reply to post by Jenna
Agreed. I would soften my statement to say that I think that how exposed a given village is to a plurality of social mores is a factor in how
"extreme" they are...not the only factor, but a factor. On the spectrum your are much more likely to find stonings, and other extreme Islamic law
interpetations being doled out, in a village setting than a major city.
And I tend to believe the same thing occured when the Christain followers were equally dispersed and economically depressed.
But there are significant exceptions and I am speaking in generalizations.
Bottom line ....I think our policy toward rooting out extremism in the world and in particular, Islam, is the equivelant of picking the leaves off a
given weed and expecting it to go away.
We need to dig up the roots...or make the ground unfertile for extremism to exist...and to do this we need to find a way to bring these populations up
to par with the rest of the world...not quash their culture, but expose them to a diversity of ideas (education) and make room for them to contribute
and prosper economically....and by economically I don't mean poppy fields or oil...poppy fields puts them at odds with most governments and oil just
enriches the very few elite dictators.
It's a much more difficult challenge than military action or the silly idea of exporting American Democracy, but most people know it is the
answer.
I'd start with education. Tie aid to afghanistan to the establishment of educational programs and institutions, also farming practices and
equipment,...all of which would be cheaper than the current military investment. Get the world involved in the aid program...terrorism is everyones
problem and is the act of hopeless, despairing, people who have turned to extremism to give their life purpose, albeit twisted and often fatal.
I am rambling....We need to create ground where terroism has difficulty taking root. Yes kill the weeds where we see them, but most importantly find
the roots and address that issue ...that will make the difference.
