They were driven by what in their terms would be a need for virtue, a need to send a fireball of meaning into the uncomprehending world. The meaning said this: my life is not futile and my death is not final. This carnage has a higher purpose than anything the barren ceremonies of the West can offer me with its expensive gewgaws, watered-down religions, trips to the leisure centre and celebrities. This is a terrifying reality, that these bombers want nothing in return for their lives other than what they perceive to be the virtue of martyrdom. But as usual in incidents where it is suspected that al-Qa'ida is involved, no demands were made.
The point was to kill non-believers and thus gain not only a place in heaven, but also a paradoxical assertion at the exact point of detonation of the absolute reality and significance of their own lives.This is not specifically a criticism of Islam or even fundamentalist Islam. In fact there is something weirdly admirable in the fundamentalist Islamist, however maniacal, compared, say, with his wishy-washy, half-baked Anglican counterpart. Because the real difference between a fundamentalist Muslim and a moderate Christian (or a moderate Muslim for that matter) is surely that they really, really do believe. They don't use their religious custom as social glue, or conventional ritual, or a way of fitting in.
They talk the deadly talk and they walk the deadly walk.The difference between a fundamentalist and a moderate is that the fundamentalist is not playing games, at least not games that he is conscious of. In fact, "I'm not playing games" is one of the meanings that the bombings expressed. This is another way of saying, "I am the hero of my own life I have the courage of my terrible convictions. I will not flinch in fulfilling my bloody destiny."Again, this is not suggesting that Islam is "mad". It is no more mad than Christianity, where we have a whole raft of leaders and politicians who seem quite happy to believe that 2,000 years ago a man performed miracles and then died to rise again.
