Heres what really bothers me about Obamas stance on ISIS. I get that 90% of islamist violence is politically motivated, having the strategic goal of encouraging an occupying force to withdraw. It can be reasonably argued that the late 70s paradigm shift from terrorist groups being primarily secular to primarily religious is a result of western aggression in Arab lands, and that Islamism is a vehicle for violence, rather than a cause. However, to say that Islam isnt in any way accountable for the nature or severity of this violence and oppression is like saying the crusades werent Catholic. Obamas no true Muslim rhetoric is misguided and dangerous. The problem is the same on all sides. Authoritarian dogma, nationalism, imperialism, and willful ignorance have been at the root of every issue from airport profiling, to phantom WMD, to the beheading of apostates. These are the results one should expect from what I refer to as the triple crown of evil (or the three horns of Satan, depending on the audience Im addressing): uncritical adherence to doctrine, sectarianism, and magical thinking. None of these are the sole domain of religion. What makes religion so dangerous and inherently radicalizing is the fact that systems of supernatural belief tend enshrine all of these principles simply by treating as axiomatic the hideous notion that belief without evidence --or, more often, in spite of contrary evidence-- is virtuous. Once youve convinced someone that they dont need to compare their beliefs to reality, youve given them permission to justify anything.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 05:35:05 +0000
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