re: #369 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And how many True Muslims?

Really.

There are those people who simply look on Islam (or any religion) as part of their cultural heritage, observe the holidays and general precepts, but are not strict in its observance.

Then there are those who are more strict in their religious observances, but would not think of forcing it on anyone.

Then there are those who would force their religious beliefs on us by law, and those who would force them on us through acts of violence.

It is only the latter two groups who should be of concern to us, but people like DT and TC are ready to lump them all together…and then put them under surveillance to prevent “radicalization”.

IIRC, some of the younger “lone wolf” guys were basically cultural Muslims who weren’t observant, but who suddenly latched on to the jihadi thing (I can’t cite any specific articles as it would take to long to find the relevant details among the hundreds of bookmarks I have on the subject).

I think we need to stop focusing on the religious aspect so much and figure out what’s really attracting them to violent jihad against innocent people (terrorism)—is it a situation like with gangs, where they feel a sense of belonging & strength that they don’t find elsewhere? Is it a matter of suddenly being overcome with a desire to “defend” the ummah? If so, then why aren’t there many, many more of them among millions of Muslims here (especially the more observant ones)?

There are always going to be anomalies, but there MUST be a pattern that we’re missing here, one that groups like Da’esh are well aware of and are using to their advantage. We need to outsmart them, because using brute force, abandoning our freedoms, or trampling on American Muslim’s civil rights are not viable long-term solutions.