Political violence is undertaken in the name of an ideal considered sacred  by a leader or members of a given society. Willingness to kill testifies to the reality and power of a sacred ideal. The proof of the putting is in the dying.

The fundamental objective of political violence is not killing, but getting others to die--in the name of the sacred ideal.

The people who must die are those who don't fully embrace the sacred ideal, who oppose the sacred ideal, or whose own ideals contradict or negate one's society's sacred ideal. The others who must die may be people of another society--or members of one's own society.