General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)It's really, really hard to talk about radical Islamic terrorism [View all]
Those engaging in it are a tiny, tiny minority of Muslims. Those supporting it, although a larger group are still a small minority. There are something like 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. I fear the demonization of Muslims that could lead to horrific attacks on innocent people. But that doesn't mean that it isn't a real problem. So how to address it?
Is there anything currently analogous within any other major religion? No, there really isn't it. So much of it seems to me to be blowback related. I'm not excusing it, but that's a big factor. U.S. and western interference and actions in the Mideast and other Muslim nations have created the perfect environment for the fomentation of hate and violent lashing out/back. Catering to Saudi Arabia, overthrowing Mossadegh- it's a long sad list of Western imperialism.
But- and here comes the part which may anger many of you- the false equivalency between Xian extremism and Radical Islam, is wrong headed. I understand the impulse to protect the majority of Muslims who are in no way culpable, but it just doesn't logically work. Of course there are Christians who are hateful and violent, but the scale is quite different, and it's not just quantitative.
Every ISIS atrocity I hear of (and I'm not saying Orlando was such an incident), I can't help but think of the Kuwait baby incubator propaganda story, but times are different in this era of social media and we know many of the atrocities we hear about are fact, not propaganda.
Radical Islam is well established within several societies and protected by powerful leaders in several countries. Western actions to reduce it have backfired time after time, actually increasing it.
Pretending that Radical Islamic terrorism isn't any greater a threat than other forms of terrorism currently extant, makes it difficult to discuss it.
Obviously, those primarily to blame are the people actually carrying out horrific attacks, but for decade upon decade, Western Powers and particularly the U.S. have been responsible for creating conditions that foster the twisted philosophy of Radical violent Islamic groups.
I feel a bit guilty just writing this. Hell, if I were Muslim I'm sure I'd feel defensive as hell, and I want to reiterate that I know that it's only a tiny minority of Muslims who are actively involved or associated with groups like ISIS.