Only if I can back it up with evidence and/or reason, ttbn.

<<Do you really believe that what you say matters?>>

The fact that I might be the one saying it is irrelevant.

<<All you do is rubbish other people.>>

Not at all. I have some rather productive and civil discussions with many others on OLO. You’re just saying this because it makes it easier for you to brush what I say off when I discredit your nonsense.

<<You are the most miserable piece of ordure that I have ever come across.>>

On the contrary, I’m quite happy most of the time. It appears that you are the only one here who is miserable at the moment.

<<I usually ignore your vicious crap.>>

Vicious? I’m not the one carrying on like a pork chop.

The loadedness of your statement aside, though, I certainly hope you do. We did have an agreement, after all. But rest assured, I don’t respond to you for your sake. I do it because I care about the truth, and so I will continue to discredit and debunk your rubbish for so long as you continue to post it.

Until next time...

The most effective terrorists are the media. By reporting this story they bring about more terror than the people who place bombs could ever dream of.

They seek to scare people and they seek attention - the media should not give it to them. To beat terror, such affairs ought to be hushed, never reported, never commented on.

AJ Philips,

Oh, I know you will continue your raving, and I will go back to ignoring you, which is the usual state off affairs. And yes, you do seem to get along with some people who have similar personalities and nasty streaks - steeleredux and Paul 1405: you really are bunch of charmers, hating everybody, including yourselves. I am very pleased that I am nothing like you

Anyway, emotive misinterpretations of what experts say aside, I can understand how the words of experts might frustrate people who don’t know much about radicalisation and need something or someone to blame (and I don’t say that mockingly either, the need to blame someone or something is human nature). Islam provides a simple answer, and many crave simple answers.

I don’t think people like ttbn set out to deliberately twist what experts say. I think they let their anger and emotions interpret what is being said as an attempt to distance Islam from such attacks, because they themselves want to blame it entirely. After all, Islam is imported and we all love to blame immigrants. Especially the funny-looking ones. Politicians know this only too well when they need something to deflect from their own shortcomings.

So how much can we blame Islam?

For foreign terrorists? A lot. Apologists like Reza Aslan will try to attribute blame to cultural factors alone, but for many countries, the culture and Islam are inextricably linked. For homegrown terrorists, the answer will vary greatly from case to case, which is why this Dr Jones was reluctant to comment in too much detail until the police had more information. But the answer will lie somewhere between ‘not very much’ to ‘a lot’ (and usually closer to the ‘not very much’ end of the spectrum).

If there is anything we can consistently blame Islam for (and I’m genuinely trying to give the more conservative folk a satisfying answer here), it’s that it has provided a deadlier outlet for those feeling disenfranchised, and a more attractive outlet for those who would be inclined to commit massacres and bombings (c.f. the Oklahoma City bombing). I say “more attractive” because it provides a larger community of fellow travellers for those who crave a group to identify with.

For anyone genuinely interested in radicalisation and its causes, there are thousands of scholarly research articles in the link I provided ttbn.

Yuyutsu,

I get your point about the media – they are the cause of many, many problems; but I don't see how they could not report terror attacks. They are pretty hard to ignore.

ttbn,

I’m sorry you interpret reasoned argument as a nasty streak. It’s understandable, though, given that you are unable to counter the arguments of those with whom you disagree with anything other than insults. You sound like a very unhappy person.

By the way, I get along fine with many whom I consistently disagree with too. The trick, for both parties, is to just not be so vicious, bitter, and hateful. Try responding to others with reason argument instead of insults for once in your life. You’ll find it goes a long way and it feels great, too.