The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as IS) is a terrorist group that draws deeply and existentially on the distant belief in the impending apocalypse to promote and support its brutal ideology. We can see that the group's fixation on the apocalypse results in part from personal and collective trauma, which simultaneously helps the group attract woefully misguided recruits. Although rational individuals could successfully demonstrate that ISIS's prophecies (of the apocalypse) are abhorrent and even easily refutable, unfortunately it is extremely difficult to convince radicalized people to abandon their extremist views. While the absence of apocalyptic beliefs would go a long way toward mitigating the terrorist group's radical influence, even controversies do not necessarily help alleviate the underlying issues that lead ISIS to embrace its terrorist ideologies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayISIS is home to various apocalyptic views based on prophecies that have been (wrongly) attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. These were generally “established in the Middle Ages”. Some of these prophecies have become more popular – and not just among ISIS members – following the upheaval following the Iraq War and the Arab Spring. The trauma caused by revolution and outright war helped lend credibility to apocalyptic prophecies and other radical ideas. In this light, “the Islamic State is not a simple collection of psychopaths. They are a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among whom they are considered a key agent of the coming apocalypse.” To offer more details on ISIS's beliefs, as part of its "apocalyptic propaganda", the otherwise mundane Syrian town of Dabiq was to be the site of a confrontation with "Rome", the Christian invaders of the Middle -East, which took place on 1/6 to immediately precede the conquest of Constantinople, then the Day of Judgment. In accordance with this belief, “the Islamic State awaits the arrival of an enemy army there”. IS's prophecies have obviously not come true, and the group has suffered considerable losses in Dabiq and elsewhere that appear to contradict them. However, this does not necessarily mean that ISIS's apocalyptic message will begin to fall on deaf ears. In a "classic study from the mid-1950s, social psychologist Leon Festinger and his colleagues suggested that when predictions of apocalyptic or messianic movements do not come true, it may actually make their adherents more devoted to the cause ". . The protest may not succeed in eliminating the ideology of the Islamic State. This is especially true when violence continues to rage, creating an environment that facilitates this radical ideology, even if logic does not. In this light, “the brutality of the Islamic State is strategic”. It can be used to attract recruits, by addressing their trauma. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Ultimately, ISIS's focus on the supposedly imminent apocalypse provides the terrorist group with its raison d'être. The absence of its apocalyptic messages threatens the group existentially. This is why brutality and violence are so necessary for ISIS, as these factors reinforce apocalyptic messages and views,..