Wake up call for the rest of Europe
#71
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2006
Position: 767 FO
Posts: 8,047
#74
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2013
Posts: 4,649
#75
It puzzles me that so many people in the US think that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. It's like a middle-east political hack telling the Pope that what he practices isn't really Christianity.
#76
Who said sane people commit mass murder? The Paris attackers had many loose screws. Any person that can just indiscriminately kill other human beings clearly has screws loose in the head and no respect for human life. I question the sanity of these shooters. They aren't wired like the rest of mankind, no matter which sky fairy you end up worshipping.
#77
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2013
Posts: 4,649
As far as anyone knows, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, has a doctorate in Islamic Studies. I think he has a pretty good idea of what's in the Quran and how to interpret it TO SUIT HIS OWN AGENDA. He's found a lot of like-minded folks who grew up marinated in the Quran.
I have a great deal of empathy for the young Quran believers, following in the path of their prophet and seeking to please Allah. I think they are totally sane. They are wired like any other human, but the software loaded in their heads is much different than someone who has studied in the Western liberal tradition. Given what little experience they have of the world, considering what mental furniture they are working with, and comparing them to some of the misguided rubes (of comparable age) who are students on US campuses, I feel more a sense of loss at what could have been than anger at them personally. This isn't about mass insanity, this is about people with a strong belief system (and a long heritage of that system's dominance from Spain to the Philippines) acting on their beliefs. You can call it crazy all you want, but I think you should stare at the problem a little longer before writing them off as lunatics.
Which begs the question, how do you advance the "software loaded in their heads", get them more "experience in the world", and get them to stop "acting on their beliefs"?
#78
#79
There's a lot of history there, so focusing on the last 25 years is myopic. Go back at least a half-century to Sayid Quttib, but preferably go way back to pre-muslim times, and for Islam it is important to understand the early schisms/differences in succession that divide the Sunni and Shia to this day. The history of the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire is compelling, and will help one understand the motivation driving ISIS, and why they are finding so many willing accomplices across the globe.
Bring some empathy.
#80
There are a number of us on this board who have lived in the region for a portion of our lives, "participating in the political process" you could say. I haven't been there since the '90's (Saudi, Kuwait, and Turkey).
There's a lot of history there, so focusing on the last 25 years is myopic. Go back at least a half-century to Sayid Quttib, but preferably go way back to pre-muslim times, and for Islam it is important to understand the early schisms/differences in succession that divide the Sunni and Shia to this day. The history of the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire is compelling, and will help one understand the motivation driving ISIS, and why they are finding so many willing accomplices across the globe.
Bring some empathy.
There's a lot of history there, so focusing on the last 25 years is myopic. Go back at least a half-century to Sayid Quttib, but preferably go way back to pre-muslim times, and for Islam it is important to understand the early schisms/differences in succession that divide the Sunni and Shia to this day. The history of the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire is compelling, and will help one understand the motivation driving ISIS, and why they are finding so many willing accomplices across the globe.
Bring some empathy.
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