Not to mention that the "72 virgins" joke [1] was distasteful beyond belief.
[1] I assume it was meant as a joke because I find it hard to believe that someone who gives a talk at TED could be that ignorant.
[1] I assume it was meant as a joke because I find it hard to believe that someone who gives a talk at TED could be that ignorant.
Although it is true that there are almost always secular motivations as well, the metaphor is not dishonest and the joke is funny.
Keep downvoting. It only makes you look like ignorants.
- the Luftwaffe carried out suicide missions against the Red Army during the Battle for Berlin.
- the Japanese Kamikaze inflicted great damage in the U.S. Navy fleet in the Pacific.
- the Vietminh / Vietcong who used suicide bombers against the French Military and then against the U.S. Military.
Examples are abundant. It's true that many suicide bombers are motivated by religious fanaticism, but if we look further back in History, the pattern seems to be that suicide bombers are motivated by other kinds of fanaticism (e.g., nationalism) or simply by desperation. When one can't defeat a stronger enemy in conventional ways, suicide attacks can be a good option, as they inflict tremendous amounts of damage with little resources, and have devastating effects on the enemy's morale.
To cut a long story short: not all suicide bombers are created equal. The ones who carried out the 9/11 attacks are quite different from the palestinians who blow up a bus in Tel-Aviv, for instance. Failing to understand this reality is a serious mistake.