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You can simultaneously fight against right-wing politicians who would capitalize on terrorism and also acknowledge that these aren't "crazy people who happen to

by stvswn 11y ago

You can simultaneously fight against right-wing politicians who would capitalize on terrorism and also acknowledge that these aren't "crazy people who happen to be Muslims," these are committed killers who are murdering in the name of a particular strain of revolutionary, extreme Islam. If a well-organized and philosophically consistent group of Christians were organizing mass shootings with motives gleaned from radical Christian theology, you would be completely justified in pointing to a problem within radical Christianity. For example: I'm a moderate Catholic myself. I condemn the Westboro Baptist Church and their strain of apocalyptic nonsense. If you want to criticize fundamental Christianity on the basis that it spawned those maniacs, go ahead. Just the same, please don't pretend that somehow these acts are completely divorced of Islam. We're not stupid, we can distinguish between moderates and terrorists. It's intellectually vapid to say over and over that somehow an ideology firmly based in one religion cannot be criticized on the basis of their professed beliefs and motivations.

jacquesm 11y ago
Disenfranchised youths and teenagers in general are very impressionable. This makes them highly sought after as 'marks' for radicalization. Whether they are already believers or whether they re-discover their religion is besides the point, the whole thing has about as much to do with religion as the war on drugs has to do with curing addiction. It's just a means to an end, a handle to get a grip on these people so they will do what they're told to do. The fact that religion pre-selects for people who have a very hard time separating fact from fiction most likely also has nothing to do with it because even atheists commit terrorist acts. The puppeteers are the ones that matter, the 'terrorists' are for the most part tools in the hands of masters at playing them believing they are making the world a better place (and how wrong they are). I make no distinction between idiots of any plumage, be they muslim, Christians, atheists or something else, organized or acting alone. They're a plague on society and should be dealt with, preferably long before they can become a problem in such a way that becoming a problem never even enters their minds because they're too busy living and appreciating life.
- stvswn 11y ago
  This is a naive viewpoint masquerading as cynicism. There exist sane true-believers. The puppet-masters are true-believers, as well. It might be more uncomfortable to accept this fact -- but it is a fundamental truth that people out there hold competing values, and they're willing to kill and die for them. The "opiate of the masses" explanation is an old idea and fails at explaining revolutionary jihadism (as Marx failed to explain the world in general).
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    > There exist sane true-believers. I don't doubt it but those don't typically go around committing mass murder. As far as the 'people are willing to kill and die for them' bit goes, that's a pretty good definition of insanity to me. After all if an idea was placed in your head and you then go out and use that idea as justification for murdering innocents that you have no personal grievance against (the one universal that most people seem to agree on is a bad thing) then there is something not entirely right in your head.

by stvswn 11y ago

jacquesm 11y ago

Disenfranchised youths and teenagers in general are very impressionable. This makes them highly sought after as 'marks' for radicalization. Whether they are already believers or whether they re-discover their religion is besides the point, the whole thing has about as much to do with religion as the war on drugs has to do with curing addiction. It's just a means to an end, a handle to get a grip on these people so they will do what they're told to do. The fact that religion pre-selects for people who have a very hard time separating fact from fiction most likely also has nothing to do with it because even atheists commit terrorist acts. The puppeteers are the ones that matter, the 'terrorists' are for the most part tools in the hands of masters at playing them believing they are making the world a better place (and how wrong they are). I make no distinction between idiots of any plumage, be they muslim, Christians, atheists or something else, organized or acting alone. They're a plague on society and should be dealt with, preferably long before they can become a problem in such a way that becoming a problem never even enters their minds because they're too busy living and appreciating life.

stvswn 11y ago
This is a naive viewpoint masquerading as cynicism. There exist sane true-believers. The puppet-masters are true-believers, as well. It might be more uncomfortable to accept this fact -- but it is a fundamental truth that people out there hold competing values, and they're willing to kill and die for them. The "opiate of the masses" explanation is an old idea and fails at explaining revolutionary jihadism (as Marx failed to explain the world in general).
- jacquesm 11y ago
  > There exist sane true-believers. I don't doubt it but those don't typically go around committing mass murder. As far as the 'people are willing to kill and die for them' bit goes, that's a pretty good definition of insanity to me. After all if an idea was placed in your head and you then go out and use that idea as justification for murdering innocents that you have no personal grievance against (the one universal that most people seem to agree on is a bad thing) then there is something not entirely right in your head.