Kylaer, thank you for the welcome! As for the initiation silliness, I served 5 years in the United States Navy...and I promise you no one here can offer up anything worse than being duck taped to a rolling chair and blasted down a runway by a fire hose, so let them initiate away.
There is something to be said for the ability to disagree with someone, and at the same time acknowledge the validity of their argument and welcome them into a group. So again, thank you!
As for the issue at hand...I still would have to argue that social unrest fueled by poverty, ignorance, and political instability is the major cause of terrorism. While there may be a plurality of terrorists that are Muslim, there are those (South America) who are not. However, while Islam may not be the most tolerant, or the most forgiving of the world’s religions, it is not the sole or even the primary source of terrorist motivation. I think it’s important to consider that with the social unrest that is rampant in the Middle East and Africa, religious fervor becomes a rallying point for those seeking stability.
As often as the Middle East has been referred to being medieval, I think it is ironic that so few people see the parallels between the modern day perception of the "medieval middle east" and the historical western European medieval culture. Historically, religious figureheads wielded great power in Western Europe, as late as the 19th century. Religion has always been an empowering force for the few, and an inspirational, driving sense of purpose and hope for the many. Fundamentalist, aggressive religious fervor has throughout the ages been the common symptom of ignorance, and a lynchpin for the miserable that are seeking something outside of a dismal existence.
A key modern day example would be the psychology of a suicide bomber.
There are two main motivational factors that would cause a person to be willing to kill themselves (aside from depression); moral belief and aspirations of glory. Both of these are intangible, and serve as motivational factors that can be used by others to accomplish their own agenda. The counter-balance to these forces would be an improved understanding of self-worth, self-image, and quality of life. You do not typically (there are of course exceptions to every rule) see affluent, well-adjusted people who are content with their lives blowing themselves up. At the same time, you rarely see these same people attacking others in the name of religion. While this is a gross generalization, I'm trying to save people eyesight here and am not going to go into every nuance. The point that I am trying to make is this: poverty and ignorance lead to social unrest, which leads to social protest, which leads typically to an uprising. While religious fervor can be a secondary factor, without the poverty, ignorance, and dissatisfaction there would not be the drive towards hardcore religious fundamentalism.
Kylaer, your point regarding the education and financial status of the 9/11 terrorists is valid. But instead of proving that Islam as a whole is corrupt, I think that it actually points to exactly what I have been pointing out. Again, using medieval Europe as an example, think of what happened when the populations of various countries became dissatisfied enough to rise up. Who were typically the targets of the violence that ensured? Historically, it was the royalty, who where proponents of the class system, and the oppressors at the upper level that system.
If you look at the Middle East now, it is easy to make the logical assumption that if what I have said is true then the toppling of governments is sure to come. In more than one case, this has happened within the last century. The problem however, is that the corrupt governments who keep the old medieval class system alive in the Middle East (Saudi Royal Family=modern day medieval royalty) would not survive on their own. They remain in power through oil money, western support (arms, training, turning of backs to human rights violations, etc.). While we do have our own vested interest in keeping these governments in power, as multiple governments collapsing in the area would wreak havoc on the global economy, you must understand that this would be hard thing to understand for some Arabs. In particular though, it is especially hard for those who are surrounded by the misery that the state of affairs in middle east has caused, have spent their entire lives in it, to be expected to take a fair and balanced look at the world in general.
I believe that is why those who do become educated, those who actually do learn that to some degree the Western World is responsible for the state of the region that they live in, react so vehemently when this knowledge is combined with the strong, fervently religious indoctrination that has become such a vital anchor in their lives.
Whew, I take a long time to get to the point. Let me just finish though by stating that this by no means makes it tolerable, less evil, or more cuddly what it is that we call terrorists. By stating this opinion, I am in no way attempting to excuse or even soften the relevance of this great evil. What I am attempting to do, is state what I see as the root of problem. And as we all know, if you just pull out the weed but leave the roots, a short time later you have another weed.
And no, comparing military action to bug spray is not a cute answer to that analogy, so whoever is thinking this just back away from your keyboard and no one will get hurt...
_________________ "I would like to live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were ever supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever."
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