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Originally Posted by longsuffering
Excellent. Thanks for the clarification. Lots of thought provoking stuff.
I have to admit to still being unclear about what you feel the cause of increased Islamic radicalization is. I agree that they don't hate us for our freedoms. How much, if at all, do you think historical Western support of corrupt regimes and/or US and US supported military action against Arab and Muslim countries and citizens has played a role in fueling the radicalization fire?
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Certainly, Western governments have done terrible things. I think it would make sense to believe that it was a cause of radicalization, if you saw this view mainly being supported solely by the poor and oppressed. In fact, if you adjust for education/wealth, there is a greater expression of jihadism/radicalism among the elites of the Muslim world.
Furthermore, there is nothing nationalist about the Islamist cause. There is something rational about nationalist groups fighting for independence. Groups, like the IRA, had a clear set of goals, which could be met by mediation and negotiation. The nature of Islamism is global in nature. Any negotiation, to an Islamist, is a deviation from their ultimate goals. In fact by their most radical, mediation is apostasy and a criminal sin.
I would disagree on some level with the absolute value of atheism of some of the above posters, but I would certainly argue that this in some way has to do with western secularization. We don't believe that religious beliefs have any coercive role to play in politics, Islamists do.
Certainly, we have our own radicals, but they are WELL constrained by society and the law.