The Lure of Radical Islam, or ‘Boys Will Be Boys’
According to a recent ABC report, “As many as three dozen criminals who converted to Islam in American prisons have moved to Yemen where they could pose a ‘significant threat’ to attack the U.S., according to a report on al-Qaeda from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. … Also of concern to U.S. officials, the Senate staff found, is a group of ‘nearly 10 non-Yemeni Americans who traveled to Yemen, converted to Islam, became fundamentalists, and married Yemeni women so they could remain in the country.’ … An American official described them as ‘blond-haired, blue-eyed types’ who fit the profile of Americans who al-Qaeda has sought to recruit for terror missions.”
These, of course, are not the first Americans — black, white, or in between — to convert to Islam and join the jihad: John Walker Lindh wound up fighting fellow Americans alongside Taliban forces in Afghanistan; Adam Gadahn became a major character in al-Qaeda’s propaganda machine; Gregory Patterson, Levar Washington, and Kevin James plotted terror strikes against the U.S.; Christopher Paul and Jose Padilla conspired to use weapons of mass destruction.
Then there are the countless European converts, such as the British “shoe-bomber,” Richard Reid, who attempted to achieve “martyrdom” by detonating explosives in his shoes while aboard a passenger aircraft; the late Germaine Lindsay, who did achieve “martyrdom” by killing himself and 56 of his fellow citizens and injuring over 700, in the London bombings of 2005; and Abu Abdullah, the native Briton-turned-fiery-Islamist-preacher who makes no secret of his vitriolic hatred of the West (all, of course, while enjoying that unique Western liberty, freedom of speech).
What causes such men, born and raised in the West, often from Christian backgrounds, to abandon their heritage, embrace Islam, and become radicalized to the point that they conspire to kill their fellow countrymen?
As for Islam’s intrinsic appeal, it has long been argued that, unlike Christianity, which can be “heavy” on theology, Islam is relatively simple and straightforward. Thus while Christianity may revolve around more metaphysical topics — the Trinity, Christology, etc. — Islam, in black-and-white terms, commands its adherents to do this and not do that. In fact, the Arabic word “Sharia,” that comprehensive body of laws Muslims are to obey, is etymologically related to the word for “pathway” — as in, “the pathway to paradise.”
Yet there is another, more subtle, factor that may attract men to Islam: traditional male roles are well preserved in the religion. This may appeal to Western men who find it difficult to assert their “masculinity” in what may be perceived as gender-free Western societies. Harvey Mansfield’s book, Manliness, defines that term as “a quality both bad and good, mostly male, often intolerant, irrational, and ambitious. Our gender-neutral society does not like it but cannot get rid of it.”
Indeed, with an ethical code that coalesced in the seventh century — when the Muslim prophet and “perfect example” walked the earth, enforced his will, and conquered his “infidel” neighbors — Islamic culture can hardly be deemed “gender-neutral.” Even philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who despised religion and preached the need for man to be transformed into an amoral “hyper-man,” professed some admiration for Islam, describing it as “noble and manly” (The Antichrist).
Of course, traditional masculine roles are not the sole domain of Islam; most civilizations have lived in accordance to such norms. So-called “gender-neutral societies” are, from a historical perspective, aberrant. James Bowman, author of Honor: A History, stresses that, when it comes to the West’s disregard for notions of honor and masculinity, “we are, in global terms, the odd ones out”; he further asserts that, up until the Victorian era, in the West, “honor was rather closer to the Arab and Muslim idea of it today.”
In this context, then, it seems only natural for disaffected young men, who feel they are not fitting into what they perceive to be a “gender-neutral” society, to find a religion which emphasizes “masculinity” appealing.
Nazism had the same appeal.
so where is Osama bin hidin, so he can meet one of those soft western paper tigers face to face? it is common to dehumanize your enemy, easier to kill him, just don’t underestimate them. its just we haven’t seen Osama bin hidin leading any banzai charges lately. me i just think they are undisciplined to begin with, so anarchy is fascinating to them.
The vision of the Islamic paradise was clearly consciously designed by the founders to be the motivating factor for armies of young men. It’s the guise of religion being used for political/military ends.
The very fact that scores of jailed felons convert to Islam is NOT an accident.
There is NO doubt that the lure of jihad-waging war on the infidel-is the principle appeal that hard core felons grab onto.Radical Islamist preach in US prisons, and they are absolutely NOT interpreting jihad as ‘inner struggle’, the benign interpretation sold to western, PC addled societies.
What other religion/political system has as its main tenet the mandate to create chaos, and exact revenge on society on a massive scale?
Where else indeed!
Brilliant article and hyper-astute observations on our modern religious scourge. It can’t be all bad if Nietzsche liked it now can it? Ubermensch from degenerates, ironic.
If young Western men were so desperate to reclaim the “masculinity” offered by Islam then why aren’t they converting in their thousands….indeed millions?
No – I think the main reason to convert is as per the end of the article. Scumbag criminals turn to Islam to seek cover in a welcoming religion that allows them to commit bigger and more heinous crimes.
There’s no real need for the western male/lost masculinity sleight which comes across a little bit too much like the kind of drivelling nonsense your average two-bit man-hating feminist would come out with.
What I think is of a bigger concern is when radicalized Americans have assimilated and started raising families that hold their beliefs. Then you get the case of Daniel Patrick Boyd and his sons here in North Carolina.
Recruiting in prisons has been going on ever since the fools forced prison reform in the 60′s & 70′s. Remember how Alcatraz prisoners served their sentences in isolation and silence? There was no recruiting going on there! Now, prisons are festering hotbeds of gangs, Muslims, white supremacists and every other kind of isolationist hatemongers.
Why do we tolerate this stuff???
Long time reader, first time poster.
I have had this exact thought regarding the appeal of radical Islam — modern American culture denigrates men and masculinity as evil, while elevating females and femininity as good (this culture is not “gender-free,” it is female-skewed — see alimony, child custody, “girl power”, etc.) While I do not consider radical Islam to be a good thing, our culture does implicitly distrust men, and that is why we need to jettison old ideas of chivalry. We can stop cursing “male” as evil and not become like Osama bin Laden and his ilk.
It is not surprising that Islam appeals to criminal types:
-Any Muslim whatever his sins and crimes is considered superior to a non-Muslim
-Unlike Christianity’s difficult to fulfill moral requirements (specially for criminal types) there are no moral requirements in the Koran. As long as you pray five times a day, make the pilgrimage and so on you are a good Muslim. Let’s remind the burial of mass murderer and cannibal ex-President of Uganda Idi Amin Dada: the celebrant told he was a good Muslim who never missed his prayers.
-Islam legitimizes killing and stealing from non-Muslims when it is done in war alongside with enslaving them. Master is allowed sexual use of captives. In peace time a Muslim cannot be put to death for killing a non-Muslim and the penalty is half the one for killing a Muslim
-Last but not least, and looking like it was made on purpose to attract criminals: while in Christianity bad behavior will lead you to hell unless you painfully compensate with good actions, in Islam no sin or crime however heinous will close the gates of the Paradise to the one who fought in Jihad. Automatic salvation.
You ever notice that the radical feminist and homosexual pressure groups curse the male of Western civilization and patriarchal Christianity have nothing but the utmost non-judgmental tolerance for the most radical jihadi Muslims? The feminists who forced the President of Harvard out of his job for DARING to say that men and women have intrinsic differences in aptitude are completely silent on the misogyny inherent in these Islamists. When the Muslims finally take over, the feminists and gays will have much more to worry about than abortion rights, gender norming in college sports and gay marriage.
Yeah, I guess it’s jihad or doctor assassination. Tough choice.
violent and anti-social behavior.
Please unlink these two concepts.
Consider the U.S. Marines:
No better friend, No worse enemy.
Compare to some NGOs, which would
rather have a refugee go hungry
than receive food from a Marine
because of the risk of blurring
the line between Saviors and Killers.
Closer to home, ask the next LEO you meet
if violence is necessarily anti-social.
10. No amount of good works can offset evil according to Christian doctrine. You need forgiveness, not good works. It makes sense when you think about it- if you’re on trial, pointing out good things you’ve done in the past will be dismissed as wholly irrelevant to the case, unless your argument is that based on a character like that, you couldn’t possibly have done what you’re accused of. If convicted, pointing out previous good works will at best get you a lighter sentence, but even that is doubtful.
You know what, skeeziks, as disrespectful for the law that killing an abortionist is, there wouldn’t be any killings of abortionists by vigilantes if the government would just do its job and execute these mass murderers instead of granting them the government’s blessing to commit mass murder. For the record, I refuse to ever refer to an abortionist as a doctor, and I advise everyone else to do likewise. Doctors abide by the Hippocratic Oath; abortionists run roughshod over it daily.
Ibrahim notes “In fact, the Arabic word “Sharia,” that comprehensive body of laws Muslims are to obey, is etymologically related to the word for “pathway” — as in, “the pathway to paradise.”” What he may not be aware is that the Hebrew “halacha”, often translated as “Jewish law”, can also be translated as the proper path (from the root “halach” meaning “to go”).
So why are Jews not setting off bombs and bringing down planes? Because we’re a particularist, not a supremacist, faith. We take on the covenantal relationship, with all its requirements, but without denigrating the “others”. We don’t deny them their own path to redemption, or insist they adopt our ways. And we’re not closed off from *their* wisdom.
Moreover, there is no notion of the “perfect man” who does not sin. Even our patriarchs and prophets are seen as imperfect, and we take lessons even from their flaws. Inasmuch as Mohammed was deemed “perfect” and “worthy of emulation”, that means theft, murder, deceit, child brides, etc. are perfectly fine to advance the cause of Islam because of Mohammed as that example.
Kendama @ 9 makes a good point.
Our society actively demonises masculinity and maleness. As the discrimination against men gets worse, more men will seek an alternative.
Why does this profile oddly remind me of President Obama? Though the man, on first viewing, seems to take on a political femininity – his bowing episodes, etc – yet, could they be his attempts to collect honor booty?
Raymond in DC,
But don’t you know that Mohammed didnt want to do those things but he had to do them to save the last hope of mankind? Oh how he suffered, more than Christ on the Cross! He was the most gentle and harmless man who ever lived. He did all of those things to save the light!
[/sar]
That is the usual response when Muslims are called on Mohammed’s atrocious record. It was all ok because 1) it was done to save the “light” and 2) because Mohammed (supposedly) didnt like doing it.
[sar] See? There is no problem here. You can do all the bad stuff that you want to do as long as its for a good cause and you claim that it hurts your perfectly gentle and peaceful heart to do it!
I agree with parts of the author’s premise. However, I think that the “masculinity” that such converts pursue is, in truth, “faux” masculinity. By and large, these people appear to be the disaffected youth who perpetrate events like Columbine- the misfits, the targets of the “cool kids,” not the young men who are actually “manly” men. I once read that children are remarkable observers and very poor interpreters. I believe that this principle applies here- confusing masculinity with misogyny, violence with power. Like “gangbangers,” they are looking for acceptance, for a “tribe,” looking not to be the isolated, “weird” kid.
Notice, if you will, how some political figures seem to have confused “sounding” tough with “being” tough, how “anger” substitutes for “strength” both in their rhetoric and in their actions. Alpha males do not abound in our culture these days, men who protect their women, but it’s surprising how young women are drawn to them instinctively. I happen to be the mother of one, why, I don’t know, since I was a single mother.
No amount of good works can offset evil according to Christian doctrine. You need forgiveness, not good works. It makes sense when you think about it- if you’re on trial, pointing out good things you’ve done in the past will be dismissed as wholly irrelevant to the case, unless your argument is that based on a character like that, you couldn’t possibly have done what you’re accused of. If convicted, pointing out previous good works will at best get you a lighter sentence, but even that is doubtful.
In Catholicism and Orthodoxy, atonement and good works made as penance for the bad behavior offset previous sins. Also in court good behaviour _after_ the facts showing that you have amended is likelier to get you a lighter sentence.
Anyway this is doesn’t matter. What matters is that Christianity has never consented to grant automatic salvation for such or such deed (even if crusading could guarantee remission of sins) and stil less for going to war. Not even when the Byzantine empire was hard pressed and after being asked by the Emperor, who felt he needed to strenghthen his army with a doctrine similar to Jihad, did the (Orthodox) Church consent to grant automatic salvation to those fighting Muslims. When you think about it, automatic salvation, means tying God’s hands.
The arrogance of the young that tragedy will not be visited upon them, even as they dish out inhumanity to others – this will not go unanswered.
Those raised that whatever goes ’round, comes ’round, have more to work with, as opposed to those who conclude, “It is right for me”.
Skeeziks – obviously in your case the scissors didn’t make it all the way in…
So it’s come to Mr. Ibrahim censoring comments that don’t jive with his shilling for the ruling elite. Nice to know Pajamas doesn’t value free speech, but only the sheeple bleat.
So, if you will allow me, let me cut through the psyco-bull and get to the point. Many of the Muslim converts did it for the chicks. I figured people like KSM, who until captured showed little intense religious fervor, was in it for the money, power and girls.
Being a radical Muslim removes from you the burden of having to actually court and woo women. They are property to be had, like goats. Amazing how long this type of view about women lasted in our world. But then again, the other great part of being a radical Muslim is you don’t have to be very bright or inquisitive. As a matter of fact, one of the problem (according to some of my buddies in Afghanistan) is that the men and women of the tribes there actually like and accept the laid out roles their religion provides for them. One reason we have trouble converting young men is that they are comfortable inside the rules. They know who they are, what is expected of them, and what they can expect in return. No confusion, no anxiety, just do this and you get that. The overwhelming number one rule is to remain loyal to your tribe.
It will take generations to turn this around. (Think Japan after WWII) If we chose to stay the course we could save millions. But with Obama, there are no guarantees, he doesn’t really care one way or the other.
blowing ones nuts off is hardly going to help in the masculinity department.
…but that is a good point that Islam does have that appeal to many disenfranchised youth.
@ 25. archer52: Rule 1 is tribal loyalty
“I hope that, if forced to choose between
betraying my country and betraying my friends,
I would have the good breeding to betray my country.”
– Some dead English Gentleman
Are you sure the Tribes need to be turned around ?
Unquestioning loyalty to the nation state has
not worked out all that well for the West;
If forced to choose between my kin and Karzai…:)
25. archer52: In Afghanistan, Tribal loyalty is Rule 1
As opposed to supporting Karzai, the Mayor of Kabul,
who sees the Tribes as something between serfs and cattle ?
The West transferred its primary loyalty upward, to the
nation-state; The history of the 20th century suggests
this may have been a mistake. In the US, up until WWII,
the primary loyalty was to the state, not The State;
A Texan first, a citizen of the US second.
komrade k, what are you talking about? For that matter, why are you even here? This isn’t a Christ or capitalism thread, so what are you ranting against?
Correct history informs us Mohammed raped, and murdered. Yet, he is the perfect man to follow within Islam.
So, why do so many go out of their way to write those who follow Mohammed are extreme in their actions. The core of Islam is Mohammed. All those not following Mohammed in one form, or another are Apostate.
There are no extreme Islamists! There are only Apostates, and Infidels.
ROPMA!
skeeziks (12):
Yeah, I guess it’s jihad or doctor assassination. Tough choice.
Who’s advocating assassinating doctors? Nobody that I know of.
I think you make a good point that a lot of young men are confused about what manliness is. I think the simplest definition is a person of the male persuasion who fulfills his duties with appropriate courage and resolve. That’s not very appealing to a young man, however, especially when there are alternatives available that on the surface are more appealing, and doing your duty is hard. I think some of the other comments are right in pointing out that what they’re jumping at is faux-masculinity, because rape is an act of cowardice and weakness. Go out and try to rape a wild Grizzly Bear if you think you think that’ll prove your courage and strength.
And I gotta say, the paradise of Islam sounds like more of a hell. It might be fun for a while, but come on! Eternity of it? Everything gets boring after enough repetition, which is why there’s so many deviant behaviors these days. Some of the really weird stuff people do is a symptom of satiation, and despoiling 72 ‘ever virgins’ in a garden full of meat trees and wine rivers every day would pall after 100 years at the absolute outside. All the Kinseyist crap aside, men are not sex engines that never wear down and never get bored. An eternal orgy with blank-minded slaves that’ll do anything you want sounds great…until you actually think about it. Definitely a paradise for illiterate peasants who spent their whole lives just trying to scratch up enough food to eat. Or for sexually frustrated young men with no imagination, no ability to put themselves in the shoes of other people…
Kendama: nobody is oppressing you. People who continually interject hysterical claims about spousal support are usually people who don’t want to pay to support their own children, not their ex-wives. Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with deadbeat dadism. Women in America quite frankly have no problem sincerely admiring real men for their masculinity.
Muslims = people that like to hurt other people under the guise of “religion”.
Religion is a good excuse. Islam in particular offers all the “nutcases”…a technical term..in the world a place to meet and greet. Please, don’t give me …”but so many are so good”..bs.
Muslims are weakweak weak people. It does not take a brave man to blow people up, it takes a misfit sciopath.
29@myth buster
Ibrahim censors comments not to his liking. His imaginary little bubble world should appeal to you, MB, while you work on your reading skills.
Yea I know why, because those winnies can’t express himself to western women imagining himself having sex right away after conversion.
I cannot fathom a religion so powerful as to compel parents to send their own flesh and blood to death clearing minefields with plastic keys to paradise or strapping on dynamite and passing out sweets after they blow.
Can someone tell me why these people think the way they do???????
We are not educating our youth about these people and they are being seduced.
Mr. Ibrahim spreads disinformation for the ruling elite. He makes no mention that the four British Muslims were tricked by the authorities into taking part in what they were told would be a mock anti-terror training exercise. He sees no coincidence between a mock training exercise employing EXACTLY the same events which are later conveniently blamed upon the four.
Why did the four bombers get return tickets to London if they were on a one-way suicide mission? Why are there no CCTV images of the four together in London even though the city has thousands upon thousands of such cameras in public places?
Why did so many survivors of the Tube bombings say that the explosions came upwards through the floor of the trains, not down, as would be the case if a backpack blew up inside? And why do no passengers on the London-bound Luton train clearly remember the four bombers with their huge rucksacks on that fateful morning?
By the most extraordinary coincidence billion-to-one chance there was a mock terrorist exercise going on in London that day. This was revealed by the organizer and former Scotland Yard officer Peter Power on BBC Radio 5 in the early evening after the atrocity.
He said: ‘At half-past nine this morning we were running an exercise for a company of over a thousand people in London based on simultaneous bombs going off precisely at the railway stations where it happened this morning, so I still have the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.’
And what of the menacing suicide videos that Khan and Tanweer made before the bombings, which were released on the Internet after the attacks? Mr Hill explains on it: ‘The oldest would be asked to make a “suicide video” prior to the mock training exercise in order to make it as realistic as possible… the second oldest would also be asked to make a similar video, as a back-up, just in case anything went wrong or the oldest pulled out of the exercise before the date.’
Muslim feeling is swaying. The BBC2 documentary shows worshipers in the Birmingham mosque commenting on 7/7 after seeing Ripple Effect. One elderly man states: ‘There can be little doubt that the Government did this themselves to these four young men.’
Another adds: ‘We have been deceived by the British authorities, and Muslims have been framed for these attacks. They are lying from A to Z.’
Oh yes let us not forget the Brazilian who fled for his life and was gunned down and assassinated by M6 agents in broad daylight? No doubt the mouth breathers will have any more room in their hearts for him than space in their heads for the truth of that day.
36. Vindico Libertas:
Can someone tell me why these people think the way they do???????
It is hard to explain.
If you go to live anytime in one of the Muslim countries it becomes a little more apparent. They are educated in this duplicitous mind set. Many do not get caught up in it but it is still a big part of their life.
They live in a society which doesn’t value the individual. Power is right and truth is often a silent casualty.
That is not to say they are bad people (some are) or have bad intentions (some do) but they have been brought up and educated in a much different environment then a westerner.
Men are always placed above women. The first born son above other sons. This provides the power structure. It is a form of class and or status that trumps accomplishment and formal knowledge and ability.
You can see how son # 9 might have issues and strap on some explosive underwear.
If the Islamists ever figure out how to market to Southern men, the West is doomed. Really, all the jihadis have to is start a reformed branch, where it is ok to drink beer, have dogs, eat BBQ (pork) and love Jesus, and the South would be theirs. What Southern man could resist such a religion? It would be perfect fit. Scots-Irish and Islam would be a combination that would make the whole world tremble.
Excellent article. Of course it’s clear why some young men — and especially those feeling powerless, or with an angry, criminal bent, are attracted to this 7th Century violent and over-sexualized version of uber-manhood.
It’s too bad, though, that because it would harm hopeful possible friendly relations with “good” Pashtuns, that the West is unable to publicize the rampant and accepted homosexuality practiced by the Pashtuns — and other misogynistic Islamic tribes as well.
(In the international sub-culture of opportunistic homosexuals, this is well known — and prior to the Jihad era, Afghanistan was prime on the list of sexual-tourism.)
It would be a good tool to offset the fantasy and hero-worship of this false super-masculinity.
If anyone wants an insight into the insane, deluded Islam excusing mind of a Mohammedan or at the very least Islamophile ‘Conspiracy theorist’ look no further than the post # 38 by ‘kochevnik’
Cool: post took the second time. At least we can all agree on the 1st amendment. Something Iran and Catholic-controlled Europe frowned upon.
Very good article but I would add that not only is it about boys (let be honest here, these are not Men, with a capital M) who want to live out their vioent sociopathic fantasies, but I think there is also an element of a hero complex. What a way to become a somebody! Look at Osama, he’s one of what a gazillion siblings? A wealthy guy to boot, but in a country with more than a few wealthy people. How frustrating to be so undistinguished. So the small fish in a big pond went over to a small pond in Aghanistan and became a big fish. A few of these Americans turned traitors certainly have made themselves famous at least in their own little minds.
kochevnik, did it ever occur to you that people who buy one-way tickets draw attention to themselves? A terrorist would be willing to invest in a round-trip ticket to avoid the increased security applied to people flying one-way.
The problem with Christianity is that is has become feminized, with an over emphasis on kindness and a de-emphasis on collective action and morality. Young men generally can not feel attracted to Christianity as it exists to today. Islam, however barbaric it may be, at least has masculine traits.
Compare the following five religious doctrines with Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Moses and Jesus.
By merely examining the following, we can understand Islam.
Answers at CrazyIslam.com under the Who Said What section.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.
What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
Kill anyone who insults me or our religion.
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud.
If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat,
offer your shirt also.
I get 20 percent of all stolen property, the rest is to be divided among you.
Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.
If others don’t convert and refuse to pay the extortion tax, kill them.
Love your enemies.
We are the noblest of mankind while others are the vilest of creatures deserving no mercy.
Do not speak harshly to anyone.
Kill anyone who leaves our religion.
Let a man avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison.
To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.
You are allowed unlimited sex slaves and four wives at once.
Provide four male witnesses to prove rape.
I have been made victorious through terror.
The non-believers are pigs, apes, and dogs.
The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.
Marriage and divorce of pre-pubescent children is OK.
Strike terror into the hearts of others.
Our religion is the only acceptable religion.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not desire your neighbor’s wife.
Kill your neighbor, then take his wife.
Thou shall not steal.
Steal as much as you want, I get 1/5 of the booty.
Interesting. If you’re bored by personal reminiscences, stop reading right here. Aged early 20′s, in full rebellion against a lapsed Jewish leftie feminist absentee single mother, I went a-roving in the late sixties and washed up in Afghanistan. I was very fit and, thanks to a bunch of countryside-based substitute dads, most of them ex-Brit-military, a very good shot, at home in wild country. For the very first time, among the Afghans, I thought I had found Men who appreciated Manly qualities. A family. If you could walk your 30 miles a day under load, pick your shot on an ibex at 200/300 yards or more with an old Lee-Enfield and WW1 ammo, smoke the big pipe and cook a meal for your mates in the evening, you were a man, my son, you were a man. We cheated, smuggled, poached the odd wild sheep and goat, whored discreetly in small towns, and generally had a ball (although there was little or no inter-mate scrapping…). My friends took their Islam seriously but, being illiterate, they got it from the local mullahs and much of the Koran-intrinsic evil that does the rounds today never came up. I never ‘converted’, although the Christianity of my primary school stood me in good stead later, under fire from the Russians (no atheists in foxholes, remember?). There’s a lot more to the story – maybe I’ll learn to come to terms with the losses and write it properly one day – but the point must be made plain. It was NOT specifically Islam that drew me to reject, for a couple of decades, the whole Western bit, to start taking long shots at white folks on behalf of brown ones; it was, as the immortal Aretha reminds us, RESPECT, of which I had none in the West and lots, dirt cheap for just being an overgrown Boy Scout with a rifle, in Af. I was seen as a Christian and given leeway to be just that (the local mullahs were presumably ignoring the Koranic nasty bits at the time). In fact, the whole gig was straight out of a 1930′s-1950′s Boy’s Own Mag – SOMETHING THAT THE WHOLE PC/MC CIRCUS HAS EXCISED FROM YOUNG MALE LIFE. Sorry about the capitals. I don’t usually shout. But as long as we forbid ‘manly’ sports and pastimes, deride the religion that, for all its faults, gave us a good moral grounding and a civilisation, submit to the incessant, ever-tightening ratchets of daft feminism backed by stupidly easy divorce, and treat the armed services as the last resort of the unemployable, we are going to lose good men to Islam, jihad, respect and adventure. I said ‘good’ because, however misguided, at least they’re up off their arses and doing something, however ugly. I think the whole ‘wine-and-virgins-sexual-frustration thesis is grossly overblown. Young men find their ways, and I don’t just mean the gay nonsense and self-abuse that seem obligatory rather than forbidden these days.
The ‘prison’ bit is also of interest. When there’s nothing else left, time done inside and numbers of ASBO’s (attempts to limit anti-social behaviour in the UK) become badges of honour, alongside the tatoos. Still young men wanting to join a tribe, still denied everything except milk and water at Mummy’s apron-strings, still no clear path to manhood.
To cut a long story short, I gave up on the Afghans after several years, a Soviet invasion, and enough deep betrayals, deaths and double-dealing to fill half a dozen trash novels, then spent another decade trying to understand the attractions of Islam, with distinct lack of success.
My conclusion, as of today, is that it is just too durn easy to hate and blame Islam for the ‘home-grown’ jihadis. Let’s be clear, I now detest Islam and even the most lenient of moderators could never allow what I think of Mahound. But we must accept a lot of the blame for these traitors – they’re Men with noplace else to go. There’s a lot a shite in our own back yards wants mucking out or we won’t have the competent hands to fight the war that’s on its way. Think on.
Arthur Brede, I subscribe to many things you write but I think your experience doesn’t apply: we were discussion Islam’s attraction on _criminals_.
To understand the lure of “radical” Islam, you have to study Islam’s history in the 7th cent. when it was launched and assumed the so-called radical form that spreads the territory it rules by force and violence, killing or enslaving all who resist, while teaching true believers to hate infidels and believe they have the absolute truth. Study Islam’s history free online with the Historyscoper and arm your mind with knowledge and facts to understand current events. To get started click the url.
SS guards beat Catholic priests to death in Auschwitz in 1941, because they refused to step on a crucifix. The true Nazis were pagans who said that Christ is a ‘Jew God” invented by the Jews to make Aryans weak and harmless – it is a religion for sheep. It wasn’t, as you say, ‘manly’. Islam is Nazi Redux. The difference is we don’t have martyr priests anymore we have weenie whinie dhimmis in the Church who want to ‘dialogue’ right up till their throats are cut.
I vote we prove how manly we are by vaporizing the Great Mosque.
Mr Ibrahim’s point about masculinity being the main draw of converts to Islam is only a very, very minor point. Why are some Western women converts to Islam?
What Ibrihim’s missing is the fact that in the West, we worship money, not God. Most people, if they’re honest, recognize this fact and do nothing about it because we don’t know what to do about it…and I include myself in this category.
A few people will join Islam’s crusade to supposedly wipe-out the worship of money even though there’s just as much worship of money in Islam; it’s not as obvious in Islam as it is in the West.
Another ‘weapon’ that Islam has going for it is that over 90% of the Western criminals in prison are Christians. That ugly fact helps Muslims to sling more mud at the West. Solution: clean up our own house.
51@poetcomic1
>SS guards beat Catholic priests to death in Auschwitz in 1941,
>because they refused to step on a crucifix.
SS is Sedes Sacrorum, a 1500th century Catholic priesthood. They are known to wear Nazi SS and Secret Service outfits as fashions dictate.
I mostly agree with this excellent article, but I think it and the comments miss one large reason criminals convert to Islam in prison. Prison is a very dangerous place, especially for someone not a member of a larger group. You need someone to watch your back. You need the deterrence of the threat of a group retaliating on your behalf should something happen to you. Of the tough-enough prison gangs, Muslims tend to be the ones that lead the most wholesome lives. Though pirate-like compared with those of us who like to read policy blogs, (in most prisons) Muslim prison groups are actually significantly less pirate-like than other groups providing safety-in-numbers such as the Crips, Bloods, Aryan Brotherhood, and Hispanic drug gangs. But I strongly agree with the overall thesis of the article.
Susie Q: The point you bring up is not a true contradiction. Just as there are young Western men who seek ways in which to live out a traditional male role, there are young Western women who desire to fulfill a very traditional female role. This very traditional female role can be found in other places closer to home including some fundamentalist Christian and Orthodox Jewish groups, but Islam is one route, especially for women also seeking a repudiation of Western values. Ibrahim’s thesis holds up very well.
Michael says, “but Islam is one route, especially for women also seeking a repudiation of Western values.”
That’s what I’m saying too. Western values is about money and that includes all levels of politics, the church, our culture and sports. It’s almost impossible for a young married couple in the West to afford a home, rent or mortgage, cars, health insurance and entertainment without both spouses working.
The positive result is that young women have learned to be self-supporting and not marry their man just to be taken care of the way our grandmothers and some of our mothers did. It’s positive for men because in general, they no longer have to worry about whether their wives married them for money.
And, as you said, if they want a traditional marriage, they can have it closer to home if they can afford it or the man is willing to work three jobs a week.
Maybe Western men think Islamic men are manly but I don’t know one woman, myself included, who agrees with that sentiment. That could be the reason why Islamic women say if given a choice, they’d rather live in the West than in Islamic nations.
54. kochevnik, mind explaining how that makes any sense at all? Let’s start with 1500th century- you’re worried about priests from the year 150,000 now? Then there’s the non-sequiter about Secret Service uniforms. What are you trying to say?
Islam appeals to criminals because i SLAM is a vent for the male ego. I have spent time in jail, and know first hand , if you are not ready to SLAM your opponents , you will not survive.
i SLAM appeals to criminals because of the very meaning of i SLAM (submission), criminals do not submit themselves to the rule of law in an open and free society . However upon their incarceration , i do not doubt that criminals would be HAPPY to have those Laws Imposed upon them . In other words .”I have screwed up my life , and would gladly SUBMIT^ to a rule of law.”Please tell me what to do ” i SLAM fullfills the needs of the maleviolent force that is opposed to harmony
Great article. I observed wide spread conversions to Islam among black prisoners in the 1970 top 2000 period when I was designing jail systems.
However I would strongly disagree that,
“Of course, such behavior was “normal” in the seventh century. Then, wherever one looked, men of all races, creeds, and religions were raiding, pillaging, plundering, and enslaving their neighbors.”
Despite much false history about the “Middle Ages” the truth is that there was very little slavery in Christendom (Europe) from the fall of the Western Roman Empire (In Ireland it was abolished in the 800 AD period) until the colonialization of the New World in the 1500s led to slavery being reintroduced by the British, Spanish, Portugese, etc. Some of these were African slaves (by the Spanish and others) some were white Irish (by the British).
Of course the Muslims continued enslaved millions of Europeans in this period including some in the Iberian Peninsula.