This study will examine right-wing terrorism in the United States, focusing on the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, and arguing that such right-wing terrorism is a combination of both political and religious beliefs which focus far more on destroying the system which exists rather than building a new system to replace the old. As such, the scope of the study will be limited to the argument that right-wing terrorism in the United States, as exemplified in the Oklahoma City combing, is rooted in frustration and rage more than in the idealism which these terrorists claim to espouse. The methodology of the study will be an analysis and comparison of four sources which take disparate views of right-wing terrorism in general and the Oklahoma City bombing in particular. While most of the sources accept the findings of the courts with respect to the people and motivations behind the bombing, one source (David Hoffman) argues that the bombing was the result of a much larger conspiracy than was exposed by the courts. In either case, however, whether only two men or twenty were involved in the bombing and/or other terrorist acts, the fact remains that (1) the right-wing terrorists blend religious and political ideals as motivating forces, and (2) those ideals are essentially betrayed by actions of frustration and hatred which only destroy and have no hope of building anew. The sources consulted for this study are all in-depth, fully documented and footnoted studies of right-wing terrorism, the Oklahoma City bombing, and/or Timothy McVeigh, the man convicted of masterminding the bombing.
Mark Juergensmeyer sets the stage for the analysis by first portraying terrorism in an international context, showing thereby that domestic terrorism in the United States is philosophically similar to terrorism in other nations and regions and uses similar tactics. However, the major difference between much terrorism abroad ...