The question intelligent Muslims are asking themselves is why their young people
are susceptible to the ravings of "fundamentalist" fanatics, to the point of
ignoring the genuine fundaments of Islam that call for respect for human life
and 'people of the book,' including the lives of other faiths. In a sense,
these young people are reacting much like youth in other cultures who are
frustrated by the unwillingness or inability of their parents, religious
leaders, teachers and other supposed mentors to see the obvious.
And the obvious is this: young people want to have fun. And they want to have
sex. But the adults in their lives don't want them to have fun or sex, thinking
both are "harmful". This adult over-reaction to normal youthful behavior is
counter-productive, inciting rebellion in various forms. The actions of the
young men who committed the London atrocities is just an extreme example of the
turmoil that is going on in the heads of young people everywhere who are
irrationally suppressed by religion. For although the young bombers have been
wrongly branded "Islamic terrorists" and "fundamentalists", they in fact were
rebelling against mainstream Islam as surely as they were lashing out at the
"infidels" killing Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, if the latter was part of
their thinking at all.
In June, the prestigious website Asia Times Online ran a letter to the editor
from a mainstream Muslim spouting off about the superiority of his religion
over other faiths, particularly Judaism and Christianity. Consider the
following passage:
"Christianity and Judaism are both old, worn-out, outdated faiths. That is why
their so-called followers, especially in the West, don't really care [about]
the essence of the teachings. The church-[going] population is quite old and
shrinking, while newer strategies such as rock music and bingo (wasn't gambling
detested by Jesus?) are being used to lure or keep the faithful. Most of the
guys love the church rock 'n' roll because half of the girls come dressed (for
the party) with little left for the imagination other than the oversized cross
on their chest (neck). Regarding Judaism, of which the major populace resides
in the so-called State of Israel, the youngsters are no better than the
predominantly Christian, belly-buttoned teenyboppers found in Europe or the US.
How many go regularly to the synagogue? Last time I was in Haifa, the weekend
clubbing scene was no different from New York or Paris."
Those of us who know more about Judaism and Christianity than this guy
recognize, of course, that hand-wringing fuddy-duddies like him are as rife in
churches and synagogues as they are in mosques. Their guiding philosophy is,
apparently, "earthly fun is bad but don't worry about it because soon you'll be
dead and able to indulge to your heart's content in Paradise". And these people
can't understand why such a gloomy philosophy drives their hormone-charged kids
to despair, rebellion and, in extreme cases, violence or suicide.
Here's a thought. Instead of trying to "reform" the dysfunctional Middle East
by forcing US-style capitalist politics down its throat, let's get the United
Nations to set up a fund to buy air tickets and condoms for young people in
suppressed societies such as Saudi Arabia, Mindanao, Aceh, Chechnya and the
"red states" of the US and transport them to Bangkok, Rio de Janeiro, Angeles
City, Amsterdam or other sexual playgrounds and let them loose. I've got 500
baht that says that in a few years, suicide bombers, inner-city gangs, Internet
virologists, racist skinheads, anti-government militias, al-Qaeda, and
neo-conservatives would all be endangered species.
