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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (67492)	9/6/2004 5:01:55 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793885

I'm a believer in Western Civilization. I think it wins hands down in the marketplace of ideas. I think that a critical mass of them will see that if we can get them outside the box and put the bennies within reach. How long does it take for bennies to override religious fanaticism? Islam and Christianity have been fighting it out for nearly 1,500 years. Even assuming you define Western Civilization as you see it as starting with the Renaissance, or even with the French Revolution, they've had a long time to see its bennies. And its downside. We've integrated a number of Islamic students into this country, and many have gone back home to become as fanatic as anybody. Even those Muslims who have stayed in the West and gotten presumably integrated and seen the bennies of Western Civilization, have gotten educated, have gotten economic developent, have rubbed shoulders respectfully, are still either hostile or remarkably silent. A leading Muslim cleric in London was quoted just yesterday or today as saying that he approved of taking children hostage when your cause was just, which presumably he thought the Russian school cause was. I can hardly think of a position more antithetical to the values of Western Civilization than using children as hostages for political purposes. I have heard no major Islamic clerics anywhere in the West come out and condemn terrorism on anything other than a very quiet very occasional basis, if that. And much of the funding for Islamic terror reportedly still comes from the US. If those who live here and have gotten integrated and seen the bennies of Western Civilization are still hostile to us and supportive of terror against the West, what basis for hope do you have to offer? I would love to believe that integration could bring understanding and peace. But I would love a lot of other things I'm never going to see, either. For many years the Quaker United Nations Office has been quietly bringing leaders of widely divergent views together to try to establish understanding and trust. This is precisely the sort of effort that should bear fruit if your desires are to be realized. I wish I could say it had been successful. Hope is nice. But it's even nicer when it's based on realism. And I don't see much here.

To: Lane3 who wrote (67492)	9/6/2004 10:49:31 PM
From: Captain Jack	Respond to of 793885

<<"If there isn't one, then we'd better shift gears and kill 'em all because otherwise we'll just piss them off more and they breed like rabbits">> An idea many in the world would have no problem with. The hardest decision many would have to make is where to drop the 1st bomb. Correct or not-- the Islamic terrorists are bringing many to believe that is the best way to slow the situation. They are asking which is better, take care of them there or here which will be more difficult.