American Youth And ISIS: What’s The Attraction?
2014 witnessed the rise of a new terror group, a group that has made its name through brutality manifested by graphic, videotaped beheadings of westerners. Ironically, some of its recruits are increasingly coming from the West, and surprisingly, some of these are American youth. A trio of adolescent girls from Colorado, a 19-year-old convert to Islam, and a suburban Chicago teen were all planning to leave the U.S. and join ISIS. FBI investigators have discovered a network of online recruiters who are providing information on how to make the trek. What begs understanding, is why youth would be attracted to making such a journey to join forces with an extreme ideology bent on vindictive violence. One helpful perspective for understanding such motivation comes from the study of cults more generally.
Religion, Cults, And Teens
The psychology of why young people are drawn to what might objectively be seen as extreme and unrealistic views of the world has been studied for some time. Adolescence is the quintessential time of identity formation and discovery of who one was created to be. Thus, for most, if not all, it is a time when established societal values are critiqued, different philosophies of life are explored, and insecurities about belonging and ‘fitting in’ abound. During adolescence, higher-order thinking skills become engaged and open youth to new intellectual and spiritual ideas. At the same time, given that the world for adolescents can often seem unpredictable, and uncontrollable, feelings of vulnerability are not uncommon.
For most adolescents, parents and friends, school, or civic clubs and organizations provide the necessary tethers to allow them time to sort through these feelings. However, when a young person feels alienated from those family or friends who should form his primary support group, for whatever reason – divorce, child abuse, bullying, cultural differences with peers, absence of extended family – he will naturally seek to find his niche elsewhere. While this searching usually takes the form of standard ‘adolescent rebellion,’ there are times when relief from a much deeper sense of disconnectedness is sought, relief which is seemingly afforded by the communality of a cult and an oftentimes-charismatic cult leader, who offers a vision, albeit a false one, of a perfect society. Religious cults, in particular, provide a natural venue for this search because of the promise of meaning and fulfillment they offer which stands in stark contrast to the increasingly-vacant secularism of our society today.
ISIS’ (ironic) Post-Modern Approach
Despite ISIS’ apparent goal of the return of the Caliphate from centuries past, its tactics are quite modern. Amidst all of the “sturm und drang” that American youth experience, ISIS has capitalized on the availability and saturation of social media to blanket the world with its “promise” of bringing meaning and purpose to life. Our post-modern world of rampant secularism has separated many families and their children from the religious values and traditions of Western Civilization which historically have been a bulwark during the oftentimes stormy search for identity in one’s life. Nature abhors a vacuum, it is said. So while some desperate youth choose drug abuse or even attempt suicide in a search for meaning, or relief, for others, the rugged, clear, and focused message of radical Islam provides the desired clarity.
A Timeless Remedy
What youth need today is essentially the same as what they have always needed: loving family relationships characterized by a firmness and flexibility that allows them to explore the world and their emerging sense of self, but within boundaries and with the guidance of those entrusted with their care. Meaningful friendships also provide needed feedback and consolation for youth as they navigate their way into the adult world. Sadly, some youth are not afforded these gifts, and without proper guidance and understanding, are susceptible to believing the propaganda and indoctrination that cults provide.
I suppose every generation can stake some claim to the notion that its road was the most difficult to travel. Youth today are surrounded by modern conveniences and technology which were unimaginable just decades ago. Yet, one thing that youth in centuries past more likely had was family, and a local community that afforded them clear definitions of what was important in life and supportive others surrounding them to provide guidance. That is greatly lacking today. And its absence has consequences.
Natural family planning, theology of the body – the Church's 'best-kept secrets'
.- If you ask Archbishop Aquila, theology of the body and natural family planning – both practical resources on human sexuality – may be the Church’s best-kept secrets.
“The truth is, the Church has many positive things to say about the gift of our sexuality,” Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver said Feb. 8 at a dinner for teachers of natural family planning.
'Theology of the Body' is the corpus of 129 General Audience addresses delivered by St. John Paul II from 1979 to 1984, regarding the human person and human sexuality.
The heart of these teachings is the sacramental view of reality on human sexuality, Archbishop Aquila said, meaning that human bodies have a language that reveals something about the mystery of God’s inner life.
Archbishop Aquila believes the importance of Theology of the Body and the positive impact of natural family planning are foundational pillars to understand how Christ redeemed human sexuality after the fall of Adam and Eve.
“What makes Theology of the Body unique is that it brings true joy to relationships, marriages and friendships,” the archbishop noted, saying that without Theology of the Body, natural family planning can become “a kind of Catholic contraception, something which is really a contradiction in terms.”
“If you desire to experience and impart the joy and beauty of natural family planning, then you must understand the Theology of the Body,” Archbishop Aquila stated, saying that both of these resources are “one of the best-kept secrets of the Catholic Church.”
Looking at the past 40 years, the archbishop pointed to the abuse of power, loss of respect, and the belief that man has unlimited dominion over his own body as some of the causes for today’s societal sexual meltdown.
“We have seen an increase in infidelity, a surge in divorce, more dysfunctional families, a decrease in children’s psychological well-being and a boom in single-parent households,” Archbishop Aquila noted, pointing to the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s as the culprit in the rejection of Christian sexual values.
Great numbers of people find themselves dissatisfied with the culture of meaningless sex and objectification, he noted, saying that a manifestation of this can be seen in the upcoming film ‘50 Shades of Gray.’
“We were created and called into being to love and be loved, not to be used, not to be an object for someone else’s fantasy,” the archbishop noted.
Although the modern-day understanding of sexuality points to self-gratification, rather than self-giving, Archbishop Aquila called for a return to the mutual love and respect that men and women should have for each other.
“When a couple’s relationship is characterized by a love that is free, total, faithful and fruitful, then they are able to experience the joy God intended for them and so reflect God’s love to the world,” he said, emphasizing the importance of both natural family planning and Theology of the Body for couples and their understanding of sexuality.
However, when a couple uses contraception, they contradict this message of total self-giving, he stated.
“They say rather, ‘I give you part of myself, but I also deliberately withhold part of myself,’” Archbishop Aquila noted, believing that this is why the use of contraception is deceptive.
“As loudly and as persistently as our disbelieving culture proclaims its view of sex and happiness, a simple look around reveals the sad truth: too many people are left alone in the dark, searching for and failing to find love.”
While the secular approach to sexuality promotes objectification of the person, the archbishop believes that the Church views sexuality as the ultimate exchange of love in self-gift.
“We need to proclaim even louder and more persistently: God has the best, richest, and fullest plan for the happiness of married couples,” he went on to say.
“Love is a Person, and He has written a wonderful design for human love into each of our bodies and hearts.”
Posted: January 06, 2015
2014 witnessed the rise of a new terror group, a group that has made its name through brutality manifested by graphic, videotaped beheadings of westerners. Ironically, some of its recruits are increasingly coming from the West, and surprisingly, some of these are American youth. A trio of adolescent girls from Colorado, a 19-year-old convert to Islam, and a suburban Chicago teen were all planning to leave the U.S. and join ISIS. FBI investigators have discovered a network of online recruiters who are providing information on how to make the trek. What begs understanding, is why youth would be attracted to making such a journey to join forces with an extreme ideology bent on vindictive violence. One helpful perspective for understanding such motivation comes from the study of cults more generally.
Religion, Cults, And Teens
The psychology of why young people are drawn to what might objectively be seen as extreme and unrealistic views of the world has been studied for some time. Adolescence is the quintessential time of identity formation and discovery of who one was created to be. Thus, for most, if not all, it is a time when established societal values are critiqued, different philosophies of life are explored, and insecurities about belonging and ‘fitting in’ abound. During adolescence, higher-order thinking skills become engaged and open youth to new intellectual and spiritual ideas. At the same time, given that the world for adolescents can often seem unpredictable, and uncontrollable, feelings of vulnerability are not uncommon.
For most adolescents, parents and friends, school, or civic clubs and organizations provide the necessary tethers to allow them time to sort through these feelings. However, when a young person feels alienated from those family or friends who should form his primary support group, for whatever reason – divorce, child abuse, bullying, cultural differences with peers, absence of extended family – he will naturally seek to find his niche elsewhere. While this searching usually takes the form of standard ‘adolescent rebellion,’ there are times when relief from a much deeper sense of disconnectedness is sought, relief which is seemingly afforded by the communality of a cult and an oftentimes-charismatic cult leader, who offers a vision, albeit a false one, of a perfect society. Religious cults, in particular, provide a natural venue for this search because of the promise of meaning and fulfillment they offer which stands in stark contrast to the increasingly-vacant secularism of our society today.
ISIS’ (ironic) Post-Modern Approach
Despite ISIS’ apparent goal of the return of the Caliphate from centuries past, its tactics are quite modern. Amidst all of the “sturm und drang” that American youth experience, ISIS has capitalized on the availability and saturation of social media to blanket the world with its “promise” of bringing meaning and purpose to life. Our post-modern world of rampant secularism has separated many families and their children from the religious values and traditions of Western Civilization which historically have been a bulwark during the oftentimes stormy search for identity in one’s life. Nature abhors a vacuum, it is said. So while some desperate youth choose drug abuse or even attempt suicide in a search for meaning, or relief, for others, the rugged, clear, and focused message of radical Islam provides the desired clarity.
A Timeless Remedy
What youth need today is essentially the same as what they have always needed: loving family relationships characterized by a firmness and flexibility that allows them to explore the world and their emerging sense of self, but within boundaries and with the guidance of those entrusted with their care. Meaningful friendships also provide needed feedback and consolation for youth as they navigate their way into the adult world. Sadly, some youth are not afforded these gifts, and without proper guidance and understanding, are susceptible to believing the propaganda and indoctrination that cults provide.
I suppose every generation can stake some claim to the notion that its road was the most difficult to travel. Youth today are surrounded by modern conveniences and technology which were unimaginable just decades ago. Yet, one thing that youth in centuries past more likely had was family, and a local community that afforded them clear definitions of what was important in life and supportive others surrounding them to provide guidance. That is greatly lacking today. And its absence has consequences.
Religion, Cults, And Teens
The psychology of why young people are drawn to what might objectively be seen as extreme and unrealistic views of the world has been studied for some time. Adolescence is the quintessential time of identity formation and discovery of who one was created to be. Thus, for most, if not all, it is a time when established societal values are critiqued, different philosophies of life are explored, and insecurities about belonging and ‘fitting in’ abound. During adolescence, higher-order thinking skills become engaged and open youth to new intellectual and spiritual ideas. At the same time, given that the world for adolescents can often seem unpredictable, and uncontrollable, feelings of vulnerability are not uncommon.
For most adolescents, parents and friends, school, or civic clubs and organizations provide the necessary tethers to allow them time to sort through these feelings. However, when a young person feels alienated from those family or friends who should form his primary support group, for whatever reason – divorce, child abuse, bullying, cultural differences with peers, absence of extended family – he will naturally seek to find his niche elsewhere. While this searching usually takes the form of standard ‘adolescent rebellion,’ there are times when relief from a much deeper sense of disconnectedness is sought, relief which is seemingly afforded by the communality of a cult and an oftentimes-charismatic cult leader, who offers a vision, albeit a false one, of a perfect society. Religious cults, in particular, provide a natural venue for this search because of the promise of meaning and fulfillment they offer which stands in stark contrast to the increasingly-vacant secularism of our society today.
ISIS’ (ironic) Post-Modern Approach
Despite ISIS’ apparent goal of the return of the Caliphate from centuries past, its tactics are quite modern. Amidst all of the “sturm und drang” that American youth experience, ISIS has capitalized on the availability and saturation of social media to blanket the world with its “promise” of bringing meaning and purpose to life. Our post-modern world of rampant secularism has separated many families and their children from the religious values and traditions of Western Civilization which historically have been a bulwark during the oftentimes stormy search for identity in one’s life. Nature abhors a vacuum, it is said. So while some desperate youth choose drug abuse or even attempt suicide in a search for meaning, or relief, for others, the rugged, clear, and focused message of radical Islam provides the desired clarity.
A Timeless Remedy
What youth need today is essentially the same as what they have always needed: loving family relationships characterized by a firmness and flexibility that allows them to explore the world and their emerging sense of self, but within boundaries and with the guidance of those entrusted with their care. Meaningful friendships also provide needed feedback and consolation for youth as they navigate their way into the adult world. Sadly, some youth are not afforded these gifts, and without proper guidance and understanding, are susceptible to believing the propaganda and indoctrination that cults provide.
I suppose every generation can stake some claim to the notion that its road was the most difficult to travel. Youth today are surrounded by modern conveniences and technology which were unimaginable just decades ago. Yet, one thing that youth in centuries past more likely had was family, and a local community that afforded them clear definitions of what was important in life and supportive others surrounding them to provide guidance. That is greatly lacking today. And its absence has consequences.
Natural family planning, theology of the body – the Church's 'best-kept secrets'
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.- If you ask Archbishop Aquila, theology of the body and natural family planning – both practical resources on human sexuality – may be the Church’s best-kept secrets.
“The truth is, the Church has many positive things to say about the gift of our sexuality,” Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver said Feb. 8 at a dinner for teachers of natural family planning.
'Theology of the Body' is the corpus of 129 General Audience addresses delivered by St. John Paul II from 1979 to 1984, regarding the human person and human sexuality.
The heart of these teachings is the sacramental view of reality on human sexuality, Archbishop Aquila said, meaning that human bodies have a language that reveals something about the mystery of God’s inner life.
Archbishop Aquila believes the importance of Theology of the Body and the positive impact of natural family planning are foundational pillars to understand how Christ redeemed human sexuality after the fall of Adam and Eve.
“What makes Theology of the Body unique is that it brings true joy to relationships, marriages and friendships,” the archbishop noted, saying that without Theology of the Body, natural family planning can become “a kind of Catholic contraception, something which is really a contradiction in terms.”
“If you desire to experience and impart the joy and beauty of natural family planning, then you must understand the Theology of the Body,” Archbishop Aquila stated, saying that both of these resources are “one of the best-kept secrets of the Catholic Church.”
Looking at the past 40 years, the archbishop pointed to the abuse of power, loss of respect, and the belief that man has unlimited dominion over his own body as some of the causes for today’s societal sexual meltdown.
“We have seen an increase in infidelity, a surge in divorce, more dysfunctional families, a decrease in children’s psychological well-being and a boom in single-parent households,” Archbishop Aquila noted, pointing to the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s as the culprit in the rejection of Christian sexual values.
Great numbers of people find themselves dissatisfied with the culture of meaningless sex and objectification, he noted, saying that a manifestation of this can be seen in the upcoming film ‘50 Shades of Gray.’
“We were created and called into being to love and be loved, not to be used, not to be an object for someone else’s fantasy,” the archbishop noted.
Although the modern-day understanding of sexuality points to self-gratification, rather than self-giving, Archbishop Aquila called for a return to the mutual love and respect that men and women should have for each other.
“When a couple’s relationship is characterized by a love that is free, total, faithful and fruitful, then they are able to experience the joy God intended for them and so reflect God’s love to the world,” he said, emphasizing the importance of both natural family planning and Theology of the Body for couples and their understanding of sexuality.
However, when a couple uses contraception, they contradict this message of total self-giving, he stated.
“They say rather, ‘I give you part of myself, but I also deliberately withhold part of myself,’” Archbishop Aquila noted, believing that this is why the use of contraception is deceptive.
“As loudly and as persistently as our disbelieving culture proclaims its view of sex and happiness, a simple look around reveals the sad truth: too many people are left alone in the dark, searching for and failing to find love.”
While the secular approach to sexuality promotes objectification of the person, the archbishop believes that the Church views sexuality as the ultimate exchange of love in self-gift.
“We need to proclaim even louder and more persistently: God has the best, richest, and fullest plan for the happiness of married couples,” he went on to say.
“Love is a Person, and He has written a wonderful design for human love into each of our bodies and hearts.”
“The truth is, the Church has many positive things to say about the gift of our sexuality,” Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver said Feb. 8 at a dinner for teachers of natural family planning.
'Theology of the Body' is the corpus of 129 General Audience addresses delivered by St. John Paul II from 1979 to 1984, regarding the human person and human sexuality.
The heart of these teachings is the sacramental view of reality on human sexuality, Archbishop Aquila said, meaning that human bodies have a language that reveals something about the mystery of God’s inner life.
Archbishop Aquila believes the importance of Theology of the Body and the positive impact of natural family planning are foundational pillars to understand how Christ redeemed human sexuality after the fall of Adam and Eve.
“What makes Theology of the Body unique is that it brings true joy to relationships, marriages and friendships,” the archbishop noted, saying that without Theology of the Body, natural family planning can become “a kind of Catholic contraception, something which is really a contradiction in terms.”
“If you desire to experience and impart the joy and beauty of natural family planning, then you must understand the Theology of the Body,” Archbishop Aquila stated, saying that both of these resources are “one of the best-kept secrets of the Catholic Church.”
Looking at the past 40 years, the archbishop pointed to the abuse of power, loss of respect, and the belief that man has unlimited dominion over his own body as some of the causes for today’s societal sexual meltdown.
“We have seen an increase in infidelity, a surge in divorce, more dysfunctional families, a decrease in children’s psychological well-being and a boom in single-parent households,” Archbishop Aquila noted, pointing to the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s as the culprit in the rejection of Christian sexual values.
Great numbers of people find themselves dissatisfied with the culture of meaningless sex and objectification, he noted, saying that a manifestation of this can be seen in the upcoming film ‘50 Shades of Gray.’
“We were created and called into being to love and be loved, not to be used, not to be an object for someone else’s fantasy,” the archbishop noted.
Although the modern-day understanding of sexuality points to self-gratification, rather than self-giving, Archbishop Aquila called for a return to the mutual love and respect that men and women should have for each other.
“When a couple’s relationship is characterized by a love that is free, total, faithful and fruitful, then they are able to experience the joy God intended for them and so reflect God’s love to the world,” he said, emphasizing the importance of both natural family planning and Theology of the Body for couples and their understanding of sexuality.
However, when a couple uses contraception, they contradict this message of total self-giving, he stated.
“They say rather, ‘I give you part of myself, but I also deliberately withhold part of myself,’” Archbishop Aquila noted, believing that this is why the use of contraception is deceptive.
“As loudly and as persistently as our disbelieving culture proclaims its view of sex and happiness, a simple look around reveals the sad truth: too many people are left alone in the dark, searching for and failing to find love.”
While the secular approach to sexuality promotes objectification of the person, the archbishop believes that the Church views sexuality as the ultimate exchange of love in self-gift.
“We need to proclaim even louder and more persistently: God has the best, richest, and fullest plan for the happiness of married couples,” he went on to say.
“Love is a Person, and He has written a wonderful design for human love into each of our bodies and hearts.”
