Nathan:

As you've rightly perceived, the endemic ignorance of the Muslim Middle-East is a vicious cycle that has been perpetuated since ancient days, with little respite. The years when Muslims tolerated intellectual dissent and scientific investigation were glorious flukes, and are certainly now long gone.

The cycle works like this:

1: Due to the lack of proper secular education standards and other necessities, Muslim economies and societies wither and continue to decline.

2: These socioeconomic hardships are perceived as the will of an angry God, by those with no concept of self-determination. (The phrase "inshallah", so universal in the Muslim world, comes to mind.)

3: It is assumed that God is angry at the True Believers because they've been lax in their submission to him. So, paradoxically, the only way out of suffering is more Quranic education, more madrassas, more ignorance.

Also, an optional fourth point, the "Zionist-Western Conspiracy" comes to mind. It's all a shaitanic plot to undermine God's chosen!

The American nation grew to global prominence because it rightly banished religion from its public affairs, relying on secular principles of society, education, and self-determination. Best of all, people are free to practice their own religions privately, which is more than can be expected from the majority of the rest of the world.

People and organizations such as Irshad Manji and ISIS are absolutely correct in their assessment of what needs to be done to bring Islam peacefully out of the dark ages and into the future.

The bible prophesies Babylon will be reborn. No bible prophecy has ever been wrong. I look for the Islamists in Iraq to take over and unite with the Islamc fundamentalists in Iran.

I read about these events on a pretty regular basis now. IF Iraq suffers through years of civil war and then begins attacking it's neighbors again isn't that better for us (US, Europe, Israel)? Better they should slaughter each other. How's that for a long range goal?

Anon,

I agree with much of what you say. Satellite dishes bring them images of a better life, which they cannot have. This feeds their victimization beliefs, which are reinforced by the mullahs. Who is to blame? Why, the west of course. It's the crusades all over again! Using pretzel logic, we must therefore destroy those things that we cannot have (but really want) in the name of Allah.

Well you know, if they're not demanding to get their way....or blowing something up, they just have no reason to live......

Anon, three cheers--you are 100% correct!

Nathan, much of what you say is generally correct, but unfortunately, as Anon points out, our educational system is our single greatest enemy. It's inimical quality includes a very unfortunate lack of knowledge regarding the evolution of the Constitution.

A constitution is a document describint the relationship between an organization and its membership. In the case of a nation, the organization is the government and the membership is the citizens of the nation.

In our case, the provisions of the Constitution are derived from a long line of Aristotelian thought, and the only mention of religion and God is to protect each individual from compelled belief.

There were two major authors of our Constitution, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (there was a third, George Mason, who contributed much thought, but ultimately refused to sign it because he could not persuade the majority to endorse his insistance to prohibit the further importation of slaves sold to American and European wholesalers by Muslims). Thomas Jefferson said that he didn't care if people believed in twenty gods or none. A person's spiritual life is his own, not the government's.

Our legal system is derived from two major sources--ancient (pagan) Rome, with some modifications from Celto-Germanic legal customs. As the Age of Englightenment entered the picture, additional final touches from the Aristotelian school of thought were inserted.

Good grief, people, unless we can educate our population better, we'll never even know what we are fighting about. No thanks to our educational system, we have forgotten the nature of the greatest document ever written in defense of human rights.