“Look, I’m not out to prove anything, I’m in fact-gathering mode, and I presumed many other FReepers might also be.”
Considering the number of terrorist events over the past decades, including 9/11 and many that have followed, I fail to understand why so many freepers would NOT at least think he might be tied in some way to Islamic terrorists — or at least their ideology.
The railing against Western values always seems to be a huge part of terrorist thinking. Though he might not have been a card-carrying member of a terrorist org., he still could have been a wannabe recruit — much like the kid in Tampa who flew a plane into a high rise.
As I read more and more posts by those seeking to discredit the well stated POV you have captured here, my conclusions are that:
* The idea of a merger between “lone nutball” type crimes and terrorism is an incredibly uncomfortable possibility for most people
* Although this is a conservative site, and we all ought to know better, many here have kids in college (based simply on demographic realities regarding the Baby Boom) and don’t want to beleieve just what sorts of dark and evil things today’s campus environment might foster
* Many people are too narrowly focused on a highly specific MO involving formal membership in terror groups, radical Wahabism or Shi’ism, etc - when in fact, radicals and revolutionaries come in all sorts of flavors and the flavor set is ever growing.
None of these are comfort producing, them imply an increasing and out of control level of violence and destruction, coming from unexpected quarters. Easier to post photos of tin foil hats than to entertain any serious discussion of this.