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Paradigm said:
You are correct that simply being poor and oppressed isn't the main factor in terrorism, but Islam does not seem to be the determining factor either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bombing

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A common reaction to a suicide bomber is to assume that he (or rarely she) was motivated by despair, and probably hailed from a poor, neglected segment of society. Both President George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama have made this claim. However, anthropologist Scott Atran found in a 2003 study that this is not a justifiable conclusion. A recently published paper by Harvard University Professor of Public Policy Alberto Abadie "cast[s] doubt on the widely held belief that terrorism stems from poverty, finding instead that terrorist violence is related to a nation's level of political freedom." [4] More specifically this is due to the transition of countries towards democratic freedoms. "intermediate levels of political freedom are often experienced during times of political transitions, when governments are weak, political instability is elevated, so conditions are favorable for the appearance of terrorism"

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If Islam doesn't in any way inspire hatred and violence then why is it almost a given that it was in some way connected to pretty much any terrorist act that has happened anywhere in the world over the last 50 years?

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Divided_Sky said:

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Redstorm said:

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Divided_Sky said:
Point1: So what happens when you define Islam's "attackers" as anybody but a "true" Muslim?

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The people who believe this are about as representative of Islam as Christians who bomb aboriton clinics are representative of Christianity. That is, they are not at all.

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Well sorry but there are far more suicide bombings than abortion clinic bombings, and they happen all over the world.

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Divided_Sky said:
But does this climate simply create violence, or does it necessarily promote killing innocents in the name of God. I think in order to do something truly heinous one must have a conviction that their act is right, condoned by God.

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Redstorm said:
Is bulldozing houses and building fences through private property self-defense? Sounds like retribution to me.

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Divided_Sky said:

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Redstorm said:
Is bulldozing houses and building fences through private property self-defense? Sounds like retribution to me.

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Is imprisoning murderers retribution as well?

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Divided_Sky said:
I think my argument becomes weaker because I made the claim that essentially Buddhists are not violent. This is not true. However, the point I was trying to make in the first place was that Tibet contradicted the idea that oppression and instability create terrorism. I made the mistake in saying Buddhism is a significant factor in people not resorting to terrorism, when really what I should have said was that the lack of Islam and perhaps general tendancy towards non-violence was a significant factor into the equation.

Conversly my point is that Islam IS a consistant factor in terrorism regardless if people are rich or poor, in Syria or Indonesia. If Islam doesn't in any way inspire hatred and violence then why is it almost a given that it was in some way connected to pretty much any terrorist act that has happened anywhere in the world over the last 50 years?

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lonestar2004 said:
damn DS you are going to be exhausted after debating with the four of them.

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Divided_Sky said:
Allright. I'm going to give this up. But my final question is, if Islam is not the factor that causes terrorism, why are almost all terrorist acts in many different geographic locations commited by Muslims? If their society is to blame, why is it only societies in Islamic countries?

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I would say that Islam fosters extremism, but no necessarily terrorism.

I'm not saying you're wrong, either. My opinion just differs from yours. Good debate, though.

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Divided_Sky said:
Allright. I'm going to give this up. But my final question is, if Islam is not the factor that causes terrorism, why are almost all terrorist acts in many different geographic locations commited by Muslims? If their society is to blame, why is it only societies in Islamic regions?

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I said:
Now that's just plain ignorant. Ever hear of the Red Brigades? The Irish Republican Army? The Aryan Nations? The Medellin Cartel? The Animal Liberation Front? Terrorism is hardly unique to any particular ideology.

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Unagipie said:
Religions will always be a cultural backdrop in every region of the world. In 1,000 years from now there will still be thousands upon thousands of Churches in the United States.

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Divided_Sky said:
Shooting militants and suicide bombers is what is known as "self-defense", not terrorism. I completely reject the whole Israel=state terrorism nonsense. It's just a load of factually ignorant and ridiculous propaganda that gets repeated over and over again by the same moonbat people.

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