(TechCentralStation)Stephen Schwartz - If the Gulf states, with their notably high standard of living, produce many terrorists, while Bosnia, which remains devastated, produces almost none, then the fault is in people's heads, not their stomachs. I do not believe people become extremists either out of hunger or because they read controversial words. Radical Islam does not exist because of scriptural wording, but because of powerful political and financial interests, which owe their influence to the continued indoctrination of Muslims in a particular interpretation of Islam. The radical jihad does not exist because of the concept of jihad, but because of its use. And the defeat of the radical jihad will come not by excising the word, concept, or historical experience represented by jihad from Islam, but by defeating the radical interpretation of jihad and the interests behind it.
2004-10-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive