Maajid Nawaz: "Please stop saying the Nice attacks have nothing to do with Islam."

[Ex Lurker]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/please-stop-staying-the-nice-attacks-arent-about-islam/

In the wake of the Nice attacks people are already saying: "But the terrorist wasn't pious. See! It has nothing to do with Islam."

Please stop.

Your good intentions towards us Muslims are only making the problem worse. This is as dangerous as saying it is everything to do with Islam.

The Crusaders weren't pious. But they had something to do with Christianity, right? Right? That something was the desire impious religious peasants had for martyrdom and the religious promise of redemption that Pope Urban II gave them.

Now switch out white Christians with brown Muslims and kindly cease with this bigotry of low expectations. This has something to do with Islam.

To stop it we have to make it less attractive, and that is a long-term struggle, similar to the those against racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism.

Campaigns like Families Against Terrorism and Extremism and the #MyIslam campaign are a start, but we will need the help of every element of society.

So please stop denying the nature of jihadism. Please stop ignoring the narratives which drive these attacks. Instead of aiding extremists who insist Islam today is perfect, perhaps you should aid us beleaguered reformist Muslims who are attempting to address this crisis within Islam against all the odds.

Some ‪#?solidarity, please. Because if you want to stop this, you need us.

[Arazi]

1. Yup. Kick and Rec eom

[Ex Lurker]

2. Not much in the way of comments

but 300 people have read it, so I guess that's something.

[Statistical]

4. Most don't like the message and especially don't like it coming from that messenger.

It messes up all the narratives. If a non-Muslim says it is about religion well you can call him or her a bigot. If a Muslim says yes this is a problem that Islam needs to face ...

[pablo_marmol]

12. Yup. Like the liberal criminologists who don't sign off on "gun control".

Have to suppress what they have to say. Can't listen to those apostates.

[840high]

49. .+1

[ck4829]

3. It's not just done with Muslims, look at 'our' shooters and how we wash our hands clean of them

Look at the Jason Dalton's, the Adam Lanza's, the Robert Lewis Dear's, etc.

There is no discussion of ideology and I can't find a single thing on Dalton's religion (Why is that?)... When one of these attacks happen, we immediately jump to mental illness (Often ignoring the mentally ill are much more often the victims of crime than the perpetrators and are less violent than the 'normal' population), drugs, being unemployed, etc.

Maybe we go out of our way to separate Islam from violent Muslims because we also separate our culture from the violent people in it.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

13. Did Dylan Roof's religion promise him a reward

in heaven for murdering black people?

Can you show us scripture (particularly New Testament) that promises this? How about leading Christian scholars who point to eternal reward for killing non-Christians?

Racist culture? Yes.

Religious promises and rewards? No.

You can't say the same about Islam. Sorry. Blowing yourself up wouldn't be quite so appetizing if terrorists didn't think they were getting an eternal reward in Paradise.

[treestar]

23. So what do you suggest ?

Christianity does say we have to go out and spread the message. Should we be sending missionaries to convert the Muslims to the superior religion that is Christianity?

Are we justified in bombing and killing all of these followers of the religion that tells them they will go to heaven if they kill some of us?

Also I think the average DUer probably doesn't have a deep understanding of the Koran, so maybe checking with some scholars on what those words actually mean?

Jesus said a couple things that are troubling to most people, and clergy attempt to explain them in their sermons. Few Christians really do what he said - leave your family if they don't believe, sell all you have and give it to the poor.

Do you think a suicide bomber truly believes he is going to heaven and will get a bunch of virgins there? If they so literally believe that, you'd think there would be a lot more of them than there are already.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

24. Christians and Muslims believe in heaven/paradise

Yet not too many are anxious to die. In fact, I'd say the most people avoid death for as long as possible.

"Whilst there are numerous sources, including the Qur'an, which tell us believing males will be rewarded with virgins, many who are concerned about the authenticity of the 72 virgins concept are under the misconception that there is only one weak (da`if) reference to the exact number of houri given to them. These narrations are in fact found in many hadith collections with varying levels of authenticity, ranging from hasan (good) to sahih (authentic).

For example, in the Sunan Ibn Majah, one of the six major Hadith collections,[31] it states in a hasan (good)[9] narration that every male admitted into Paradise will be given eternal erections and wed to 72 wives, all with libidinous sex organs.[10] Similarly in another hadith with multiple narrators that has been graded hasan (good), it states that the martyr (shahid) will be married to seventy-two of al-hoor al-‘iyn.[32][33]

In the Sunan al-Tirmidhi, another of the six major Hadith collections,[31] it states that the smallest reward for the people of Heaven is an abode with seventy-two houri.[34] Note that this is not a "weak Hadith that has no Sanad (chain of narrators)", as some have claimed.[35] It has been graded hasan sahih gharib,[9] meaning this hadith is hasan since it has several chains of transmitters, it is sahih as the chains are all authentic and it is gharib in the words that Imam Tirmidhi narrated.[36]"

http://wikiislam.net/wiki/72_Virgins

[Numerous original sources follow if you are so inclined.

Or you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houri which argues against the "72 virgins" but makes clear that one's eternal reward involves beautiful virgins and is extremely sensual.

Now, you can argue that this isn't "real" Islam, but that's like arguing who are the real Christians - Roman Catholics or Southern Baptists? Somewhere, millions of muslims believe this stuff.

[6chars]

28. "every male admitted into Paradise will be given eternal

erections?"

They should really call a doctor if it lasts more than four hours.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

51. Hehe

[Jim Beard]

52. Hey, if you are going to promise that - - then you need to add more to it.

[Ruby the Liberal]

25. And that is what makes it so dangerous

Even those who aren't devout are told that no matter what you have done in this life, you can be absolved by martyrdom in the name of "Allah". Add mental illness to the mix and you have an element not seen in tragedies like Norway, Aurora, Tucson, Sandy Hook, etc etc - a "promise" of eternal redemption for committing the act.

[whathehell]

76. Um, how do we 'wash our hands of them'?

The difference between the radical jihadists and those nuts is exactly that they are following 'no ideology' and so are unlikely to proselytize
and spread their insanity.

[underahedgerow]

5. Confused yet? You should be.

The original writer (not the poster!) is full of crap and talking out his bottom.

[Cartoonist]

7. So says you

You're not helping

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. In what way?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

61. Original writer writes thoughtful paragraphs and all you post is a one line slam.

It doesn't work like that.

If you want to be unconfused or to unconfuse others, you have to make a case for a point of view.

But perhaps you don't want a debate or to be enlightened or feel yourself incapable of truly enlightening others. Without further information that has to be our working hypothesis about your motives.

But it would be easy for you to convince us otherwise by writing a reasoned post that takes one of the (at least) three sides on this issue.

[MariaThinks]

66. is there a thoughtful rebuttal there somewhere?

[zentrum]

6. Doesn't the KKK

…..say its deep Christian beliefs are one of the main reasons they do what they do? Do they have something to do with Christianity or not?

Every Christian I know says the Klan has nothing to do Christianity no matter what the Klan claims.

Fundamentalists of every religion are a problem. They always take the basic message (always written by men hundreds of years ago) and twist it to their own ends of power. Islam is the focus right now, but all religions have and have had their problems.

Ask LGBT people in any country.

[colorado_ufo]

10. Best comment yet.

I have never understood the burning crosses of the KKK. The Islamic extremists conveniently ignore Islam's prohibition against suicide.

[Bluenorthwest]

21. Problem with that is that virtually all religious people ignore that which they do not wish

to follow in their own faith while picking up parts of the faith to impose on others. That's universal.

[treestar]

19. +1000

[uponit7771]

33. +1

[King_David]

77. And as an LGBT person I think the homophobic

anti gay bigotry in that culture is unacceptable. I think the culture should be shunned and they should be forced to change because a slow evolution is neither understandable and nor should it be tolerated.

[struggle4progress]

9. The Self-Invention of Maajid Nawaz

Maajid Nawaz bases his credibility on a compelling personal story, but how much of it is true?
By Nafeez Ahmed, Max Blumenthal
AlterNet February 5, 2016

Maajid Nawaz, a native Briton of Pakistani background, tells a compelling personal story of his odyssey from extremist Islam to enlightenment ... Recently, Nawaz has trained his firepower on leftists and liberals, equating them with Islamic extremists if they express opposition to Islamophobia ... Nawaz’s fascinating autobiography is the basis of his identity as the pop idol of counter-terrorism. His credibility rests on his personal story. It is the foundation of his trustworthiness. So we spoke with more than a dozen people intimately familiar with the crucial facets of Maajid Nawaz’s life. They told us that many of his most important claims about his transformative journey are dubious ...

http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/self-invention-maajid-nawaz-fact-and-fiction-life-counter-terror-celebrity

[struggle4progress]

11. What Does Maajid Nawaz Really Believe?

BY NATHAN LEAN
January 27, 2016

... Buried beneath the adulation .. are the sighs of those who have long maintained that Nawaz’s dramatic tale of redemption isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Interviews with his friends and relatives suggest that his account is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies — indications, they say, of a turncoat who cares more about being a well-compensated hero than he does about the cause he champions.

“Most in my family who witnessed his life outside home, religious or irreligious, find his story at least exaggerated or embellished for his agenda, if not absolutely false,” Nawaz’s elder brother, Kaashif, said.

Ashraf Hoque, a friend from Nawaz’s college days, is more blunt.

... “Maajid is whatever he thinks he needs to be” ...

https://newrepublic.com/article/128436/maajid-nawaz-really-believe

[struggle4progress]

14. Motives unclear

16 Jul 2016 at 15:53

... At an apartment bloc in the Quartier des Abattoirs, on the outskirts of Nice, neighbours described the father of three as a volatile man, prone to drinking and womanising, and in the process of divorcing his wife.

His father said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had violent episodes during which "he broke everything he found around him".

"Each time he had a crisis, we took him to the doctor who gave him medication,'' Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel told BFM television ...

"What I know is that he didn't pray, he didn't go to the mosque, he had no ties to religion,'' said the father, noting that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel did not respect the Islamic fasting rituals during the month of Ramadan ...

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1037217/nice-killers-motive-a-mystery

[treestar]

18. People jump on his Muslim-ness

If he had been a Christian, he'd be another crazy case like any other mass killer. Nobody would say it was inherent in his Christianity. Or that Christianity told him to do this.

[Arazi]

38. The French govt is now saying Bouhlel was radicalized by ISIS' version of Islam

Source: CNN

Attacker in Nice was 'radicalized rapidly,' French interior minister says

By Peter Wilkinson, Jason Hanna and Euan McKirdy, CNN
Updated 1516 GMT (2316 HKT) July 16, 2016

(CNN) - The man who used a 20-ton truck to plow down hundreds of people in Nice this week, killing 84, somehow became radicalized very quickly and hadn't even yet shown up on any anti-terrorist intelligence radar, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Saturday.

"It seems that the attacker got radicalized very rapidly," Cazeneuve said of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31.

The minister said Bouhlel had not been known to the intelligence services previously, and he noted that authorities now face a new scenario with individuals who are becoming very sensitive to the messages of ISIS.

Earlier Saturday, a statement from ISIS' media group, Amaq Agency, said that an ISIS "soldier" carried out the attack in Nice.

[struggle4progress]

69. ... He "had not been known to the intelligence services because he did not stand out ...

by being linked with radical Islamic ideology," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said yesterday. If he was a Islamist militant, he must have become radicalised very quickly, Mr Cazeneuve added ...

http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/attack-in-nice-attacker-not-linked-to-any-militant-group

[StraightRazor]

15. So far there has been no evidence found by French authorities that this had anything to do...

with Islam or ISIS or anything else beyond a guy who had serious emotional problems and committed a horrible act on his own because of his mental state.

I guess when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail.

[6chars]

16. He apparently invoked a common Islamic phrase

The truck driver, who was known to police, was said to have shouted 'Allahu Akbar' – God is great in Arabic – before being killed in a clear suicide mission. Pro-ISIS groups have been celebrating the attack, orchestrated to coincide with France's most important national holiday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3691019/Several-people-injured-truck-crashes-crowd-Bastille-Day-celebrations-Nice.html

Not that that implies anything to do with Islam.

[StraightRazor]

20. Well, that certainly settles it then...

this was clearly an ISIS attack if he 'was said' to have shouted something which was heard above the din of incoming machine gun fire.

Thanks for clarifying.

[6chars]

22. good save

[melman]

41. Right

Why believe people that were actually there?

[King_David]

78. Maybe he was just a self loathing Gay male ?

Like the ridiculous denial of the Orlando jihadist , even though the mass murderer himself claimed to have done it for radical Islamist ideologies....

[kwassa]

54. well, this is the Daily Mail.

not the most credible sources.

"was said to have shouted" .....

by who?

Simply saying the phrase doesn't indicate the true religiosity, even if he did say it.

[6chars]

62. quite a few other papers have it

not NY Times quality though.

Fox News, Mirror, Breitbart, France24, etc.

None has an interview with a witness saying "by the way, you'll never know what he said when he jumped out of the truck to start firing his guns"

imo, if this is what a person chooses to say in between plowing down scores with a truck and shooting dozens more, it goes to state of mind.

[kwassa]

80. If he actually said it ...

Most reports said he had little interest in religion, didn't observe Ramadan, and drank alcohol.

[6chars]

81. it wouldn't be unheard of.

[treestar]

17. geez that is written in a condescending way

No I will think for myself thank you. Geez.

[Akamai]

27. Great point! Argument by anger is hardly persuasive.

That writer's demand the we find violent Muslim motives even where they may not exist also falls into the pattern of what Osama bin Laden wanted. He bragged that a member of el Caeda could simply raise a handkerchief at one corner of this country and we would send armies against him.

In other words, Osama delighted in making us overreact to provocations.

We have repeatedly done so with the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, with Guantanamo, torture, non-prosecution of those who lied us into war and who killed so many in the middle east, destabilized that region, etc.

[treestar]

31. After 911 we did exactly what bin Laden wanted

He wanted us to go and fight him over there as he knew he couldn't defeat us here. He provoked with the embassy bombings and was frustrated that we did not act the cowboys he said we were. He realized he needed an attack here to get us to do that and he succeeded. He got every damn thing he wanted.

Same with ISIS. They threaten to send terrorists in with refugees. And how many americans want to cave in and refuse to take any refugees?

[Akamai]

32. Absolutely agree with you and the military here know it as do

Our major politicians, the mainstream media, etc.

[Skittles]

34. there is a lot of that going around lately

[wildeyed]

26. It has everything to do with fundamentalism and nothing to do with Islam.

Rage is driving these people toward fundamentalism. They have a bunch of other things in common. Young men with a history of domestic violence is a common thread. Why not focus on that? What I see is a bunch of angry and impotent young men so desperate for attention that they are willing to take a bunch of innocent bystanders out with them in their final blaze of glory. Media should focus on how pitiful, sorry, small and cowardly these assholes are 24/7. It might make the behavior less attractive to the copycats. It will certainly work better than demonizing an entire religion.

Using the CRUDASDERS as a comparison to modern fundamentalism is pretty dumb too.

[Marr]

48. Thank god there are enlightened western liberals like yourself, to explain

what Muslims really think. To Muslims.

[wildeyed]

56. What I am saying is that religion has little effect on people's actions.

There is legit research on this if you want me to look it up.

[progressoid]

71. Religion has little effect on people's actions?

Where is this legit research?

I know people whose entire lives are guided by their religion.

[wildeyed]

79. Like this?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/research-porn-religion-study_us_577d1bc6e4b09b4c43c1bfbe

Or where "conservative" Christians are just as likely as the general population to be non-virgins on their wedding day? Fundamentalists do another variation where they cherry-pick verses from their preferred Iron Age tome to justify homophobic, misogynistic and/or violent behaviors. They SAY their lives are guided by religion, but it seems almost certain, when you look at the huge variety of behaviors of individuals who SAY they believe in the same god, that much is guided by their own personal preferences. It's called confirmation bias.

Hey, I REALLY like Social Gospel and more recent movement called New Monasticism, but since I ALREADY like the principals those branches of Christianity espouse, this is not surprising. If I became a Christian, it would be because these religious movements gave me a higher spiritual and moral standing to espouse values that I ALREADY believe in.

[progressoid]

82. That seems like plain old hypocrisy.

And if religion is so innocuous, then why bother with all the separation of Church and State stuff?

[wildeyed]

83. I never said religion was innocuous.

Just that people tend to create God in their own image by reading religious texts selectively, focusing on the passages that confirm their own bias and ignoring the others. I KNOW Christians do this all the time. Assuming that Muslims do too.

[lindysalsagal]

29. Viscious lunatics will always find an excuse, religion being their favorite.

No book ever made anyone kill.

[GoneOffShore]

45. Sorry, you are wrong.

Mein Kampf, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Old Testament, New Testament, Koran, Mao's Red Book, etc.: They have all had their adherents, who have been more than ready to kill based on the writings found in each of these books.

[lindysalsagal]

53. They all would have found an excuse, regardless of the choices.

[GoneOffShore]

55. They find what they're looking for in the book.

And the books, written by men, encourage the killing.

I'm firmly in the camp of those who find that, for all the good that some participants in religions have done in the world (i.e., Jimmy Carter, Sister Mary Scullion), that good is not balanced out by the outright evil that has been promoted and practiced(i.e., Mother Teresa, Torquemada) .
I look forward to the day when 'the religious', particularly the overtly pious who would totally eliminate those not of the faith, get as much press as stamp collectors. And when religion is relegated to a quaint little hobby like train-spotting or matchbook collecting.

“Gods prefer simple, vicious games, where you Do Not Achieve Transcendence but Go Straight To Oblivion; a key to the understanding of all religion is that a god's idea of amusement is Snakes and Ladders with greased rungs.”
― Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters

[beergood]

84. ive read some of those books

and i have no desire to harm people.

im sure plenty of people can say the same.

[blm]

30. When my schizophrenic sister was off her meds she showed up at a Catholic elementary school

and shouted that the church school was the wrong kind of Catholic and evil and that they would all be going to hell if they didn't return to Tridentine Mass and traditional Catholic dogma before Pope John 23.

She terrorized that school and the children, and if she had access to an assault weapon what would she have done?

She does not represent Catholic church.

[Schema Thing]

36. but she did get her beliefs from Catholocism

An atheist schizophrenic is more likely to think "hmmm, I'm thinking wildly here".

A believer otoh has entire books and religions full of wild tales to go along with the voice in their head telling them to do something harmful.

[blm]

37. Not really - what she believed is that she was making my RW Catholic fundie mother proud of her by

being so demonstrative about these positions. She was repeating what she heard my mother and her church friends say - she latched onto their RW reactionary beliefs as a way to feel she belonged instead of being defined as someone that most would view as 'crazy'.

[Schema Thing]

42. You're saying she didn't believe the things she was saying?

[blm]

43. Part of her did, but, she also believed aliens landed and invaded Cleveland, and that she

also lived at Buckingham palace on Princess Diana's wrist….as her favorite watch.

You can try to make sense out of what they are thinking or what they are believing when they go without their medication and the disease is in full control, but, it is a pretty useless effort.

[Schema Thing]

46. I haven't seen research on this...

but I do know that over about an 8 year period, just here in Texas, I can think of about 5 women who killed their children in some of the most brutal ways imaginable - at least 13 children total - and they all had God's voice and/or guidance processing in their minds while in doing so.

Having grown up in a fundamentalist christian cult, I know the violent stories about what God has done or approved of in the past that were floating around in their heads, and I know the beliefs that told them death was better than life in this ungodly "world".

[whathehell]

75. Please....Atheist schizophrenics may change their cast of characters

from, say, Jesus to aliens from Mars, but are no less crazed or inclined to the sort of rational self-awareness you suggest. I.e. "I'm thinking wildly here". Neither are they less inclined 'to do something harmful' like that nice unbeliever who blew.away three Muslim Americans college grads about two years ago.....Stop reaching.

[Albertoo]

35. Excellent article, thanks. Maajid Nawaz is one hope of an evolution of Islam

[Akamai]

63. I'm not sure Maajid Nawaz's methods persuade any Muslims to be less violent -- Persuasion by yelling

doesn't work well.

I think a carrot approach should be tried, and game theory agrees. Game theory now says that when we meet someone we don't know, we should offer our hand in greeting and then reciprocate in the way that the other person does. If they cooperate, we do as well. And if they are negative, we should act the same way.

But before too long, we should offer our hand again in a cooperative fashion and then cooperate if they do...

Another largely persuasive approach is just to give the facts -- for example, in terms of getting parents to vaccinate their youngsters, pediatricians should not scare them with the horrors of autism, measles, etc. The most effective method seems to be something like, "Most parents vaccinate their children in the expectation that this helps their children. And this is generally the case." (Optimal warning like those words but not quite. If you're a pediatrician, I would look up the actual wording.)

[Albertoo]

68. Game theory only works with collaborative players

If it is the objective of one player to NOT collaborate, under no circumstance, the game stops.

It is the objective of the ideology of Islam to take over the world and apply its own rule
Extend your hand all you want to ben Laden or al Bagdhadi, it won't work
Extend your hand to the Muslim Brotherhood, they'll take it only if it means weakening the non-Muslim world in the long run: they want total control of the planet.

In short, Islam -taken literally- is not a doctrine lending itself to collaboration.

A great many Muslims are peaceful, but they are bending their own texts to be nice.
Ultimately, it's not possible to negotiate without some element of stick, i.e. the sacred texts must be amended or heavily contextualized. Or the result of the negotiation will be conflict.

[Akamai]

70. I think that oftentimes a holy book is more revered in memory than in practice.

Last edited Sun Jul 17, 2016, 01:46 AM - Edit history (1)

in the Bible, Leviticus has extraordinary punishments for those who wear multi-fabric attire, disobey their parents, etc.

For all those who say that they abide by the Bible absolutely, I believe not too many Christians would kill gays are disobedient children.

I am a non-believer as are most of the scientists in the world. As time goes on, more and more of the world citizens will be non-believers.

As far as I can see, the way to improve Muslim humanism is to open the opportunities for information, to improve the education for women, and, among other things, demonstrating the advantages of alternative views of belief. There is an interesting set of videos on YouTube that explores religious change -- see "Street Epistemology" on Youtube.com.

[Arazi]

39. KIck and rec

[sarcasmo]

40. Kick

[JI7]

44. some people refuse to accept that believing in God doesn't make someone a good person

[Akamai]

64. A hell of a lot of people think that not believing in god makes you bad, worse than believing in a

Last edited Sun Jul 17, 2016, 12:12 AM - Edit history (1)

religion you don't like.

That is, Muslims, Christians, etc., all tend to hate atheists more than they hate people of the other religions.

But why do only 6% of the top scientists in the country identify themselves as Republican?


Take a look at "Street Epistemology" on youtube.com to explore the certainty of religion more completely.

[Marr]

47. Well said. /nt

[Rex]

50. I will go one further, fundamentalism is the root cause of our problems.

And not just about terrorism. It cost untold lives of women that have to literally become a slave to the mans every desire. Fundamentalism does not hold human life in high regard.

[63splitwindow]

57. Agreed. Fundamentalist zealots of any and all stripes...

[Rex]

58. They all have the same final solution. We all die and they live in their twisted utopia.

Extremists gravitate around fundamentalism. I might get in trouble for calling it a mental illness.

[63splitwindow]

59. If it is not mental illness it is just pure evil. nt

[Rex]

60. Well in a time of such logic and reasoning, I guess it is too much to wonder why

we have such a hard time evolving mentally.

It is no doubt evil as I recognize it. I've never seen one 'net positive' from fundamentalism. Maybe at a time it was needed to keep kings on thrones...but this is 2016. Kinda depressing.

[progressoid]

72. yup...

[MariaThinks]

65. At last someone who is speaking the truth and not afraid of it.

[zentrum]

67. As FAIR

...(Fairness and Accuracy in Media) writes today: A mass murderer gets called a Terrorist based more on ethnicity than evidence.

[closeupready]

73. Oh, okay, will do - will take advice from someone I've never heard of before,

and curb my discussions about current events, tailoring the ones in which I do engage in a manner which suits his demands, only because he says so.

[King_Klonopin]

74. Whether or not these acts of violence are related to Islamic extremists,

what bothers me is when people act like they WANT this violence
to be related to Islamist groups -- those who jump to that conclusion
before all the facts are known, those who seem to be routing for
another act of "Islamic" terrorism because it bolsters a paranoid
political dogma, or those who simply want to say "I told you so"
and feel justified in their accusation that no Muslims should be
trusted or tolerated. Trump provides the perfect example of this,
and he will certainly seek to exploit this latest incident, regardless
of the facts.

In the same vain, it bothers me when people jump to the opposite
conclusions too soon. If there is a connection to Islamic extremists,
I can acknowledge that fact. However, despite the yammering of the
militant right-wing, an act of Islamic terrorism does not sway me from
my non-bigoted, non-paranoid, liberal beliefs.

My belief is that there is an evil, antisocial, psychological make-up
inherent in these individuals which predisposes them to be attracted
to and to follow the mindset and social constructs of a terrorist group.
It is a phenomenon which is not new to social psychology, nor is it a
concept which is anathema here in the United States -- just look to
the KKK or the Neo-Nazis as a reference. One's love for his God or
his country is not the problem; the perversion of those beliefs and then
using those beliefs as an excuse to oppress and murder other people is
the true evil.