Popper, Nietzsche, Persuade Jihadist to Renounce Islamism
A Dutch convert, Jason Walters, is four years into his 15 year sentence for plotting to murder Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders. After reading books of history, the theory of evolution, and philosophy, he urges radical Islamists to put down their weapons and adapt themselves to democracy and reality.
A full translation of his letter is at the link.
Walters: “…The whole underlying worldview rests on an inadequate foundation. The image that the world only exists of believers and infidels, in which the latter are motivated only to destroy the former, is a childish and coarse simplification of reality. It ignores the complexity and many nuances of which reality is rich. Add to that the fact that most of the current problems in the Islamic world are not the result of conspiracies of internal and external enemies, but problems that have grown historically. There is no fast or easy solution to that. The allegation that these problems will disappear when Muslim communities return to a “pure Islam” is too ovesimplified.
This worldview roots to an important extent in the repudiation of disbelief. It is the radical variant of this concept that supplies ammunition to declare anyone an infidel who is not of exactly the same religious worldview, and so outlaws his blood and possession. It is an extremely select, exclusive view that only leads to a constant enlargement of the number of enemies to fight.”
http://hurryupharry.org/2010/10/31/popper-nietzsche-persuade-jihadist-to-renounce-islamism/