Fresh from too many Cosmopolitans, I have to admit that I have never met a human being who was a practicing Moslem that I did not like, or was attracted to. (When I was still pursuing my undersgraduate degree, I had a huge crush on a girl named Mushafa [sp?] at UAH!) That being said, there seems to be no discussion of what is going on in Islam that is affecting the world today on these boards. Instead, we (posters) seem to be attacking each other over who is responsible for current events, pubbies v. dams. Might we examine Islam a bit, to see what makes some adherents suicide bomb?
Why can’t we momentarily get off the subject of terrorists, suicide bombers, and Islam to concentrate on our own domestic fears for a bit? We’ve done the “Why does Islam breed hate”, and “Burn all Muslims and islamic countries to the ground”, and other assorted subjects to fucking death.
If you really don’t like all of the bitching about our domestic politics, come back in the new year when the presidency has been finally decided and we can then return to “What is wrong with Islam?”
Are republicans/democrats/Americans blowing people up in a terroristic fashion? No, they aren’t! Get me! Focuse on reality my brother, let’s talk about why anyone, republican/democrat/American thinks we should be in the middle east, seriously. This goes back decades my brother, and hinges somewhat on Terrorism.
Their point is that this topic’s pretty much been discussed over and over and over since 9/11/01. Now and then - like, say, when an election is coming up - we don’t discuss it as much.
Might we also examine capitalism to see what makes some of its adherents commit accounting fraud?
Or examine Christianity to see what makes some of its adherents blow up buildings?
Or examine rock music to see what makes some of its adherents commit suicide?
Or examine American middle class White male culture to see what makes some of its adherents engage in serial murder?
There’s no denying that suicide bombing is more prevalent in today’s Middle East than in, say, modern Iowa or Beijing. But it’s not an unknown battle tactic in non-Muslim cultures of other times and places (witness the Kamikaze).
To begin by asserting that it is Islam which needs to be examined is to draw important conclusions before objectively examining all the evidence or exploring all possible factors such as politics, economics, non-religious culture, or the influence of dominant media, important leaders, or the power of memes. (That last may seem too flippant a concept, but the viral nature of suicide, for instance, has been documented – see, for example, the recent book “The Tipping Point”.)
Let us start with open minds.
My feeling is that a confluence of factors is at work.
Puhleeze, Iraq, Afghanistan, et al. all eminated from Moslem fundamentalists’ 9/11 attack on the US. The reasons for which are something that since I have arrived are NOT being debated on any board, rather what is being debated is how evil/misguided we (americans/republicans/democrats) are. The issues you try to offset my contention with are subtopics, at best, red herrings at worst.