To a certain extent I agree - the Unibomber may have diagnosable conditions, but I think his manifesto is coherent enough to categorize him. My cousin's ravings weren't, nor do I think the IRS plane guys were. But that's going to depend a lot on perspective. I'd categorize McVeigh as a Christian extremist, although I don't think that was his driving bias but I think it was inextricably woven into his ideology. Others would just consider him an anti-government terrorist.
I do suspect people have less of a concern about labeling someone as an "anti-government terrorist" rather than a "religious group terrorist" and that people have less concern about labeling someone as a "majority religious group terrorist" vs "minority religious group terrorist" ... but I'm not sure that gets us anywhere either.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-01-08 07:18 pm (UTC)I do suspect people have less of a concern about labeling someone as an "anti-government terrorist" rather than a "religious group terrorist" and that people have less concern about labeling someone as a "majority religious group terrorist" vs "minority religious group terrorist" ... but I'm not sure that gets us anywhere either.