Suicide Bombers

[Frodo]

Why is it that virtually all Muslim suicide bombers in the modern era have been Sunni -and not Shi'ites?  

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

About 97% of Muslims are Sunni. Because of Hezbollah it's possible then that Shi'ites are actually overrepresented amongst suicide bombers.

[Frodo]

About 97% of Muslims are Sunni.

Where did you get that from?

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Evidence?  I know Hezbollah has been accused of various suicide bombings, but they have denied them all.  Whatever the truth of the matter, their response indicates that Shi'ites don't glorify suicide bombers the way their Sunni neighbors do.

I don't know why.   

[Zioneer]

About 97% of Muslims are Sunni. Because of Hezbollah it's possible then that Shi'ites are actually overrepresented amongst suicide bombers.

That's an incredibly inaccurate statistic.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The difference is probably to a large extent because Shia Islam is far more hierarchical and oligarichical than Sunni Islam.  The difference is analogous, but not an exact match to that between Catholics and Protestants, with the suicide bombers largely coming from the Salafi branch of Sunni Islam which can roughly be compared with Evangelical Protestantism.  In short, amongst the Sunnis it's easier for a charismatic newcomer to propose something as radical as suicide bombing as a valid means to obtain paradise and get a following to agree with him.

[patrick1]

The difference is probably to a large extent because Shia Islam is far more hierarchical and oligarichical than Sunni Islam.  The difference is analogous, but not an exact match to that between Catholics and Protestants, with the suicide bombers largely coming from the Salafi branch of Sunni Islam which can roughly be compared with Evangelical Protestantism.  In short, amongst the Sunnis it's easier for a charismatic newcomer to propose something as radical as suicide bombing as a valid means to obtain paradise and get a following to agree with him.

A tangent but I also always found Shia more analogous to Catholicism too. There is more pilgrimage, focus on traditions, saints, and a quasi apostolic succession. Heck the extremists of both traditions even engage(d) in mortification of the flesh rituals. 

[Insula Dei]

Geography, no?

[Frodo]

Geography, no?

Elaborate, if you please. 

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

OK so it's not 97% (can't remember where I heard that), still it's at least 85% by all estimates. Still an overwhelming majority.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's obviously a mistake to think of the divisions within Islam as being essentially the same as the divisions within Christianity.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It's obviously a mistake to think of the divisions within Islam as being essentially the same as the divisions within Christianity.

Not the same, and the similarities are mainly in terms of organization, with the causes of the split being completely different. However, for the purposes of this topic, how they are organized is far more important than how they got that way.

[Insula Dei]

Geography, no?

Elaborate, if you please. 

Where exactly is an Irani Shi'a muslim extremist supposed to blow himself up?

[Frodo]

Geography, no?

Elaborate, if you please.  

Where exactly is an Irani Shi'a muslim extremist supposed to blow himself up?

Hezbollah has cells throughout the entire world, including the United States don't they? They can certainly wreak havoc if they choose to do so.  Yet we haven't heard of any instance where they have hijacked airplanes and flown them into important landmarks, killing thousands of people in the process.  

Doesn't the fact they haven't followed the example of al-Qaeda strike you as being rather curious? 

[Insula Dei]

Hezbollah is not Al-Qaeda, obviously.

[Frodo]

Hezbollah is not Al-Qaeda, obviously.

My point exactly.  Why is that? 

[Insula Dei]

Hezbollah is not Al-Qaeda, obviously.

My point exactly.  Why is that? 

For much the same reason the US army is not the Klan. The 2 organisations are in no way comparable, so any differences between them are pretty meaningless.

[dead0man]

link

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[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It should be no surprise that Iran would be more than happy to help Sunnis blow each other up.