The article proposes a common framework for a revolutionary message that promotes violence. The message is based in four "P's": Persecution, Precedent, Piety, and Perseverance. This framework applies equally to militant Republic and Islamist calls to violence. "Persecution" refers to abusive/oppressive treatment by a dominant and powerful entity. "Precedent" refers to historic revolutions that have used violence to achieve change and remedy victimization. "Piety" pertains to an authoritative ideology that supports the call to arms; and "Perseverance" refers to the will and persistence required to achieve change in conflict with a powerful enemy. Although the geographic scale and unorthodox behavior of the campaigns and theaters associated with Islamist militancy makes them difficult for Western decisionmakers to grasp intellectually, it is important to understand that the essential elements of the Islamist militant's message are common to Western European historic ethno-nationalist campaigns. The author concludes that it is unlikely that European lawmakers' efforts to censor radical Islamists' Internet communications and other recruitment material will succeed in reducing terrorism, since so much of the call to violence is interwoven with historical narratives that underlie legitimate group identities. 162 notes