Another alternative was to accept empiricism about the origin of our ideas but deny that this has any sceptical implications for our knowledge of God. These are perhaps not new ideas. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center study, 28% of Americans are religiously unaffiliated. A 2015 report from the Pew Research Center projected the number of Buddhists worldwide to increase to 511 million by 2030, but with the worldwide population increase, the percentage of people who are Buddhists will actually decline from 7.1 percent to 6.1 percent. In 1980, 6 percent of all global Christians were Pentecostals. Even if the government has no intention of granting the demands, the process of negotiating itself is vital to achieving a peaceful resolution. Rather, it amounts to granting official status to various sects. The Russians waited several days before appointing an official government envoy to conduct the negotiations, and then decided to storm the theater using “knockout gas” instead of negotiating further. The result was that France became a prime target for terrorists attacks, and terrorist groups that had agreements with the French government regularly broke those agreements.

In contrast, France had a reputation in the 1970s and ’80s as a nation that was willing to negotiate and make deals with terrorists. She wanted to sell them and make money. They might ask for huge sums of money or for the release of thousands of fellow terrorists from jails. Negotiators kept the terrorists’ leader talking for three days, giving him media coverage of his demands (despite a botched reporting job by the BBC that sent him into a rage) and winning the release of two ill hostages. Five of the terrorists were killed, and three were captured. More than 300 hostages were killed, more than half of them children. Nearly half of Muslim Arabs live in cities and towns, where family and tribal ties tend to break down, where women, as well as men, have greater educational and employment opportunity, and where the newly emerging middle class of technicians, professionals, and bureaucrats has gained influence. Israel, the United States and Russia are all nations that have a reputation for strict non-negotiation policies. Although poor planning and a lack of proper medical care has been blamed for the high death toll, further negotiations may have been able to reduce the number of casualties.

Mary Magdalene was a loyal follower of Jesus both before and after his death. This is known as Stockholm Syndrome, named after a Swedish bank heist gone wrong that resulted in a six-day stand-off. There are complicated psychological reasons for Stockholm Syndrome. In many cases, secret deals are made that allow the government to accept demands and save the hostages but maintain their public hard-line stance against giving in to terrorists’ demands. If the hostages are children or important political officials, even the most hard-line non-negotiating government might make an exception. Few did so. The land of Islamic charitable trusts (habus) was regarded as government property and confiscated. The hostages ended up assisting the robber, acting as lookouts and giving him advice, while gradually coming to view the police outside as their common enemy. One of the female hostages even married him while he was still in prison. The crops and nuts can be harvested and sold while the trees mature and continue to produce nuts. In November 2001 independent journalist Gilles Ammar and his cameraman were expelled from Mauritania, allegedly for attempting to produce a report on slavery.

Also, fear of the police rushing into the situation and killing the hostages accidentally in a shootout is very powerful and helps turn the hostages against the authorities. The ensuing gun and grenade fight, which occurred shortly after the helicopters landed at the airport, left all the hostages dead, as well as a police officer and a pilot. The hostage-takers blew up the gymnasium where most of the hostages were being held. The policies of any nations involved, the ability to actually acquire the items being demanded and the need to consult with the situation commander and high-ranking political officials all limit what a negotiator can offer to the hostage-takers. By continuing this process, the negotiator can gradually weaken the hostage-takers’ position. They granted the hostage-takers’ request for a bus to take them to two helicopters, which would take them to an airport. Two of the most horrific hostage incidents in history ended in tragedy in large part due to Russia’s outright refusal to negotiate with Muslim Chechen separatists. Unfortunately, the terrorists executed one hostage (reportedly because he debated the merits of Islam with them), which forced British forces into action. Faith may be a state one is in, or comes to be in; it may also essentially involve something one does.