I just came across something very weird in an article in The Atlantic:
Today, Maher presents Muslim terrorism as purely a product of religious pathology, ignoring the tremendous ongoing violence the United States and its Western allies commit in majority-Muslim countries.
OK, if that’s what Maher does, then he’s an idiot. But what does the “tremendous ongoing violence the United States and its Western allies commit in majority-Muslim countries” have to do with the rise of terrorism? Is this weirdo trying to blame “the United States and its Western allies” for the rise of terrorism in “majority-Muslim countries”? (Sorry for over-quoting but this journalist’s writing is so stilted that I have no choice.)
“Tremendous ongoing violence” that Russia has been exercising against Ukraine for much longer than the US was even in existence hasn’t led to terrorism. “Tremendous ongoing violence” inflicted on Latin America hasn’t either. There is zero evidence that “tremendous ongoing violence” causes terrorism. Zero, none.
Now, in order to remove the religious aspect of the discussion, let me remind everybody that Islam is 500 years younger than Christianity. Let’s strain our intellects and remember what Christians were doing 500 years ago. Burning people in city squares, feeding the babies of the infidels to dogs, trying to keep women locked up and subjected, beheading all and sundry – in short, exactly what ISIS is doing today, minus the YouTube component. I’m not sure what the Jews were doing 3,500 years ago, but maybe this is a normal developmental process for these monotheistic religions: 1500 years into their existence they kill and persecute everybody who doesn’t practice their religion “correctly.”
Soon I will publish a review of a book that discusses terrorism intelligently. Stay tuned.
Clarissa's Blog 
Unless the referenced Christian actions five hundred years ago were not based in major part on their religious ideologies, the quote keeps the religious aspect well and properly focused on Islamic terrorism.
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These so – called Christians used their holy book to act like savages. Now a different bunch of people uses another holy book to do the same. Religion is an excuse, that’s all.
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How about such entities as the Islamic Republic of Iran, which executed more than four hundred people during the first half of this year and which is one of the world’s major sponsors of Islamic terrorism? Qatar? Saudi Arabia? Mightn’t the state religion, Islam, have at least a part to play in their travesties? Or is that merely an excuse as well? Please see this video.
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Stalin executed millions without the excuse of a religion. He had another set of excuses.
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Christians in the western world only calmed down, because they already stole enough.
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Moral arguments are a stupid form of metaphysics replacing careful historical analysis. The historical sense has all but gone now, from what I can tell about the way people go about their analyses. One may as well talk about male and female forces, or the force of the moon on human affairs. But now I am giving people ideas.
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Are you familiar with Nancy Kobrin’s work on terrorist psychology? She views the site of terrorism as a crime scene and profiles the perpetrator in terms of infantile rage stemming from childhood. Because the child can’t separate from a devalued mother in Arab-Muslim cultures, the terrorist grows to brutalize others as a way of evading his own internalized humiliation:
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Wow, thank you so much! It looks fascinating. I will definitely check it out. THANK YOU.
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You’re welcome! I thought this would be down your alley.
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