Dying for heaven : holy pleasure and suicide bombers--why the best qualities of religion are also its most dangerous / Ariel Glucklich.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [293]-328) and index.

Religious self-destructiveness and nuclear deterrence -- The mysteries of pleasure -- The varieties of religious pleasure -- The school for happiness -- Disgust and desire: why we sacrifice for the group -- God's love and the Prozac effect -- Spiritual love and the seeds of annihilation -- The paradise paradox: the misery of heaven-addicts -- The martyr's theater.

A scholar and advisor to the Pentagon explains the religious motivations of terrorists, and tells why suicide missions may be rational and pleasurable for them.