[tiamat]

Good article.
Thanks.

[milemark]

T.R.O.P.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Ahhh, so they are terrorists because they are sore losers? It all comes clearly to me now...

[Billthedrill]

Fascinating. Insensate hatred of the status quo is a characteristic of the young whether they are its beneficiaries or not. So is utopianism. So is a need for romantic self-identification. It is these that characterize a political radical whether he or she be Bolshevik, Anarchist, Nazi, or in this case a weird amalgam of fascism and violent and militant Muslim.

Most people grow out of it before they hurt someone. Some people do not. Some end up so fond of it that they cannot imagine life without it. These ideology addicts are pretty easy to identify - if the question "what have you ever built?" is answered by "the System has to be destroyed first," then it's definitive.

What is most fascinating about communist rhetoric is the timeless nature of its resentment and the ingenuity with which it finds fault with all aspects of a current self-defined "system." It is a sad, stunted creativity and a total waste of energy, but it is so satisfying on a visceral level that it has the habituating properties of a powerful drug. It will be with us long after its parent ideology has faded into the obscurity of failure, and it is no surprise that other radicals find it so congenial.

[Paradox]

So anti-western liberalism, born in the west, is somewhat responsible for Islamic Radicalism.

This does not surprise me.

[struwwelpeter]

Wow... now this is some very tasty food for thought. If there are many Moslems with the author's point of view, then there is hope.

[brownsfan]

This is the most well thought out, and well written article I've read on Islam to date. In some ways the author confirms my belief that the major difference between Christianity and Islam is that Christians have grown, and evolved, where Islamists are saddled with a belief system that doesn't fit our time.
I have read postings here claiming the Koran is a violent document and a blueprint for terror. And yet, I know the Bible has it's own violent passages, and puzzling content. We, Christians, have grown enough that we can look past some of the literal interpretations, and focus on the good. Unlike those who, in more primative times, used the Bible to justify things such as witch hunts and the Crusades.
Sadly, the biggest thing missing in this article is a solution.

[marron]

I've noticed the parallels and connections between militant islamism and marxism. It seems counter-intuitive, but only if you see islamism as primarily a religious movement. It isn't, its a revolutionary movement, and it is more anti-western than it is religious.

[GarySpFc]

It may shock most of you to learn the author is a leader in the Intelligent Design community.

[Paul Ross]

Thanks...useful. Medved could learn a thing or two from this guy ( he tends to dismiss the connections between movements).

Pinging.