Embryonic Terrorists

"Everytime a soldier gets blown to smithereens in Iraq, we rejoice."
-Fred Phelps, Pastor, Westboro Baptist Church

DODGE CITY, Kansas (CNN) -- This past Saturday morning I found myself in a five-car caravan cutting across the Kansas plains with about 30 religious protesters. In the back of a truck, there were signs that read "Thank God for IED's" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."
The group is led by Fred Phelps.
He and his family have picketed and heckled military families at more than 100 funerals since June. They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality.
He describes himself as an "old-time" gospel preacher who says, "You can't preach the Bible without preaching the hatred of God."
-from CNN.com

Regardless of what side of the war you are on...the right to protest is a cornerstone of our country. Some use the guise of "protest" to further a more sinister agenda having nothing to do with freedom of speech. And some of those are planting the seeds, growing the very embryo of terrorism itself.

Groups like those of Westboro Baptist Church in the above article go beyond religious expression and political protest and yet hide behind these things. What they preach is a message of hate. A hate that is raising a terrorist mindset. This is not only this author's opinion, it comes from the creator of the group itself...

"America became WBC's terrorist. So, God, in retaliation, became America's Terrorist."
- Fred Phelps, Pastor of Westboro Baptist Church.

Like traditional Islam has its extremists so too does traditional Christianity, Buddhism, and even Atheism. With every group there lies the potential for radical, sociopathic, or demented individuals to lay claim to a belief, and make it their own "cause" to kill.

The group mentality is telling. In a critical situation such as the scene of a car wreck, the larger the group of witnesses the less likely anyone will get involved to help. Why is this? Because individuals in the group feel a reduced sense of "personal" accountability. "Someone else will do it." The opposite is also true. A group such as a gang or other deviant group, will also share in violent ideology and lose the sense of personal responsibility...which makes violence easier. Violence becomes less personal and therefore easier to commit in the group context.

When people form groups their ideology is reinforced. Their beliefs strengthened and when hate is present...intensified. Sometimes to the point of violence.

Groups such as Westboro Baptist Church seek to incite hate and ultimately violence against the very country where their freedom comes from.

For now groups such as WBC only preach a message of hate. But in time as history tells us such hate when it doesn't fill the thirst for the group's rage will eventually seek to present its message in violence.

The combination of religious ideology, political ideology, and ritualistic beliefs with violent / hate driven agendas repeatedly seems to result in deadly outcomes. The modern street gang uses religious imagery and political rhetoric much like their counterparts in other dev-groups. This appears to be a growing trend that such groups are finding help in their own proliferation.

Hate courses through the umbilical cord for the fetus of terrorism.

KKK, Neo-Nazis, Islamic extremists, and eco-terrorists all came first with a message. Though their overall messages may differ the avenue in which the hate traveled eventually led to violent acts.

Groups like WBC are no different. Groups like this either fade away and die or serve as the womb in which future terrorists are grown.

Over time this blog will explore more deeply the growing threat of deviant groups within the United States. Embryonic terrorist movements silently growing in the belly of the United States.

More to follow...