize the foolishness of their former belief-system.
It is possible to deprogram oneself.  

    Islam at its best is not a violent religion.  
Muslims have lived at peace with non-Muslims literally for centuries.  
The small minority of Muslims who want to use violence
to destroy the 'infidels' might become main-stream Muslims again.  
And even if deprogramming does not work for all terrorists,
it is still worth the effort for the few individuals who can be shown
that Islam presents better options than murder and suicide.

    Warfare, torture, & other military methods used against terrorists
have often created more terrorists.
'Muslims' on the margin have been pushed toward terrorism
when they see what has happened to other Muslims anywhere.
But compassionate methods of deprogramming
will not radicalize a new generation of terrorists.

    Islam means submission to the will of God.
Can former violent 'Muslims' be led to understand
that killing themselves and others is not God's will?

    As committed Christians can work with anti-abortion terrorists,
committed Muslims can work with 'Muslim' terrorists.  
Osama bin Laden himself was never captured and deprogrammed.
But what would happen if one of his former followers
had a profound change of heart, mind, & spirit?

    Using violence to overcome violence
only seems to encourage more people to join the violent struggle.
Military force only makes 'the enemy' more angry. 

    Why not try love and compassion?


Historical note: The Original title of this on-line essay was
"Deprogramming Osama Bin Laden".
But the founder and inspiration for al-Qaeda was killed on May 1, 2011,
almost 10 years after the attacks of 9-11-2001.
Hence the title and content were updated to
"Deprogramming Former Members of Al-Qaeda".
In 2015, this was further updated to:
"Deprogramming Former Members of ISIS".
Created August 22, 2004; revised 11-4-2006; 11-13-2009; 12-10-2010; 5-3-2011; 5-4-2011;
12-14-2012; 8-30-2014; 1-23-2015; 3-11-2015; 11-25-2015; 4-29-2016; 2-22-2019; 2-25-2020; 

AUTHOR:

    James Park is an independent thinker
with deep interest in all religious phenomena.  
He has studied the literature exploring the cult phenomena. 
He has created a bibliography of books on cults:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/B-CULTS.html
    Here is the beginning of a bibliography on terrorism based on religion:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/B-TERROR.html

    "Religious Prisons to Rehabilitate Islamic Terrorists"
carries forward the ideas of  "Deprogramming Former Members of ISIS":
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/CY-PRIS.html

    You might also want to read:
"Peaceful Muslims & Violent Muslims":
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/CY-P&V-M.html

    A related on-line essay is called
"Holy War Against Terrorism":
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/CY-HOLYW.html

    "Jails for Jihadis:
To Stop the Killing and Rehabilitate the Warriors"
is another essay about using prisons
in the hope of converting some Jihadis to peaceful Islam:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/CY-JAIL.html

Another essay deals with Jahidis in Syria and Iraq:
"Disarming ISIS:
Capturing or Killing All Jihadis"
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/CY-ISIS.html

    Much more about James Park will be discovered on his website:
James Leonard Park—Free Library

Several similar essays have become chapters of a book:
World Peace Force: Disarming the Planet Earth.
This discussion of deprogramming religious terrorists is Chapter 14.

Here is the complete table of contents,
which shows the rest of the book,
exploring many dimensions of this proposal.

A new Facebook Group is assembling,
which will discuss this book in an organized way
once the first 100 readers have joined this FB Group:

Peace on Earth:
Establish a World Peace Force,
Then Disarm all Nations
https://www.facebook.com/groups/199878276819122/


Here is a complete description of this free Facebook Seminar:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/ED-WPF.html

The essay above: "Deprogramming Former Members of ISIS"
has now become a chapter of
Iraq: Mutual Genocide.

Go to other on-line essays by James Park,
organized into 10 subject-areas.

Go to the beginning of this website
James Leonard Park—Free Library