[IceGirl2]

The difference is that we work!

If you gave Afghanistan to Germans or Japanese or Finns or Americans or Israelis in 10 years you would have a beautiful country. Irrigation systems would be up and running, fields of hardy wheat would be swaying in the wind, factories would be turning out toys and electronic goods. Hospitals would be built and staffed. They would be efficient and clean. Roads would be built and fast food restaurants would be popular.

With ten years of hard work it could be done.

But it will never be done as long as these people continue to enjoy living in this squalor and with this ugly religion. There is no hope for them.

[freeforall]

I would disagree it is not that we "work" it is that we are free to work.None of these countries has anything like many in West and most esp america. " For, through knowledge, Khan would discover that his poverty stems from corrupt, dictatorial governments, the absence of capitalism and free trade, and the lack of individual rights and the rule of law. But who, in the Arab world, spreads this message?" They must above all have freedom and get rid of the losers who run those countries.

[TomSmedley]

But it will never be done as long as these people continue to enjoy living in this squalor and with this ugly religion. There is no hope for them.

As a Christian who benefits from, participates in, and wishes to propagate the gospel, the protestant work ethic, and the attendant benefits, I sadly have to agree with a friend who's actually living and working in a third-world nation -- it takes multiple generations. When the Berlin wall fell, the "wall in the brain" remained in the older "ossies" (East Germans). Still, when the external ideological structure collapses, maybe there is hope for the younger folks. As one who loves muslims, I pray for the discrediting of Islam soon.

[timestax]

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[timestax]

bump for the newbies