Those who kill by acts of terrorism
actually despair of humanity, of life, of the future. In their view,
everything is to be hated and destroyed.
Terrorists hold that the truth in which they believe or the
suffering that they have undergone are so absolute that their reaction
in destroying even innocent lives is justified.
Terrorism is often the outcome of that fanatic fundamentalism which springs from
the conviction that one's own vision of the truth must be forced upon
everyone else.
Instead, even when the truth has been reached —and this can
happen only in a limited and imperfect way— it can never be
imposed.
Respect for a person's conscience, where the image of God himself
is reflected (cf. Gen. 1:26-27), means that we can only propose the
truth to others, who are then responsible for accepting it.
To try to impose on others by violent means what we consider to be the
truth is an offense against human dignity, and ultimately an offense
against God whose image that person bears.
For this reason, what is usually referred to as
fundamentalism, is an attitude
radically opposed to belief in God.
Terrorism exploits not just people, it exploits God
because it makes him an idol to be used for one's own purposes.