# The people from the west who want to join ISIS **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 18, 2015, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276 "2015-03-18T11:05:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/41 "2015-03-18T22:44:21Z")
When is the porno _“Debbie Does ISIS”_ coming out? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/42 "2015-03-19T01:21:17Z")
The bloke in the flat next door comes home pissed from the pub every night and beats the hell out of his woman. I know, cuz the walls of this shitty council house are so thin you can hear everything. Me mam’s always on me to marry some bint from the mosque, but you can’t marry when you don’t work, can you? Anyway, these English girls dress like whores, but won’t give you the time of day. Ain’t no jobs round here, neither - not for a brown bloke, any road. People flinch away from you and call you a Paki an’ look at you like they’re wonderin’ if you’ve a bomb under your vest. Whenever I turn on the telly, all I see is people who look like me bein’ bombed and killed - my cousin Hamid back in Kandahar tells me about all the innocent women and kids and such that the Yanks kill with their drones. Fuck it, at least those ISIL guys are fighting for Allah and scarin’ the hell out of the white arseholes in Washington and Westminster. If I could just get to Syria, I could fight for Islam, get a proper wife, even a wage. Better’n what I can get stickin’ here in fuckin’ Brixton, innit? ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/43 "2015-03-19T01:29:27Z")
I’m not saying it’s right, but wouldn’t you at least give passing thought to leaving the country to join a group trying to destroy America if you had to go through life here being called [Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh](http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/17/us/former-airman-isis-charges/index.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/44 "2015-03-19T01:38:15Z")
> [@Billdo](#): > > I’m not saying it’s right, but wouldn’t you at least give passing thought to leaving the country to join a group trying to destroy America if you had to go through life here being called [Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh](http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/17/us/former-airman-isis-charges/index.html)? What, like “Billdo” is so charming? ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/45 "2015-03-19T01:54:22Z")
Don’t forget the perks: do some pillaging here and there, raping whatever I can capture, shoot some motherfuckers, and hang out with like minded ass kickers. Guns, murder, theft and rape at ISIS Adventure Park! Admission is free! ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/46 "2015-03-19T07:40:32Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > It’s like Counter-Strike in real life, except with no respawns. I know it sounds like a joke, but ISIS themselves have actually made the “it’s just like a first-person shooter!” comparison in one of their propaganda pictures. Here it is: [“This is our Call Of Duty, and we respawn in _jannah_ [heaven].”](http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/78107000/jpg/_78107215_isis-call-of-duty-poster.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/47 "2015-03-19T13:45:55Z")
My guess is that you either have youths from lukewarm Muslim families, or from somewhat non-religious middle-eastern backgrounds who suddenly get an interest in their people and roots, and get what my father always called “all ate up” with Islam, and in particular, the more radical elements. Or you have recent converts who are equally fervid, but in a way that only recent converts are. Both of them suddenly see everything through a radical Islam-tinted lens, and decide that yes, the West is a threat to Islam, and that the ISIL guys are doing God’s work, etc… and with the fervor and stupidity that generally only young males have, go running off to be with them. I mean, I’ve seen the same thing among Christians, without the rape, explosions, and bloodshed. Take some kid from a mostly non-observant, but nominally Christian family, or take a kid from a family that’s moderately observant in one of the more placid denominations like Episcopalianism, and get him involved in a fire & brimstone, conservative congregational church, and that kid will likely start trying to convert people, be very outspoken about his religion, do mission trips to developing countries, and generally be kind of a pain in the ass about things religious and social until they get a little older and cool off. If you swapped Christianity with Islam, some percentage of those types would be riled up enough to actually go fight. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/48 "2015-03-19T13:48:15Z")
My guess is that you either have youths from lukewarm Muslim families, or from somewhat non-religious middle-eastern backgrounds who suddenly get an interest in their people and roots, and get what my father always called “all ate up” with Islam, and in particular, the more radical elements. Or you have recent converts who are equally fervid, but in a way that only recent converts are. Both of them suddenly see everything through a radical Islam-tinted lens, and decide that yes, the West is a threat to Islam, and that the ISIL guys are doing God’s work, etc… and with the fervor and stupidity that generally only young males have, go running off to be with them. I mean, I’ve seen the same thing among Christians, without the rape, explosions, and bloodshed. Take some kid from a mostly non-observant, but nominally Christian family, or take a kid from a family that’s moderately observant in one of the more placid denominations like Episcopalianism, and get him involved in a fire & brimstone, conservative congregational church, and that kid will likely start trying to convert people, be very outspoken about his religion, do mission trips to developing countries, and generally be kind of a pain in the ass about things religious and social until they get a little older and cool off. If you swapped Christianity with Islam, some percentage of those types would be riled up enough to actually go fight, and that’s exactly what I think is going on with the Westerners who go to fight for ISIL. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/49 "2015-03-19T15:17:11Z")
Let the Doper who never, EVER did anything catastrophically stupid… or at least KNEW someone who did something catastrophically stupid… throw the first stone. We are human, and stupid permeates all. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/50 "2015-03-19T15:24:12Z")
While I have done no end of stupid things in my life, none of them has proven catastrophic. So… \<_pelt_\> ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/51 "2015-03-19T15:28:30Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > While I have done no end of stupid things in my life, none of them has proven catastrophic. > > So… \<_pelt_\> …or at least KNEW someone who did something like that. Every year I was in high school, we had a yearbook page devoted to someone who was either an idiot or a victim of an idiot, and thus was no longer among the breathing. I suppose running off to join ISIS is marginally better than drinking a bottle of Jackie D and doing doughnuts on the interstate… ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/52 "2015-03-19T18:14:21Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > What, like “Billdo” is so charming? Yeah, but he’s not named after a part of a car’s steering mechanism. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/53 "2015-03-19T18:47:17Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > > [@billfish678](#): > > > > In a country with 300 million people that gives you 300 candidates easy peasy. > > I just want to point out that this isn’t only a US thing. True, but it’s still a good point. Few people really appreciate how big “one million” really is, and how small an imperfection of that million has to be in order to yield significant meaning. To say one person in a million is nutty enough to want to perpetuate human horror not only means “there are a lot of truly bad folks out there”, it also is a ridiculously optimistic estimate. ---
**Author:** ![nicky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f0a364/32.png) [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/54 "2015-03-19T18:58:18Z")
I understand that people are dumb and can be attracted to radical stupidity. But ISIS are beyond stupid. Join ISIS and murder other Muslims! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/55 "2015-03-19T19:00:34Z")
> [@nicky](#): > > I understand that people are dumb and can be attracted to radical stupidity. But ISIS are beyond stupid. Join ISIS and murder other Muslims! Catholics & Protestants. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/56 "2015-03-19T19:23:33Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > …or at least KNEW someone who did something like that. Every year I was in high school, we had a yearbook page devoted to someone who was either an idiot or a victim of an idiot, and thus was no longer among the breathing. What school did you go to, Dipshit High? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/57 "2015-03-19T20:30:29Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > What school did you go to, Dipshit High? Go Feebs! _\ \ \_ ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/58 "2015-03-19T23:29:17Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > What school did you go to, Dipshit High? Funny you should mention that… no, every year we had someone get kilt either doing something stupid, or BY someone who was doing something stupid. Usually involving drugs and/or alcohol. Although that gives me a great idea for a story about a not too swift teenager waking up aboard a flight to Syria, with a horrible hangover and no idea how he got there, and looking at his phone… and realizing with horror that he’s signed up with ISIS… ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276/59 "2015-03-20T01:00:06Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > Let the Doper who never, EVER did anything catastrophically stupid… or at least KNEW someone who did something catastrophically stupid… throw the first stone. > > We are human, and stupid permeates all. This argument has never held water with me. yes, I’ve done stupid stuff in my life, but nothing rising to the level of _leaving the country to join a guerilla war in another part of the world._ this false equivalence BS really needs to stop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-people-from-the-west-who-want-to-join-isis/715276.md?page=2)