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Why is there too much extremism in the muslim world, all around the world? And a lot of these are violent.
Why do you think that is?
I think it's because many of the countries from which Islamic extremism has arisen are places that until very recently in history were isolated and had strong cultural practices that became interwoven with their religion. Like everyone else, they see the world from the context of what they know and have been taught is "right", and that context clashes strongly with that of other cultures with which they are now mixing.
Further, many of those countries are impoverished or were impoverished until the past century or so, and wealthier, more powerful countries manipulated them for their own means, and so added to the context in which they view the world are the injustices forced upon them by these more powerful, wealthier cultures.
The obvious example of the latter is Iran. In the 1950s, Iran democratically elected their government. However, that government had a tendency to want to do oil trading with the USSR, the Cold War enemy of the United States. So the US manipulated their elected government so that it was overthrown by a dictator who would be more favorable to trade with the US, the Shah. The Shah then murdered and imprisoned the people who resisted his placement in power and, significantly, did not allow the more fundamentalist forms of Islam to be practiced.
People in such situations just don't say, "Oh well", and move on. They remember. Their children remember that their parents were murdered with the backing of the United States. They remember that they were not allowed to practice their religion as they wished. Never mind that the average American in 1953 had no clue that this action was going on within their own government and probably couldn't have located Iran on a map if a gun were at their temple, the association is there. And hatred and resentment breeds and grows.
Listen to the extremists. They believe that the West, and the US in particular, wants to eradicate Islam, when in fact most people until recent decades weren't even aware of Islam except as a religion in lands far away, and most didn't give a rat's ass whether they practiced this religion or not.
But now, with terrorism painting a picture of Islam as a religion of hatred, what was once not true is becoming true--there ARE people now who talk of eradicating Islam. It's just going in circles.
To make things worse, when a religion gets power and a government is ruled by a religion, corruption almost always ensues and others not of that religion are made the enemy. It happened with Christian governments in the Middle Ages. It happened in Ireland in the past century. Religion and power do not mix.
I think it's because many of the countries from which Islamic extremism has arisen are places that until very recently in history were isolated and had strong cultural practices that became interwoven with their religion.
that is more true of japan than any muslim country. but the shintos are pretty cool.
and take the fact that many islamist extremists are western converts.
therefore the 'isolation' factor has very little to do with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
Further, many of those countries are impoverished or were impoverished until the past century or so, and wealthier, more powerful countries manipulated them for their own means, and so added to the context in which they view the world are the injustices forced upon them by these more powerful, wealthier cultures.
think about india. hindus are rather cool too, despite their poverty or how the west manipulated them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
Like everyone else, they see the world from the context of what they know and have been taught is "right", and that context clashes strongly with that of other cultures with which they are now mixing.
so much of islam's extremism is due to the religious factor.
Why is there too much extremism in the muslim world, all around the world? And a lot of these are violent.
Why do you think that is?
I would ask the same thing about secularism. The vast majority of planned and executed terrorist attacks every year around the world are secular, not religious. Muslims actually make up less than 10% of the world's terrorist activity. So the real problem isn't so much extremism in the Muslim world, but so much disproportionate focus on extremism in the Muslim world over and against the secular extremism. Why is that?
The vast majority of planned and executed terrorist attacks every year around the world are secular, not religious. Muslims actually make up less than 10% of the world's terrorist activity.
Do you have a source for that, Daniel? I am not asking in a mean way; it would just be a good source to have.
I would ask the same thing about secularism. The vast majority of planned and executed terrorist attacks every year around the world are secular, not religious. Muslims actually make up less than 10% of the world's terrorist activity. So the real problem isn't so much extremism in the Muslim world, but so much disproportionate focus on extremism in the Muslim world over and against the secular extremism. Why is that?
name one secular terrorism that people just ignored.
Yeah, but no one escapes our human tendencies. The Hindus do their share of killing Muslims in India and vice versa.
they are just reacting to muslim aggression. they dont attack the west for colonizing them in the past, or for making fun of their gods. thats cool.
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