Everybody has his or her belief towards anything in life. It is our beliefs that define our characters or what we wish or want to be in life. Religion is the source of these beliefs and true believers However, it is through these beliefs that the innocent suffer while the guilt remains unaffected. Both ‘what the ISIS Really wants’ and ‘A Good Man is hard to Find’ have some similarities. In both stories, there is the suffering of the innocent in the hands of selfish people as well as the theme of religion. To begin with, both stories explain human selfishness in a way that no one cares about who gets hurt as long as their needs are met. Flannery O’Connor’s story, A Good Man is Hard to Find points into a family on vacation that ends up being killed by Misfit and his two partners who had escaped convicts. Misfit tells the grandmother that his names come from the fact that he cannot make all the wrongs he had hard fit what he has been through in the name of being punished. He does not understand that until his behaviors have been altered, punishment will be useless. He does not understand that crime and punishment are related. He tells the grandmother that he does not know why he had been arrested even though his accusers had paper while he does not have any. This explains why he is now killing people innocently to get signatures of his own. In other words, Misfit wanted to pledge war with his arresters as he wanted it to be known that he is the one responsible for the killings.
Similarly, the article What the ISIS Really want gives details for the reasons for their actions. It points out the Muslim propaganda that they believe to die without pledging allegiance is to die a death of disbelief or being ignorant. ISIS is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and most immigrants to the Islamic State have been from countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United States, Belgium, and Indonesia among others. Most of them have moved to the Islamic State to fight and a majority intend to die. With this belief that the might end up dead, they engage in violence that causes deaths. It is through these killings that they feel they are achieving their goal. Their main aim is to get as much territory as they can regardless of how much people they kill to achieve it. The jihadist groups across the Muslim world are working on fighting the battles their ancestors never fought. They believe that for one to qualify to be a leader, one must have a territory which he can enforce the Islamic Law. Thus the reason they for starting wars to acquire some land.
Moreover, the two stories reflect the theme of religion. Misfit takes both the roles of Christ and anti-Christ. He compares himself with Christ saying, “It was the same case with Him as me, except He hadn’t committed any crime and they could prove I had committed one because they had the papers on me”. He argues that he has been arrested for sins he does not know neither has he committed just like Jesus did. Misfit is not equivalent to Jesus in the modern world but he acts as the redemptive catalyst. This is achieved by how he affecting change by killing the entire family but he remained unaffected. Also, the grandmother insists that if Misfit prayed Jesus could have helped him. The grandmother believes that Jesus has all answers and hopes that she would make Misfit the good man she saw in him. However, his actions are opposite as he even tells her that he does not wish to be saved thus the anti-Christ character. This theme is revealed in the article, What ISIS Really Want but in a Muslim version. One of the main things that ISIS is after is a revelation. Just like the grandmother believed in Jesus having all the answers, so do the Muslims believe that only God knew about the future. The ISIS State also believes that the Koran and the Prophets narrations point it as a central character. This explains its concern for the worldly share as a way of fulfilling the revelation. For instance, the Islamic State has shown a lot of interest in the Syrian City of Dabiq near Aleppo. This is due to the belief as written by the Prophet that Romans armies will set up their camp in this city. A supporter of the Islamic State had tweeted saying how large battles will set up at that place. ISIS believes that its success to take up Dabiq is a sign that the enemy will attack soon and its defeat will fulfill the prophecy. Therefore, ISIS shows a lot of trusts and belief towards the prophet just like the grandmother believed in Jesus. The narration points on religious beliefs that believers hold onto as a symbol for hope to be redeemed and have a better life thereafter.