Jambo: the laziest guy in the Bund.

Rather than post his opinions and thoughts here for all to share, he calls me and rants for nearly an hour. Sheesh.

"Rant" is too tough a word, though. He had some very good points, which I'll share (even if he won't) and then ponder further.

To not "pussy foot" the topic any further, I was making the point that perhaps there is some validity to the claim that the root of the problem the Judeo-Christian world is having with radical Islam is Islam itself. Let me explain, before anyone makes the assumption that I am an anti-Islam bigot, or radically prejudiced against Muslims.

As a Catholic, I have dedicated vast amounts of my time and resources to learn the tenants of my faith as best I can. I feel I can go toe-to-toe with any theologian when it comes to Catholicism, and many of the other mainstream denominations, too. I have struggled on my personal faith journey, and in looking for answers to tough questions, I have searched high and wide, but the answers always seemed to be found right where I should have been looking from the very start: the Catholic Church. So, while I do not pretend to have any more insight into the workings of other Christian's minds or intentions, I do feel like I know what MINE are supposed to be, morally and spiritually.

So, if the absolute premise of the Christian faith is the redemption of Man through the love and intercession of God in our lives (individually and collectively) by the direction and example of the Incarnation of God the Son in Jesus Christ, then the actions and positions taken by "radical Christians" like the Westboro Baptist Church or those who choose to blow up abortion clinics in the name of God cannot be reconciled with the teachings, words and example of Jesus Christ, in whom the culmination of ALL God's plans and instructions are fulfilled utterly and completely.

I am no scholar of the Qur'an, or even of Islam in general, but I have found very little to show me that the actions and positions taken by those we label as "radical Islamic extremists" is NOT in full accordance with exactly what Muhammad wanted to express as his view of Allah's will. If the West has seen a dramatic shift in the manner and means by which Islam is preached and practiced by the more than one billion people who claim it as their faith, that shift has not come from secular (despotic or otherwise) Muslim governments, or even from radical, ultra-conservative theocracies that support violence and murder as functional tools of statecraft... but instead it has come from the "foundational" interpretations of the masses of Muslims themselves.

The example I used with Jambo was the hijab, or the head-to-toe covering worn by women to cover all but their eyes and hands. 40 years ago, less than one in a hundred women in Riyadh, Tehran or Ankara wore the hijab habitually in public.. Now it is REQUIRED as public wear in all of Iran and Saudi Arabia, and is banned ONLY in public schools in Turkey. Otherwise, it is now more than HALF of all women in Turkey that wear the hijab in public. It is required in Iran and Saudi Arabia, but that doesn't explain its "popularity" in places like France, England, Denmark and Detroit, does it? Something had to have changed in the manner in which the traditional teachings of the 1950's (for example) became the more conservative compliance with the hijab.

Jambo agreed with me, but went even further by giving his view of what brought about the change. He included socio-economic factors into the equation that I had ignored.

Where are the "hot beds" of Islamic extremist recruiting these days? Afghanistan? Iraq? Yemen? Somalia? Tunisia? Even Turkey? What do all these states have in common? Hundreds of thousands of young, energetic men (and women) with no prospects of advancement or future gains outside of participation in and associations with the radical elements we are discussing. Why are there no shortage of willing suicide bombers from Gaza or Golan? Because there are literally hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised youths who want to blame their woes on Israel, at the instruction and direction of Hammas leadership.

The more I pondered Jambo's thoughts, the more they made sense. Muslims that have emigrated to the US or Canada may bring with them their traditions, habits and manners, and many may resist assimilation for a generation or two by hanging on to those traditions and trappings, but I don't think we are as likely to see the "radical elements" develop and depart from places like Detroit or Toronto as we are from Gaza, or Yemen, or Mogadishu, or Islamabad. Here in the West, they have opportunity available that they NEVER would have had (for good or bad) in their ancestral homes. And until they DO have those opportunities AT HOME, they will continue export terror and violence in the form of impressionable youths willing to kill and die for the promise of a better world, even if it is the NEXT world they'll have to get it in.