Modern extremism is traced to Qutb, who founded the modern fundamentalist movement in Egypt.
Qutb attributed his awakening to the time he was an exchange student at what is now the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. He attended a church dance in the early 1950's and was shocked at men and women dancing together. One can picture the women in bobby sox and ankle length skirts and the men in white shirts and ties.
That is what shocked Qutb into going to war against the modern world. A church dance in Greeley, Colorado.
The elites who claim all the problems with Muslim extremism are caused by the Jews are simply engaging in not very well disguised anti-Semitism.
So the movie Footloose, which was made as a tool against Christian fundamentalism, actually would have been accurate as a description of the origin of anti-Western Islamoterrorism.
Born in 1906, he was in America in 1948-50, when he would have been in his early 40's. His family in Egypt was prosperous by Egyptian standards, but not by US standards. He also was not particularly handsome.
I suspect the real reason for his outrage was that none of those "immoral, decadent, Western" girls has interested in being immoral with HIM. He couldn't take rejection.
That’s a very interesting story. If truely the source of all Islamic extremism today, it has profound implications.
Something as innocent, or really innocuous as a church dance could be the source of worldwide problems. It really drives home the importance of treating all people, as one would prefer to be treated. You just never know if the guy you tick off because you cut him off in traffic, don’t hold the elevator for, or even don’t ask to dance (if a wallflower all alone) becomes some bitter dictator.
It’s interesting don’t you think? I also wonder what could have been done differently at that dance to convince him otherwise. (Again assuming it’s truly the source of his anti-western bias, as well as the source of all Islamic radicalism today). What could have been done differently?
If he were asked to dance, would he maybe still be offended merely by the fact a woman asked him rather than the other way around?
If he didn’t make it to that dance, would things be different? What if he was shot on the way there, in some bungled robbery or worse? Would his grieving family become as anti-west as he did?
Why was he even there? Clearly someone invited him. What if he wasn’t even invited? Maybe that’s the greatest irony of all. If he wasn’t invited (someone showing him kindness in that moment) maybe he wouldn’t have become so anti-west. So maybe we wouldn’t even have terrorists today.
Maybe a random act of kindness is responsible for terrorism! How ironic that would be if true!
It boggles the mind to think of all the possible outcomes, if one had a time machine. In the Twilight Zone.
< /Rod Serling >