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originally posted by: symphonyofblase
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Instead she was probably passed around different groups of smelly bearded men every night.
I'd say she got her cake, and it was force fed to her, too.
And if it was a 17 year old boy I will bet there would be less sympathy.
originally posted by: DeepThoughtCriminal
It's very easy to say "good riddance" and so on, but it's important to remember that the Islamic State is very good at using social media.
Take a look at their popular magazine, Dabiq,which is available in several major languages. It pushes the idea that death in service to the Islamic State is desirable, with the senseless deaths of healthy young men being lauded as sort of spiritual victories, and the status of being a "martyr" is considered highly admirable. The magazine is well written, and quite effective in advertising the Islamic State to impressionable young people. Most of their recruits are young men in their late teens and early 20's, and they know how to cater for their target audience.
The case of this young girl is a tragedy. Someone managed to convince her that she was doing the right thing. Possibly even her family helped her make this terrible decision. Even in Western countries, fundamentally religious parents can have a massive impact on their children's lives. Some young Muslim women are forced to live double lives in fear of actually being killed by their family as an "honour killing".
We simply don't know the exact circumstances of this girl's fateful journey to Syria. Maybe she was brainwashed, maybe she was lied to, maybe she was forced to go.
For the time being at least, the Islamic State is well funded thanks to all the oil they've been selling and places they've been looting. A lot of Syrians and Iraqi join because that's the only way they can make enough money to support their families.
My point is, there are reasons beyond religious belief as to why people end up joining IS. Writing off this girl as "getting what she deserved" is ignorant. Instead, her reasons should be examined, because if IS is able to keep recruiting members in Western countries, that's a serious problem that needs to be addressed. If they're able to recruit young women despite being overtly misogynistic, that indicates their propaganda is extremely effective, and that's a serious problem.
originally posted by: donktheclown
a reply to: crazyewok
And if it was a 17 year old boy I will bet there would be less sympathy.
I wouldn't be less sympathetic, but for some, sure. The thing is, there would be no surprise to me if there aren't legions of PS4, Xbox and such, young kids who are hopped up 10 hours a day on those killing games. Like a gateway drug, they may seek a new high when they're tired of killing in a game. Who the heck knows what causes such poor decisions?