Sexual Desire, Violent Death, and the True Believer

Abstract

The relationship among sexual desire, violent death, and fundamentalist belief leading to acts of terrorism is explored through the psychoanalytic lens of structural and object relations theory. Using contemporary and historical cases of jihadist, ethnic nationalist, and single-issue terrorist violence, the author posits that both the fear of and desire for sexual pleasure, and its condemnation and often punishment within the strictures of fundamentalist belief systems, are often intrapsychically managed through pre-Oedipal defenses, compensatory fantasies of death of the self and object, and the promise of unlimited sexual gratification through violent obliteration. The actual targeted violence, directed toward perceived unbelievers, also advances the fantasy of ambient purification (morally cleansing the environment), and the fantasy of ushering in a destined utopia, usually vaguely defined.

Keywords:

• Terrorism
• violence
• death
• fundamentalism
• sexuality
• object relations

Notes

1 Throughout this article, the “lone-actor terrorist” will be referred to by the masculine pronoun, “he,” because the vast majority of these terrorists are male.

² Although violent sacrifice is clearly evident among jihadists, it is not limited to Islam. In a decades-long scandal of violent atonement, a charismatic lawyer and Christian evangelical in Britain severely beat numerous adolescent boys for masturbating while attending a boarding school, telling at least one victim that he needed to “bleed for Jesus” (Yeginsu, 2017). Similar symbolism can be found in the images of Christian saints, “born up to paradise and ensconced in the highest heavens where, purified and sinless, they can intercede for others” (Jones, 2010, p. 95). We see this historically in the beliefs among the anti-abortion terrorists (for example, James Kopp, Eric Rudolph, Robert Dear, Paul Hill) wherein the oscillation and balance between homicidal and suicidal intent will vary, yet the assumption of sexual promiscuity as the cause of the desire for an abortion is a steady undercurrent in their thinking.

³ The sadism of the Islamic State jihadists—or more precisely a theater of necrosadism (Stekel, 1929)—is evident in the Internet postings of beheadings of unbelievers, individually or in groups, and the ritualized monologue that precedes them with the victim on his knees, done to both horrify and fascinate millions of viewers who dutifully flock to the Internet videos, unwittingly self-traumatizing and likely intensifying the pleasure of the sadistic killers.

⁴ This became a contentious issue among psychiatric evaluators in the trial of Anders Breivik, a Norwegian terrorist who killed 77 individuals, mostly adolescents, in July 2011: Did he have schizophrenia or a severe personality disorder? Breivik believed he was a contemporary reincarnation of the 12^th century Knights Templar, the special forces of the Christian crusades whose mission was to counter the influx of Islam into Europe (Meloy et al., 2015). The court found that he was neither psychotic nor insane, which pleased Breivik because this meant that the court believed his actions were rational.

⁵ Such regression can also occur in large groups, even at the nation-state level. I call this “poliregression.” See the excellent work of Volkan (2009, 2013) on large group identity and psychoanalysis.

⁶ The fundamentalist mindset is composed of dualistic thinking; paranoia and rage in a group context; an apocalyptic orientation; a relation to a charismatic leader; and a totalized conversion experience. The reader is referred to Strozier and Boyd (2010) for a brilliant explication of this complex concept, which is beyond the scope of this article.

⁷ There are different theories within Christian theology as to the timing of the Rapture in relationship to the second coming of Christ, and whether or not they are separate events. This subject is articulating a pretribulational premillennialist theory popular in contemporary evangelical Christianity, but note the necessity of “defensive” violence in his statement to me, which actually resulted in the offensive and predatory ambush of a police officer.

⁸ The Matsumoto line of research (Matsumoto et al., 2013, 2017) has shown that the expressions of anger, contempt, and disgust toward those viewed as contaminants by leaders predicts political violence among their followers.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J. Reid Meloy

J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., is a board-certified forensic psychologist (A.B.P.P.) and consults on criminal and civil cases throughout the United States and Europe. He is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, and a faculty member of the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center, as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and past president of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. Dr. Meloy has authored or coauthored over 200 articles published in peer-reviewed psychiatric and psychological journals, and has authored, coauthored, or edited 11 books. His first book, The Psychopathic Mind (Jason Aronson, 1988), was an integration of the biological and psychodynamic understanding of psychopathy. His coedited book with Drs. Hoffmann and Sheridan, Stalking, Threatening and Attacking Public Figures: A Psychological and Behavioral Analysis (Oxford University Press, 2008), led to a commissioned study for the National Academy of Sciences on threats toward public figures published in 2011 (www.nap.edu). His most recent book with Dr. Hoffmann is the International Handbook of Threat Assessment (Oxford University Press, 2014). He has been a consultant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2002.