Anti Radicalization Program

Transcription

1 1 Anti Radicalization Program Concept introduced by Dr. Tarek Abdelhamid Aim of the program: To prevent, interrupt, and block the radicalization process in human mind by fighting it at the thinking level and by creating a process of thinking that can put a stop to the development of radical believes and impedes the spread of these believes within different cultures and societies. Background: Radicalism, hatred, and intolerance to the others have caused major disasters to human civilization. It caused barbaric wars, beheadings of innocents, and recently terrorist acts. The process of radicalism has developed in several cultures & societies. In many situations, this process uses religious text to justify the radical views of individuals or these societies. On one hand some religious people use the religious text to produce a peaceful outcome and, on the other hand, the same religious text is used by others to create a violent behavior. This situation illustrates how the thinking process of individuals -irrespective of the religious text -can affect and influence human behavior. Religious Text and cultural input Thinking process Human Behavior Figure one: Human behavior can be significantly affected by the process of thinking in individuals.

2 2 Basis of the Radical way of thinking: Generally speaking, Radicals irrespective of faiths, cultures, and ideologies share a common way of thinking that is characterized by: 1- Absolutism 2- Dehumanization of the others 3- Inability to forgive 4- Hatred 5- Arrogance 6- Judging others 7- Suppression of human conscience 8- Suppression of critical thinking 9- Focus on the difference rather than the similarities between humans 10- Insisting that all people MUST see things in the same way 11- Generalization and punishing the all for the actions of some 12- The part of tribal mentality that suppresses self criticism

3 3 Dr. Abdelhamid s approach on how to deal with radicalism phenomenon: Effective cognitive psychological tactics can be used to create an educational system that can change or modify the process of thinking among humans. This can allow us to abort the process of radicalization itself by changing the thinking processes. Human Brain Information Processing of Data Thinking - + Violent outcome Peaceful outcome Human Behavior Figure 2: Dr. Hamid s Anti Radicalization Program will predominantly focus on changing the thinking process to bring about a peaceful human behavior.

4 4 Expected Product: An Educational Work Book for students (Age 13-15). The book is designed to be given and taught to students over 1 educational year as part of their curriculum. Advantages of this approach: 1- Brings humans to a common and peaceful way of thinking irrespective of their religion or culture 2- Avoids the sensitive area of discussing or criticizing the religious texts. 3- Uses the human conscience as a base for improving human behavior. This allows the program to be taught to students from different faiths and cultures to bring more harmony and better understanding among them. 4- Allows learners to think to generate the concepts that will -via this guided educational approach- bring a peaceful outcome (The Generation effect). 5- A prophylactic system to protect young children from adopting radical views in their future that can harm the cultural integrity of societies. 6- Uses a mix of techniques and approaches to enhance the process of learning and education (Contextual & Encoding variability) About Dr. Abdelhamid: Dr. Abdelhamid is a leading world authority in using cognitive psychology effectively to enhance the process of education. Dr. Abdelhamid (a medical doctor and educator) understanding of different religions and cultures and his participation in interreligious and intercultural understanding is considered remarkable by many leaders and experts in the world. Dr. Abdelhamid has a unique personal, first hand, experience in the radical mindset which permits him to address the root causes of radicalization and providing an effective approach to effectively fight it.

5 5 Some illustrative examples of the Anti-Radicalization Program of Dr. Abdelhamid are below: Note: 1- This is only an illustrative demo. 2- The students will choose the One best answer unless specified otherwise 3- Answers in the final products will be given in more depth 4- The questions will be in blue color in this illustrative demo.

6 6 The Path to Tolerance By Dr. Tarek Abdelhamid (Illustrative examples: Demo)

7 7 Example 1 One day you were sitting across another person at a table in a cafe and the following photo was in front of you on the table Q How would you describe this drawing? A- An old lady B- A young and beautiful princess The person in front of you on the other side insisted that it is a drawing for a young beautiful princess and you went into some form of argument with him and accused him of being completely wrong.

8 8 After some time both of you decided to swap places. Now you will see how the same drawing would look from the other side: (If you have any doubt that this photo will look like this from the other side please look to it again after turning your booklet upside down) Now; let me ask you some questions: Q Was the other person also correct in describing the drawing as a beautiful princess? A. Yes B. No Q How would you describe your initial judgment that the other person is completely wrong A. Accurate judgment

9 9 B- Inaccurate judgment Q What helped you to know the reality in this situation? a- Looking to the drawing from one side only b- Putting yourself in the position of the other person and seeing things from his point of view Q What can you learn from this lesson? a- My perception and understanding of the of reality is always correct b- I need to know the views of the others before judging them c- I need to know the views of the others to understand the reality Comment: Understanding the views of others is vital before judging them as both you and the others could be correct at the same time as we have seen in this case despite your initial difference in views. This is because your perception and understanding of things around you can be completely different only because you see them from a different position. Putting yourself in other people position can make you understand them in a better way.

10 10 Example 2 One day some person started swearing at you and did many rude things to insult other people as well. Q How would you describe these acts? a- Good acts b- Bad acts Q How would you judge this person? a- Good person b- Bad person

11 11 Few days later the man went to the emergency room and after careful evaluation it was proven that this man had been suffering from a brain disease that had affected his behavior and made him swear at you and insulted many others Q In this situation how would you describe this person? a- A bad person b- A victim of a mental problem who needs to be treated Q How do you describe your initial judgment on the man? a- Fair b- Unfair Q What made you able to judge more fairly in the second situation? a- Lack of knowledge about the circumstances of the others. b- Learning more about the circumstances of the others before judging them

12 12 Q If you were suffering from the same brain problem and insulted some people would you like them to? a. Judge you forever as bad individual b. Forgive you -as you were a victim of a disorder that temporary affected your brain functions

13 13 Q What should you feel now toward that person who insulted you in the first incidence? a- Continue having negative feelings toward him b- Forgive him Q What do you learn from this lesson? a- Our judgment of the others is always correct. b- Our judgment of the others can be unfair and can completely change when we know their circumstances

14 14 Example 3 Q Is this baby (Select the most accurate answer below) a- Muslim b- Christian c- Jewish d- Hindu e- A human being

15 15 Q Is he? a- American b- Middle eastern c- European d- Australian e- A human being Q If this baby grew up in a Muslim culture.it is likely that he will be: a- Muslim b- Christian c- Jewish d- Hindu Q If this baby grew up in a Christian culture.it is likely that he will be: a- Muslim b- Christian c- Jewish d- Hindu

16 16 Q If this baby grew up in a Jewish culture.it is likely that he will be: a- Muslim b- Christian c- Jewish d- Hindu Q If this baby grew up in a Hindu culture.it is likely that he will be: a- Muslim b- Christian c- Jewish d- Hindu Q If you were this baby would you be able to choose the culture where you born in? YES NO Q Does any child have the ability to choose which culture is going to raise him up? YES NO Comment: We are all born as human beings. The culture around us is the factor that makes us categorized under titles of religion and nationality.

17 17 Example Q Who among the above people will smile when he is happy? (Circle the most correct answer) A Only number 1 B- Only number 2 C- Only number 3 D- Only number 4 E- ALL of them Q Who among them will cry when he is in pain? A - Only number 1 B- Only number 2 C- Only number 3 D- Only number 4

18 18 E- ALL of them Q Who among those children will feel hungry when he does not eat food? A - Only number 1 B- Only number 2 C- Only number 3 D- Only number 4 E- ALL of them Q Who among those children will feel thirsty when he needs water? A - Only number 1 B- Only number 2 C- Only number 3 D- Only number 4 E- ALL of them Q Why the above children will react in the same way to happiness, sadness, hunger and thirst: a- Because their cultures teaches them to react in this way. b- Because ALL of them are human beings

19 19 Example 5 This ball was in front of you and some other people Q If you were wearing the following glasses How would he see the same ball in this case? a- Yellow b- Red c- White d- blue

20 20 Q If another person was wearing the following glasses How would he see the same ball in this situation? a- Yellow b- Red c- White d- blue Q If another person were wearing the following glasses How would he see the same ball? a- Yellow b- Red c- White d- blue

21 21 Q Does the difference between you mean that any of you is dishonest? Yes No Q Do you like these people to discriminate against and hate you because you see the ball differently from them? Yes No Q If some person discriminated against and hated you because you saw the ball differently from him.will you consider this: a good thing A bad thing Q If a person sees things differently from you Should this justify to you to hate or discriminate against him/her? Yes NO Q What do you learn from this lesson? a. All people must see things in the same way. b. People can see and feel things differently just because they were given different glasses or different upbringing by different cultures

22 22 Example 6 Q What is the drawing that is on this cup? a- A flower b- A dog c- A car d- A ball

23 23 Q If someone was sitting on the other side of the cup and he insisted that the drawing on the cup is a car. You accused him of being wrong but when you rotated the cup (as see below) to see it from the other side you saw the following: Q Were you telling the truth-as you see it- in the first case? Yes NO Q Was the person who was sitting on the opposite side of you also telling the truth as he sees it-as well? Yes No Q What is the reality of the cup? (Choose the most accurate answer) a- There is ONLY a flower on it b- There is ONLY a car on it. c- There is a car and a flower on it

24 24 Q Were you or him able to see the reality of the cup only from one side: Yes No Q Did each one of you need the other one s view to be able to know the reality (or the truth) of the cup? Yes No Q What lesson can you learn from this example? 1- Our understanding of things is always complete and perfect 2- We do not need other people view s to know the reality 3- We need the views of the others -even if they are different from ours- as this may help us recognize the reality in a better manner

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