In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the evolutionary biologist and world-famous atheist Richard Dawkins poured scorn over the notion that the 19 hijackers were motivated by thoughts of injustice. On the contrary, he insisted, what they really wanted was to get laid. Referring to the “martyr’s reward of 72 virgin brides,” he claimed that “testosterone-sodden young men too unattractive to get a woman in this world might be desperate enough to go for 72 private virgins in the next.”
For example, the Egyptian thinker Sayyid Qutb, who is widely credited as a formative ideological influence on bin Laden, was notoriously disgusted by sex. Yet, few subjects so vigorously aroused his interest and fascination.
