Originally posted by AceOfBase
They were conducted in the spring of 2005.
That's only one year ago.
I gave you the figures for Britain and that wasn't enough so I gave you figures for other muslim countries and that's still not enough. I can't
give you data for every muslim country or every muslim population living in the west.
[edit on 6-2-2006 by AceOfBase]
My mistake, I saw a whole row of 2003s and 2002s and thought otherwise.
I suppose what I'm driving at is this -- do you notice a pattern there? Maybe it's not obvious, but to me, it seems like countries like Jordan and
Lebanon, owing to their proximity to Israel, which we all know the Arab countries don't like, well that factor may have weighed into their support
for violence. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying that the reasons probably have less to do with "kill the infidels" and more to do with a
vengeance/blood feud.
Also if you noticed, in other countries where the violence is escalating such as Indonesia, Phillipines or Thailand, standards of living are not so
great. On a special note, Indonesia may be muslim in name, but they don't really practise it the way it should. I know for a fact because of my
country's close proximity and also because we have plenty of Indonesian immigrants working here. Even my maid is Indonesian.
Yes, my family has had plenty of Indonesian maids (they work on a 3 year contract basis) and of the dozen or so maids that we've had, only one of
them knew what their religion was about. Imagine that, just one! The others had to learn about it from us.
Look, I'm not trying to deflect the blame or anything here, but I'm just pointing out what I see, what I perceive. There's no doubt that there are
elements in the "muslim" communities that are undesirable. But to say that we are just biased and only see what we want to see is a little harsh,
when the same can be said about any group of
human beings on the planet.
I've mentioned this on another thread, but I'll point it out again. This is what I think is going on with elements in the aforementioned countries
--
Imagine you live in, say Indonesia (coz that's the easiest for me to personally visualize..). Your government's pretty crooked. It's getting
better, but crooked is still crooked. Your life is deplorable. You have no prospects. Unemployement is close to 50% (it's true, that's why they look
for employment in Malaysia). Education-wise you were lucky you finished high-school (most don't, better work on the farms/factories to help the
family's financial situation) The situation appears hopeless.
And then you come in contact with a charismatic religious figure. He tells you stories about the afterlife (true or untrue I leave it up to you).
You're thinking "My life
is crap! Listening to this guy may not be such a bad idea. At least he can guide me in my preparations for the
afterlife." And so you start listening to this imam. And it so happens this imam is one of the funda
mental types. Whether that is by choice or
whether it is because that's what
this imam was taught, who can say? Now you just found religion. You become passionate about it (like all
born-again people are). You hear another story about what appears to be more Western insensitivities (be it true or not, at this point it hardly
matter). This further reinforces your believe in the funda
mental teachings. And so you declare your vendetta against the West and all it stands
for.
My point is,
desperate and uneducated masses, no matter from what culture are dangerous. They are easily swayed.
I hope this gives you a better understanding of the dynamics involved.