(post from April 19, before more info was made available)
Some clues are emerging about the bombers' motives, and
unfortunately it is a familiar story with the older brother: devout
Muslim, feeling alienated in America, etc. And the younger brother was
about as American as it gets, with no signs of extremist tendencies (and
all the features that we were told would dissuade people from
radicalism: economic opportunities, education, freedoms, social life,
etc.) - but I guess he was influenced by his brother. As Chechen
immigrants, both had strong political views, but so do a lot of people
and they know better than to violently lash out.
A common liberal response after 9/11 was, "Let's not blame all
of Islam for the evil that a few radicals commit. Islam is a peaceful
faith. Jihadism is the logical response to Western imperialism and
injustices. We need to reach out and give them an alternative positive
message to counter the extremist Imams." While I still believe some of
that, I think I have to come out and say that there is something really
wrong with how Islam is practiced these days. Maybe that is obvious to
others, but I guess I have been conditioned to feel ashamed to think
it.
Other religions are doing a lot of messed up things too, but I have
to call a spade a spade and acknowledge that something is especially
wrong and violent with Islam. Granted that it is a younger religion, and
the Sunni-Shia conflict is similar to the Catholic-Protestant wars in
Europe. It is a process, and an ugly, slow, violent one. In the past
there have been better times and much worse times in
Judeo-Christian-Muslim relations. So no need to get all apocalyptic now,
though clearly we're not at a high point. Many people criticize the
"peaceful Imams" for not coming out and denouncing the violent messages
and behaviors of their peers. I agree with that. but they're not alone:
"sane" Rabbis don't call out their radical Zionist counterparts, "good"
priests were not that vocal to denounce the sex abusers. Religion is
tricky. People inherently know right from wrong, but with competing
priorities they often circle the wagons and irrationally cover for their
beloved faith - even the most warped practitioners of it. But
resistance like that prevents reforms and clean-ups from taking place,
unless there is a major scandal (don't tell me Pope B resigned just
because he was old and tired).
So getting back to Islam and the messages Imams are spreading
to vulnerable young men - their scam is so ridiculous that it's
inconceivable we are losing the idea war.
http://www.hbo.com/vice/index.html#/vice/talk/forums/item.html/eNrjcmbOYM5nLtQsy0xJzXfMS8ypLMlMds7PK0mtKFHPz0mBCQUkpqf6JeamcjIysiWWZqbYmhkZJZkYpqSqGrlYplgYAClDw1QjIGVhmAYSNDAwMjK0NEuxMEpNZWNkYwQA-fweVQ==
Vice TV was investigating how Taliban recruit suicide bombers,
and in some cases they are 10 years old. These kids are illiterate, and
their cultural norms encourage them to look up to their village
elders/Imams, and reject foreign occupation and illegitimate central
government authority. Prime "suckers" to be radicalized. They are devout
Muslims, yet they have never read a page of the Koran. They live on $10
a day or less. They take the elders at their word when they claim that
the Koran says it's good to kill infidels and you will be rewarded in
heaven (doesn't say that of course). They also tell the kids that their
bomb vests explode outwards and won't injure them during the attack.
Unfortunately many kids fall for that. If those "holy men" are so
devout, why do they lie to kids to get them to kill for them, while they
hide in their Madrasas? And the vast majority of insurgent and bombing
victims are other Muslims, which IS explicitly prohibited in the Koran.
Some kids can see through the BS and end up aborting their attacks,
or turn themselves in to the authorities. The gov't tries to
"re-educate" them and integrate them as peaceful members of society. But
Taliban life is all they know, and unfortunately some of them end up
returning to the Taliban, and get caught in another bombing attempt.
It's the same as abused women getting rescued from a cult but returning
to their sick leader later. We need to have a sense of belonging and
purpose in our lives, even if we know it's bad for us.
So why can these depraved Imams convince otherwise peaceful,
normal kids to be killers? They use the typical anti-American arguments.
Sometime they don't even have to lie: American Crusaders raid Muslim
lands, rape our women, steal our oil, mock the Prophet, and piss on the
Koran. Unfortunately we are guilty of all of that. The #1 recruiting
tool for Jihad is Abu Ghraib, and it's still salient today. Because of
our hubris and disrespect, we are losing a very winnable idea war
(partly because we are racist and religiously intolerant too). So for
however messed up Islam, Christianity, and America are - we don't have
to make it harder on ourselves.
There are always going to be a few violent extremists. But most of
them just yell on the subway or in a cave with no audience, because
people have better things to do. That should be our goal. Even though it
apparently didn't work for the Boston bombers, we have to really invest
in economic development and stop doing disrespectful things to Islam if
we want to win. But even if we are 100% perfect from now on, we still
have to deal with our past sins and blowback from the last generation of
horrible Western-Muslim relations. A good reputation takes a long time
to build, but can be destroyed in a moment. Then it takes even longer to
repair. The idiotic older generation put us in this mess, and the
Millennials will be cleaning it up their whole lives. But hopefully if
they do right by people, we won't have to hear this debate over and over
again, with innocents killed and families crying every year.
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