# What Is The Appeal Of Radical Islam (to Young People)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 20, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011 "2015-06-20T14:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011/21 "2015-07-01T21:20:19Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > How about the massacre in Tunisia-how does someone reconcile that kind of mass murder with any notion of religion? Many religious texts contain examples of mass murder condoned by god or gods. ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011/22 "2015-07-05T17:54:47Z")
When you have your mind shaped by a religion which throughout your childhood and adolescence forbade having a pet dog, playing a musical instrument, or dating a girl, its little wonder that so many grow up unhinged. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011/23 "2015-07-05T18:36:31Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I read the article. I don’t understand your comment. Can you expand on that? ISIS makes it pretty clear what they’re standing for and the sorts of things that ISIS members do. It’s not really duping. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011/24 "2015-07-05T18:51:19Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Don’t be so naive…everybody has seen the ISIS videos of beheadings, etc. The westerners who leave home to join ISIS know full well that they will soon be doing heinous things…That’s what attracts them in the first place. Psychopaths fit right in. The only thing good about it is they’re not here; corporations have lost future CEOs, and political parties have lost future “world leaders.” ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011/25 "2015-07-05T19:40:53Z")
Is it really that surprising though? Humans do this. Humans go to war. Happens quite often, and getting folks - young, old, men, women - to sign up for it doesn’t tend to be very hard at all. “Something something _righteous cause_, something something _ancient pride_, something something _divine right_” tends to be more than enough to do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011/26 "2015-07-06T00:13:31Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Is it really that surprising though? > > Humans do this. Humans go to war. Happens quite often, and getting folks - young, old, men, women - to sign up for it doesn’t tend to be very hard at all. If everyone around you is saying something is normal and obvious, it may become obvious to you. If most of your political discussions are with people who debate the virtues of Al-Qaeda vs. ISIS that starts to be the range of opinion you orient yourself in. I hope I’m agreeing with you by saying this: Using the word brainwashing makes something common through human history sound extraordinary. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011/27 "2015-07-06T08:48:53Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > If everyone around you is saying something is normal and obvious, it may become obvious to you. If most of your political discussions are with people who debate the virtues of Al-Qaeda vs. ISIS that starts to be the range of opinion you orient yourself in. > > I hope I’m agreeing with you by saying this: Using the word brainwashing makes something common through human history sound extraordinary. Absolutely right, and very well put. If these people are “brainwashed,” than practically all of Europe was “brainwashed” during WWI and again during WWII; practically all of France and Great Britain was “brainwashed” throughout the entirety of their respective colonialist periods; and practically the entire ancient world was “brainwashed” for millennia. Warfare is a thing that humans often choose to engage in. Historically speaking, the ISIS “phenomenon,” such as it is, doesn’t stand out as in any way exceptional. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-appeal-of-radical-islam-to-young-people/723011.md?page=1)