Re: Islam and Terrorism

> The texts of Islam seem to contain both admonitions for mercy, and
> incitements to violence.  

To this I add that a holy book is not a reflection of religious
practices and attitudes.  For example, there are numerous
denominations of Christianity, yet most use the same book.  Obviously
the Bible is not the sole influence on their practice.  Likewise with
Islam.  Even if we look beyond the major divisions of Sunni, Shi'a,
and Sufi, we have other divisions like Wahabism, and at an even lower
level, other beliefs (like the integration of local myths and
superstitions).

So the first step is to see what the people are being taught and are
practicing, rather than selectively reading the Qur'an.  From there,
one can try to find the root causes of the terrorism that plagues this
group and decide how to wage the resulting ideological war.

Off-hand, I recommend examining the paranoia, apocalyptic fervor,
conspiracy theory fetish, anti-semitism, insistence on seeing
peace-makers as betrayers, and conflicts between Islamic and national
identity in some Muslim groups.



Regards,
Ahmed