The recent death of the American, Douglass McAuthur McCain, who was killed fighting for ISIS illustrates a crucial point.
It’s a point that we believe has been overlooked in the public’s perception of terrorist organizations.
McCain’s joining of ISIS, as well as almost a dozen other American citizens, is a resounding counterexample to the claims that the Islamic religion fosters a terrorist mentality.
Rather, it appears that terrorist groups attract radicals, not Muslims — though, of course, these two groups are not mutually-exclusive.
However, neither are radicals and Christians (Ku Klux Klan), radicals and environmentalists (eco-terror groups) and the like.
We say it is flat-out wrong to assume the Islamic culture is without exception the cause of the rise of jihadist organizations.
We believe that, in many instances, it is disenfranchised young men that are attracted to terrorist groups.
Much like anarchism in the United States during the early 1900s, the appeal of terrorism to young people rises from an Us vs. Them mentality.
With this mentality, would-be terrorists feel left out of Western values, for better or worse, and feel the need to attack Western ideologies, either because they feel excluded from it or because they ?despise it.
Once again, these two ?options are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
It is important to note that this trend is not just limited to the dozens of Americans joining ISIS.
James Foley’s killer was British.
The Boston Marathon Bombers claimed not to be part of any Islamic terrorist organization. Rather, they said they were “self-radicalized.”
We believe there is far too much emphasis placed on the Islamic element of jihadist organizations, at a cost to safety.
We could do much good if we focus on bringing these marginalized people back from their isolation, whether self-caused or not, which enables them to formulate these radicalized beliefs.
At the very least, it would be helpful to convince them they will live a far better life living even in the margins of American society than in a terrorist organization.
Perhaps it’s rather ironic that McCain, and indeed the other Americans, were able to form their opinions under the United States’ guarantee of free thought.
Had they lived under a more restrictive government, it is very likely they would not have had the ability to have such radicalized beliefs.
Granted, it would have been possible to form negative views of their own government and act from there, but it is far different to join an entirely different culture to fight against their country.
