Does Islamic "radicalization" REQUIRE a mentor? Can't someone just become radical on his/her own without any assistance or guidance from someone else? Is self-radicalization possible just from reading the Koran and Hadith?
No "radicalization" of any kind requires a mentor. Tim McVey and Ted Kaczynski were both radicalized by themselves, with little to no outside influence. However, mentors do increase the number of people who do become radicalized in any belief system.
The reason I posed the question is because everyone on the Sunday talk shows referred to who and how the Boston Brothers were radicalized. It seems to me someone reading the Islamic holy books could just interpret them in a way that prompted them to become a Jihadi.
The problem is not the books, it is how individuals interpret them. We have had people blow up doctors believing they were following the Christian Bible. We have had people burn down homes and businesses thinking they were saving the planet. We have had others attack schools and museums thinking they were protecting society from Jews. We have had people plant bombs trying to bring about World Socialism. Radicalization is a sickness of the mind, and it will latch onto whatever catches the interest of the individual. Personally, I could not care less how or where it happened, just that it hopefully does not happen again.
Hmmmm... I've read and heard and considered your rationale before but something about your post has made me think about it differently than I ever have. And THAT is something I should give some thought to; not just what you've said but why I'm thinking differently about it. Thanks, I think.
You have to realize, I have quite a wide world view, more so then many others. I have traveled a lot, and lived for a year or more in several countries. And yes, one of them was in the Middle East. And by and large I found them to be very polite and respectful, often times more so then their typical American counterpart. I never once had somebody in another country come up and tell me something like "Yankee Go Home", most treated me with respect and were often envious that I would be returning to the US when I was done in their country. ANd most had some rather pointed things to say themselves about the radicals. If it is one thing I have discovered over the years, that is what most people simply want to live their lives in peace. However, it is those radicals that want to change all that. It may be for 1 of 10,000 various reasons, mostly in their own mind or the minds of others just like them. That is why most people just march around and chant slogans to protest the Vietnam War. Then you have the dangerous minority that plant bombs and try to create "change" in a totally different manner.
And that is why I can see the point of many people around the world who may say they like YOU and wish ALL Americans were like yourself. But all Americans are not as thoughtful and honorable and fair minded and respectful as you. Because the American Progressives come as a package deal with the good Americans, many people in those foreign countries you've visited probably say, 'the hell with ALL Americans! Keep them ALL OUT!' After all, as much as Conservatives object to Gay marriage and abortion and atheism, the nice Muslims you've known might object to those Progressive policies even more than American Conservatives do!
