The moderate myth

[Sinistril]

Now, I want to be very clear before I start this topic. I do not believe that most Muslims are radicals; however, there is a myth spreading that only 0.5-1% of Muslims are radicals. This is false. Perhaps only 0.5-1% have committed or helped others commit acts of terror. I don't really know where the number comes from. It's not really important. What is important is that the number is wrong.

 

Why? First, I think we need to answer a couple of questions.

Do we believe that neo-nazis who have committed acts of violence in the name of their ideology are radicals? And do we believe that neo-nazis who have NOT committed acts of violence in the name of their ideology are radicals?

 

If you're one of the 99.99% of the population who believes, like me, that neo-nazis are radicals because their belief system is radical, then you have to ask the same questions regarding all radicals.

 

I'm not going to compare Islam to neo-naziism. That's not fair because there are a majority of Muslims that do not condone the kind of violence that neo-naziism does. BUT, I will compare terrorism to neo-naziism as I think that is a more than fair comparison.

 

For brevity, I'm going to define terrorism as anyone who commits an act of violence against an innocent person to achieve an ideological end. With that definition in mind, do we believe that terrorists are radicals? Do we believe that people that SUPPORT terrorists are radicals? Well, according to 2005 pew global polls (the numbers are probably slightly different for this year but these are the latest numbers I have), of 6 Muslim majority countries that are considered pretty moderate, between 18-88% of the population in those countries believe that violence against civilians is justified. This is the same as saying they support terrorism. I mashed the numbers together, so some support it "rarely". Quite frankly, if you support violence against civilians ever then you support it in my opinion. You can see the numbers by country here: http://www.pewglobal.org/2006/05/23/where-terrorism-finds-support-in-the-muslim-world/

Now, if you don't accept the fact that people who support terrorists are radicals you either have to say that neo-nazis who don't commit violence are not radicals, and have fun defending that point, or you have to question how much you are affected by cognitive dissonance. 

Thoughts? Are there flaws in my logic I am not seeing? I'd love to hear your thoughts as, even though it logically makes sense to me, it does go against what society has raised me to believe.

Note: I think that Muslims that want to immigrate to a western country are less likely to support violence against civilians (though, I question whether refugees are less likely to support it as they are usually a better representation of a local population). I also think 2nd+ generation immigrants are even less likely to support violence in a western country but numbers are harder to find because western countries. Even further on that point, I think experiments like the Stanford Prison Experiment prove that if you put someone in a fascist situation they will probably become fascist. Some countries in the middle east are certainly fascist even though PC culture prevents most people from admitting it). I think with this in mind, the 1% figure quoted earlier may be closer to reality in places like Canada and the US, but this is certainly not the case in middle-eastern countries. Of course, that number being closer to true is just speculation without numbers and may be more or less. 

[themortalgod]

Always felt this graph was was pretty telling to show a distinct trend. Moreover though, I remember seeing stats one time that showed based on polls a pretty large number of muslims supported radical action even if they did not take part in it themselves. Not all but much higher than 1%. I think the number was closer to 12 or 13% on average across all muslims (though much higher in certain places as the stats in your link show) said that radical action was sometimes justified and over 50% believe that Sharia law should be enforced in all countries.

 

[Iron Horse]

[engardeknave]

You're making this more complicated than it needs to be.

 

[engardeknave]

Oh and neo-nazism is a make-believe movement straight out of the masturbatory fantasies of leftist beta cucks desperately seeking social validation.