Here is an interesting article by an Antropology professor at Rutgers:
"Rogue males"
Lionel Tiger
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4268153,00.html
It points out one of the fundamental problems the hording of women
by the Islamic wealthy so the young poor men have few alternatives but to
go to war. Not that I'm against "Islam" per se, but this is a fundamental
problem that is built into the religion (like any priciples against interest)
Antropologists believe that lack of food or mates are the only two things
that can sufficiently motivate men to "go to war".
Excerpts:
> Will the situation change? There are countless young men in poor "states
> of concern" whose only plausible luxury may lie in the symbolic realm of
> moral and theological triumph. They are likely, at best, to have to scrape
> out a minimally tolerable existence that pales beside the images of
> sensual and material peril - America! America! - their leaders seek to
> hide from them but cannot. "The Great Satan" strictly translated is "the
> great tempter". A select few, perhaps the most angry or lonely, perhaps
> the most pious or theoretical, will decide not to try to become part of
> America or its way of life but to destroy it.
> American and other forces will have to find, confront, and destroy
> something new. They may well succeed in rooting out at least the more
> overt groups. But the much larger and longer-term problem for us and the
> world at large - that there are millions upon millions of these young men,
> not just Bin Laden's thousands - will finally have to be faced by the
> currently feckless leaders of the grim societies that have produced and
> nurtured such wild theological pathologies.
And here is an article that suggests we are partially in our current boat
because we have failed to follow 20 year old recomendations about reducing
our dependence on foreign oil.
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho101101.asp
Again, Samantha, worth your time to read as the article points out that
bin Laden *pays* the families of individuals who commit suicide for his
agenda. This is a form of group selection since the genes shared by
those committing terrorist attacks will more likely be propagated
due to the increased wealth of family members. Over time this will
result in a population of individuals increasingly willing to sacrifice
themselves for idealogical causes.
And a commentary on the need for "mimetic" engineering:
Unlikely Doves: Counter-terrorism Experts
David Corn, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=11601
The only thing I tought a bit far-fetched was this quote:
> nanomachines that can invade the circulatory system and effect the brain and
> thought patterns of the target
Not anytime in the near future....
In response to Samantha's question regarding "fatwas", a "fatwa" is
a religious ruling by someone with "authority". The problem with
Islam, and many other religions with the possible exceptions of
Buddhism and Catholicism, is that there is no "supreme authority".
Islam, like evangelical christianity, seems to have a book which
can be interpreted in many different ways. So "fatwas" can
go many ways from "Islam is a peaceful religion" to "Killing
infidels in the name of Allah is what Islamics should do".
Robert
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