Kosh

Yeah, I guess he would have prefered Saddams military presence in Saudi Arabia...


"OK, but except for the better roads, public education, sewer system, and better food, what have the Romans done for us lately?" -Monty Python

Buffman

Peregrine

I just loved this one.

OBL and his "generals" are politicians with domination of the region on their minds. They have learned that religion is a very usefull tool. Their "foot soldiers", such as the 911 hi-jackers are/were religious fanatics manipulated by OBL for use in a political plan.

Care to read the OT again? Lots of "generals" and politicians there.

Additionally, aren't you merely confirming that religious beliefs are used to control/manipulate the masses? What about those Muslim clerics? And, unless you are a follower of Islam, what do you know about what they do or don't sincerely believe?

I believe one should be skeptical of the claims and goals of liberators and crusaders. More often than not, their lofty goal is to enrich themselves in power and wealth. Doing things in the "Name of God (Alah)" does not mean that they were done for their god.

Agreed! However, religion is the biggest business in the world. The Christian business portion is the largest "Eternal Life Insurance Company" on this planet. There is proof of payment and but none of collection...unless you are talking about that young Jewish fellow you worship. It has certainly enriched each CEO and his boardroom backers. But lo be it to those who buy the stock in this company. I suspect they would be better served by investing in the drug and hospital stocks.

echidna

There is usually a fine line between a politician and a religious cleric, especially in places where religion & state are not separated.

Political suicides are quite common, in fact it’s an extremely common political tool, look no further than the Middle East. Primarily Al Qaeda is a political organization. It has an anti-American agenda driven by cultural and political differences with the West, good old-fashioned xenophobia, maybe even partially justified, I don’t know. Of course religion features highly in its operations. Religion & political hatred are used interchangeably as tools to motivate people.

It’s quite natural for any soldier to appeal to their spirituality when facing the risk of death. I think there is no person who would not do so. But then it is wrong to automatically attribute that appeal, as the sole reason for their actions.

So was September 11 political or religious ? Mainly political IMO.

Triple Six

I disagree, religion and more specifically islam had a huge part to play. Western political terrorists such as the IRA, ETA, etc rarely, if ever, carry out suicide attacks though they are certainly not averse to using mass murder to further their aims. Without islam you don't have the suicidal terrorist.

ashibaka

Sounds like your mom has a serious case of meme-itis. I recommend she stay in bed and read Losing Faith in Faith.

ansarthemystic

I disagree.Imagine if the roles of the West and Muslim terrorists were reversed.Do you really think that the US wouldn't find a way to use religion(christianity. Just look at Bush's recent response to the ruling on removing god from the pledge of allegiance.

mibby529

LOL Just LOL I've heard of a lot of BS, but OBL the atheist? LOL

echidna

Poo poo. So some political terrorists commit suicide, some don’t. But by listing 2 groups that don’t you certainly don’t prove that only religious terrorists commit suicide.

Political suicides by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka even outnumber those by Palestinians, just for starters.

How many political suicides would you like ?

Really you’re struggling to even *begin* to compare the number of religious suicides with the number of political suicides.

mibby529

In fact, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is political, anyway. Quite a few orthodox Jews aren't Zionists. And there are Xian and Jewish Palestinians. Hell, I heard from orthodox rabbis at a pro-Palestine rally recently.

Now, it could be a racial thing. I've heard an Israeli troll soc.culture.native calling the Palestinians "pigs and dogs." Ironic, considering that the Palestinians are of Jewish descent. DNA tests can show this; Palestinians have the same mitochondrial markers as Sephardic Jews.

Triple Six

Christianity for all its faults hasn't produced suicidal terrorists on anything like the scale of islam. It can be the motivation behind some vile acts but 9/11 type suicide killings, I think not.