Ruth Stein's pioneering study explains suicidal terrorism from a psychoanalytic perspective. She argues that most Islamic extremists undertake destructive and self-destructive actions not out of blind hatred, nor even for political gain, but to achieve an explosive merger with a transcendent awesome Father, God. The extremist is thus motivated more by his love for God than his hatred of the infidel. The contemporary Islamic terrorist kills "God's enemies" to express his intoxication with and complete submission to the God-idea. Stein further shows that this same leitmotif of filial submission and sacrifice runs through patriarchal monotheism in general.
"Until we understand the terrorist mind we will be unable to combat it. Here is the first step toward such an understanding. Ruth Stein shows that the psychoanalytic way of thinking about political and religious issues is alive and well-and of utter importance to our understanding. The book is replete with striking insights into this dark subject. A must read."
Walter A. Davis, Ohio State University
"[Stein was] a brilliant and original thinker . . . After the September 11, 2001 suicide bombings, President Bush declared that the perpetrators 'hated' Americans. Ruth Stein suggests that this was not the case. Rather, the suicide bombers were driven by love of God."
Richard A. Koenigsberg, Library of Social Science
"Stein has more success than any other I have read in this field in stepping inside the unconscious mind of the terrorist. Her argument is carefully crafted and the understanding of evil that emerges is remarkably profound."
