The blog Friendly Atheist (sparked by an article by Sam Harris) recently discussed the Pew Forum statistic concerning the number of Muslims who say that suicide bombing is never justified.
There are lots of different ways that one could take this. One thing that is noteworthy is how different the answers are depending on the location of the answerer. The other is how this answer is liable to be construed because it is Muslims who are being asked.
I think a key question to ask is how many Christians, and how many atheists, think that suicide bombing is wrong under all circumstances. And by all, I mean all. Even against military targets, in a context in which your homeland is occupied by soldiers from elsewhere, who have been (or, at least, you are persuaded have been) raping women, torturing children, and throwing people off their farmland to face starvation while others reap the crops that your own people once sowed.
It is easy to take offense at these answers when living in a context that is sheltered from the harsh realities that people face in other parts of the world. And it is easy to assume, even though the teaching of Islam against suicide is explicit and unequivocal, as somehow about Islam itself. It is easy to pretend that those who wanted to find justification for the practice in the Bible or in other sources could not do so.
Obviously religion can be used to manipulate, motivate, malign, misdirect, and maneuver in ways that can exacerbate issues. But I see no reason whatsoever to think that, in a world in which everyone had enough, Muslims or anyone else would be blowing themselves up, in the absence of mental health issues which are not confined to one religion or the religious in general.
My own religious and moral convictions would lead me personally to say that I believe suicide bombing is wrong under all circumstances. As horrific as the violence against one may be, turning to violence on behalf of what may well be a righteous cause undermines the distinction between the oppressor and the victims, the righteous and the evil. I am persuaded that the only way to actually defeat evil is by refusing to play according to rules of warfare that evil sets. Winning a victory without violence is much harder, and much more costly. But it is not impossible.
But it is easy for me to say such things, when I live in a context which provides relative safety, as others suffer directly or indirectly as a result of the actions of my own society and others with which my own society and lifestyle are inextricably entangled.
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