OT: Cat, I think you missed my point. This is not a matter of "fear of Islam being overwhelmed by our popular culture". bin Laden and the Taliban would like the World to believe that, but they are warlords, not religious leaders. Their only concern about Islam is that they can use it, however distorted, to control people and land. They ban entertainment, but bin Laden video tapes his child's wedding party and sends it out to the world to thumb his nose at us. They ban education of the daughters of Afghan citizens, but they send their own to English language schools in Pakistan. They ban smoking, but puff away behind closed, guarded doors. They accumulate hard currency by exporting opium to Russia and the West. They brainwash the most impressionable segment of the population, children - recruiting young, illiterate boys and encouraging them to abuse women and generally instill fear in the population. They pay citizens to spy on their neighbors. They strive to maintain a constant state of warfare because that is the source of their power. If they can reinforce hatred of some foreign enemy and use it to terrorize internal dissenters, then they continue to hold power. This is not Islam. This is some Nazi, Orwellian nightmare. You do not defeat it by instilling greater fear in the general population.
My point was that, in addition to overt and covert efforts to destroy the terrorists and their benefactors, we must make continuing efforts to help the Afghan people and other oppressed populations get what the vast majority of all people want - to be safe and happy. Only when they feel safe can they have hope for the future. When they are fed and have hope for the future, they will not tolerate warlords like the Taliban and their boys will not be drawn to join the terrorists and sacrifice their own lives to kill innocent people.
This is my hope and belief.
Bob |
