ABSTRACT
Terrorism exists and is present in American culture as a religion, as a genre in film, music and art, as a political ideal and as a popular subject in the media. Terrorism is enacted by millennial religious groups that maintain doctrines of ethical tenets, specific rituals and true believers. Often referred to as cults, militias or cells, these religions are widely practiced individually and communally throughout the world. Similar to other organized religions, beliefs vary among different groups and according to church leaders. They range from a form of devout purism as a return to original strict interpretations of sacred text to the worship of a leader as a deity. Similarities are found in elitist ideologies advocating violence, terrorism and genocide, and viewing every other group as Satanic or the evil Babylon. Religious terrorists maintain a dualistic worldview where the world is seen as a battleground between good and evil, God and Satan, “us” and “them.” This millennial worldview that identifies the enemy as evil is how terrorists theologically justify their violence.
