“What did I do wrong? How could the child I raised be hurting or killing people?” She didn’t do anything wrong. Her son converted to Islam, and became convinced that hurting and killing people was the best way to serve his god. That is what needs to be addressed. The capacity of Islamic texts and teachings needs to be discussed publicly, not waved away with “There’s violence in the Bible, too.” Muslim communities in the West that ostensibly reject violence need to formulate programs to teach Muslims (especially converts) against this understanding of Islam — and if they cannot and will not do so, there needs to be a public discussion about that as well.
In other words, why does it fall to a non-Muslim to start a “de-radicalization effort”? Why aren’t there such efforts in every mosque in the West?
Instead, these important questions are buried under cries of “Islamophobia.”
“Mother of fallen Canadian jihadi launches de-radicalization effort,” by Adrienne Arsenault, CBC News, September 9, 2014:
The mother of Damian Clairmont, a Calgary man who in January died fighting with ISIS in Syria, says she’s tired of waiting for Canada to take action on de-radicalization. She is starting her own program for families of Canadian jihadis so other mothers don’t lose their sons to the clutches of extremism.
“It’s a lot to take on, but I don’t know what else to do,” Christianne Boudreau said.
“I have no choice at this point, because I can’t just let Damian die in vain and that’s the end of it, and just walk away from it and let it happen to another family … I can’t.”
In her Calgary basement office, Boudreau’s computer fights for space on her small desk with copies of letters that were sent over the past year and rarely answered; to the Prime Minister, to the chief of the Calgary police, to the head of CSIS.
Her questions were broad and pained; How is it that even though CSIS was apparently watching and worrying about her son’s growing extremism, no one informed her until it was too late and he was already in Syria?
In one letter she asks, “If my son was under surveillance for two years in respect to the suspicion of his participation in a potential terrorist organization, how was he able to obtain a passport two months prior to his leaving Canada?”
She has also been desperate for emotional support for both herself and her other children, who are still trying to fathom how their big brother Damian could transform so profoundly and become a fighter with ISIS.
Not much help has been forthcoming.
“I had no one to reach out to, there was nobody who understood what I was going through,” Boudreau says. “It was like I was in a bad movie and I couldn’t make it stop.”
Boudreau tried connecting with other parents in Canada, looking for just one person she could talk with about the horrible guilt and fear and questions that swirl around her constantly: “What did I do wrong? How could the child I raised be hurting or killing people?”
She knows she’s not alone in this. There are dozens of family members of other Canadian jihadis out there who are just as mystified and horrified. But almost all are staying silent, coping far away from the public spotlight.
With no-one in the government or her community answering Boudreau’s calls for help, this summer she went searching in Europe for programs to bring home to Canada. She also found someone who understood her angst, a woman named Domnique Bons in Toulouse, France.
Like Boudreau, Bons’ politically astute son Nicholas converted to Islam and started changing fundamentally. He became obsessed with the plight of the Syrians and vowed to act, not just talk.
By early 2012 he was talking of feeling uncomfortable living amongst non-Muslims in France, and soon after that he was in Syria, along with his younger half-brother Jean Daniel. Both ended up joining ISIS. And both died – Nicholas as a suicide bomber.
Like Boudreau, Bons took the bold and lonely step of speaking out publicly. And like Boudreau, she found that few families were willing to connect with her.
Now, the two women have a plan.
After sitting for hours and sharing lovingly built photo albums of their sons as little boys, parsing their lives and deaths and constantly replaying the questions about signs they saw or missed, they got to work.
Canadian-born Muslim convert Damian Clairmont left Calgary in 2012 for Syria, where he was killed while fighting with ISIS.
The pair decided to form an international mothers group, determined that there must be a way to intervene and stop the radicalization process before it’s too late. They are sharing best practices as they find them and are both poking at their respective governments to step up.
Boudreau has also set her sights on establishing the Canadian chapter of a German group called Hayat. That means “life” in Arabic, and its aim is to work with families to help de-radicalize young men and women.
Hayat is an offshoot of a German organization called “Exit,” which has had good success in deprogramming neo-Nazis as if plucking them from a cult. Hayat adopts similar methodology and applies it to dealing with militant Islamists.
After meeting with its organizers in Berlin, Boudreau came away convinced that with the right funding and staff, a Hayat chapter could make a difference in Canada.
“It’s a sense of reining them [radicals] back in so they are closer to the family again,” she said. “They work with them closely after they’ve taken a step back and decided ‘maybe this is not for me,’ and help them get reintegrated within the community, finding a job, so they focus on the normalities.”
Boudreau wasn’t the only one intrigued by Hayat. CBC News has learned that Canadian law enforcement officials visited the group a few months ago. And sources also tell CBC that a Canadian enforcement agency has been studying programs in a number of countries, including The Netherlands and Denmark, that use returning and reformed jihadists to help turn people off the path to radicalization.
Additionally, the RCMP are in contact with British police who, besides wielding a heavy legislative stick, employ splashy public outreach campaigns to steer young men and women away from extremism.
All this is leading towards a strategy the RCMP will reportedly soon unveil. But for Boudreau, “soon” is too slow, so she and Bons are forging ahead with their own plans.
Germany’s Hayat is giving Boudreau logistical support to set up her group, which would be called Hayat Foundation Canada.
Her task may be huge, but she is starting at the grassroots level, building ties with her Calgary community. She has already been speaking with youth workers and mosques to offer herself as a resource to families struggling with this issue.
And the community is also reaching out to her. This Thursday she will be speaking at Own It, a four-day conference in Calgary that brings together police, community leaders and families to discuss ways to stop radicalization.
There are signs others are taking notice as well. In the middle of a recent CBC interview, Boudreau received a phone call from an Ontario woman who is keen to join forces with her to seek federal grant money.
Boudreau has a long way to go to heal the pain of losing her son to radicalism, but vows that she and others like her will no longer have to go it alone.
mariam rove says
Good luck with this. She needs a lot of help here. M
john spielman says
the only way to “deradicalize” anyone from islam is to tell the TRUTH about this fascist excuse for a religion. Until the west stops the self deception that islam is a religion of peace, there will be no victory over it.
Paul says
The “only way”? Um, no. You confuse necessary conditions with the conditions which are necessary and sufficient.
Arturo says
I think you are confusing rhetoric and logic.
Paul says
The Unlikeliest Cult in History
by Michael Shermer
http://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/the-unlikeliest-cult-in-history/
This article can be found in Skeptic volume 02 number 2
Science, Religion & Cults
The Jesus Cults; What Makes a Cult?; The Unlikeliest Cult of All; The Resurrection Myth; Was Christianity a Cult?; Realism and Religion…
Notice the many helpful passages, to wit, ” In this context, then, a cult may be characterized by: …”.
voegelinian says
Yes, helpful — if applying and superimposing a model that only bears superficial resemblance to one’s problem while ignoring key factors is “helpful”.
Zerubbable says
Michael Shermer has proven himself to be a fool time after time. The numerous debates, interviews I’ve watched and his writings I’ve read, all bear this out.
So when he steps into the theological realm, a healthy dose of skepticism must be applied. After all, everything that begins to exist must have a cause, this is a scientific, logical and philosophical fact. He, by implication, denies this. The universe had a beginning, otherwise the 1st and 2nd Laws of thermodynamics would be false.
Full disclosure: I too, was once an atheist and I fully expect unbelievers to not understand this post, which will just prove the Bible true again.
Buraq says
If you add up all the kids who have gone off to Syria or wherever and died fighting ‘in the way of Allah’, how many Twin Towers would that make? Anybody know?
It would be a way to grasp the extent to which Islamic jihad damages societies. Especially with the 9/11 commemoration coming up in a few days.
Jay Boo says
A mother with no where to turn to authorities.
A mother who desperately wants to save her son.
A religion’s indoctrinating practices ignored because of political correctness.
This would make an obvious human interest story.
Will the play-it-safe vault of political correctness shelve it or sanitize Islam’s role?
Will the darkest hour see morning light?
Remember when TV producers still had some integrity.
Beagle says
One necessary first step, and I’d also like a hundred unicorn ponies for Christmas, is politicians and all our major institutions being more honest about Islam. Their seemingly white lies defending the honor of Islam are a major boon to daw’ah, Islamic proselytizing. When government, education, media, and entertainment all sell Islam as a wonderful alternative to other religions and our culture, which they do, that gives Islam an inroad into anyone who is looking for something else.
Once someone commits and gives loyalty to their new religion, then Islamic programming can start. As a convert becomes more devout and delves into the core Islamic texts over the course of months or years, well, you all know the drill.
Don McKellar says
I’m waiting for Foley’s mom to educate herself further and understand exactly why her polically correct fantasy-based plea to the caliphate probably made him laugh. Maybe she could make a new video then, telling it like it is.
Has anybody sent her a copy of one of Spencer’s books? It would help with her greiving and help her to understand and put things into perspective. The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran would be perfect.
Champ says
Her son converted to Islam, and became convinced that hurting and killing people was the best way to serve his god.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
True; murder and mayhem is the best way to serve evil allah: who’s NOT the God of the Bible …
Muslims believe that there is no other God besides Allah and that he is the God of the universe. They claim that not only is he their God, but that he is the God of the Jews, the Christians and everyone else. When examining the profile of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and comparing it with Allah’s profile, there are a number of distinct differences between them that can only result in one conclusion: These profiles simply do not match! Allah is NOT the God of the Bible!
The Islamic faith, through the teachings of Muhammad, asserts that Allah is God and attempt to place him within the confines of the Holy Scriptures. When the Bible contradicts their teachings, they allege that it is flawed, has been tampered with, and has many errors. They further claim that the Koran, through the teachings of their prophet Muhammad, corrects them. However, it has already been established that Muhammad was both a false prophet and teacher. Therefore, Islam’s allegations are unsupported, baseless and without merit.
There are a number of major differences between the God of the Bible and Allah. This chapter will focus upon five reasons why they are not the same. According to the Holy Scriptures, the God of the Bible is the one true God while Allah is a false god.
More here:
http://kingmessiahproject.com/is_allah_not_God.html
Ibn Sufi al Kitab says
Note to the Mom – Read the Koran. Why didn’t YOU read the Koran BEFORE he killed himself in Battle ? I would bet 1000% that Mom is the typical Cdn Multiculti. Read the Hadiths. Your son was just following Mein Koran. Radicalization ? No. Just following Muhammad. This is what the Koran teaches. De-radicalize ? You better start rewriting the Koran Mom. Maybe the next Mother who listens to Junior scream about the Koran and why he converted, will have more of a clue.
Jay Boo says
Islam is shit
Allah is shit
The Koran is shit
Muhammad gave in to every perverted lust.
How can any Muslim consider Muhammad a prophet?
Muhammad is shit.
Jay Boo says
The Hadiths are self-serving bull shit with hints of Muhammad’s worthlessness.
Islam is less than nothing.
Salah says
” Muhammad is shit.”
Agree, but according to Muslim scholars…
“The whole body of the Apostle is pure even his human waste.”
Dr Ali Gomaa, the ex-Grand Mufti of Egypt
I guess that’s what they call…Holy Shit!!!
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2010/11/glory-of-muhammad.html
Jay Boo says
Good one
Maybe we should call it noble instead of holy
According to Google translate
MO is pure
القرف
John Alexander says
Good luck with swimming against the tide, but the main problem is the Church of Liberalism and its central creed, multiculturalism.
In Britain we have just had an independent report released detailing the rape of at least 1400 girls, some as young as 11, by a Muslim rape gang.
This is only the latest of several such stories. But nobody in power who permitted this outrage to go on unchecked for 16 years has been charged or will be. To do so would reveal that they were just implementing government policy.
The last word on the Rotherham Muslim rape gangs scandal is in a short post called: “They Are All Guilty” at:
http://john-moloney.blogspot.com/2014/09/they-are-all-guilty.html
Wellington says
Thanks for that link, John Alexander, dismaying though it is reading what it took me to. When will the rank and file in Britain say enough is enough to political correctness, multiculturalism and Islamic supremacism? Or will this never happen? Is the UK ready for a new era where pride in heritage and common sense will prevail or is the UK doomed?
Jovial Joe says
The Scottish independence referendum is taking place in one week and the separatists lead in the polls. It does seem that the ‘United Kingdom’ is, literally, soon to be no more.
Wellington says
Anyone attempting to “de-radicalize” Muslims is proceeding in ignorance of the fact that the term “radical Islam” is redundant.
Champ says
Precisely, Wellington. And no way can evil *ever* be reformed; which means islam cannot be reformed. A fool’s game, for sure …
WEndy says
Perhaps there is divorce in his background, multiculturalism , lack of a real faith in a God who loves her and gave himself for him, perhaps his mind couldnt grasp the concept of relativism that is killing our culture or the over sexualization of everything, perhaps he wanted absolutes and found them in Islam–a sense of belonging, a sense of power and purpose —the emergent church and our culture has taken these from our churches which once produced great people of integrity and courage who knew they were loved by God and bought by His death on the cross, in spite of their sin God loved them and that they were accountable one day to him which inspired Holy living and they knew what that was because they read their Bibles and loved others because of it. Perhaps her son was looking for these things and found they had left the west and perhaps he was groomed by the evil that multiculturalism has allowed to brew here, he will find out perhaps too late that he chose evil because good was hidden. The one thing this woman can do is get on her knees and pray to the God who loves both her and her son , the God who saves even in the darkest holes of evil ideologies.
mortimer says
The dark god Allah is the god of the underworld and drags souls down to him with murder, depravity and plunder.
“Allah loves not the kafirs.” He commissioned Muslims to murder, enslave and terrorize the kafirs.
Jihad is a monopoly on terror and a monopoly on aggression.
ElderlyZionist says
I see no mention of any father in either of these families. Absent fathers make lost boys and girls.
yohanan says
Does growing up with one’s own biological father make adult grown children less susceptible, less vulnerable to Islamic jihadi recruitment? Surveys report that children who grow up without their genetic fathers tend to have earlier sexual initiation, slighty less school achievement and slightly more adult mental health issues. But is father absence a risk factor for joining a violent brutal war cult? Surely there must be other factors that make the jihadi fascist pornography of brutal violence, rape and plunder such effective recruiting propaganda. For 7 related pubmed abstracts , see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24599234,24489431,23610197,12795391,9555376,8234595,6844244
Prevention is better than rehab. Pass on the cult and avoid the need for deradicalization .
voegelinian says
This nascently inchoate process of “de-radicalization” from what can be gleaned from this article is a fascinating glimpse into the sincerely hapless flailing about which PC MCs are forced to do when they proceed without proper Counter-Jihad training:
“The pair [the Canadian mother and a French mother of two sons who also went to Syria to put Koran 9:111 into practice] decided to form an international mothers group, determined that there must be a way to intervene and stop the radicalization process before it’s too late.”
By all means, MARI (Mothers Against Radicalized Islamists), try to stop the radicalization process before it’s too late by ignoring the primary inspiration and guide to the problem.
“Boudreau has also set her sights on establishing the Canadian chapter of a German group called Hayat. That means “life” in Arabic, and its aim is to work with families to help de-radicalize young men and women.”
Oh dear, a group with an Arabic name meaning “Life” — no doubt staffed by Moderate Muslims helping the hapless Kuffar deal with the problem of Jihad. I found an in-depth article about Hayat online, which I may peruse to find the Islamic (and/or PC MC) loopholes in it (a game which is simultaneously fun and infuriating).
“Hayat is an offshoot of a German organization called “Exit,” which has had good success in deprogramming neo-Nazis as if plucking them from a cult. Hayat adopts similar methodology and applies it to dealing with militant Islamists.”
Ah, sounds wunderbar! There are only a couple of problems with this: There is no such thing as “Islamism”; and secondly, other than its mass-murderous genocidal expansionist supremacist goals, the neo-Nazi disease in its blueprint, methodology, inspiration and fanaticism bears no structural or essential resemblance to the Mohammedan disease.
“After meeting with its organizers in Berlin, Boudreau came away convinced that with the right funding and staff, a Hayat chapter could make a difference in Canada.”
Boudreau is spending a lot of time, trouble and money grasping at straws, while evidently ignoring the one thing that might make a difference — the approach that sees mainstream Islam itself as the source of the disease that claimed her son. (One can be assured that the staff at Hayat adroitly steered her away from any hint that Islam itself is the primary source of the problem.)
“It’s a sense of reining them [radicals] back in so they are closer to the family again,” she said. “They work with them closely after they’ve taken a step back and decided ‘maybe this is not for me,’ and help them get reintegrated within the community, finding a job, so they focus on the normalities.”
Yes, Canadian Mom; and some day we can realize the other goals of Miss Universe — world peace, no more hunger, and eyeliner that never runs again when you cry in joy at having won your dreams.
yohanan says
1) “Journal Exit-Deutschland. Zeitschrift für Deradikalisierung und demokratische Kultur: JEX Journal for Deradicalization and Democratic Culture” with full text after free registration. (multilingual, articles in Ger, Eng, Fre…) http://journals.sfu.ca/jed/index.php/jex/index
2) Daniel Koehler. “Family Counselling as Prevention and Intervention Tool Against ‘Foreign Fighters’. The German ‘Hayat’ Program.” JEX. Bd. 3 (2013) http://journals.sfu.ca/jed/index.php/jex/article/view/49/83
p.s. Curious how a Voegelian analysis distinguishes between Islamic jihad and Nazism, I looked up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Voegelin. First I heard of this political philosopher. Much to learn.
voegelinian says
Why is that curious? Are Nazism and Islamic Jihad supposed to be exactly alike?
TH says
T he first thing that needs to be done is to deprogram the idiotic political, media and academic leaders who are spouting out about Islam being a religion of peace. These unfortunate mothers are suffering now probably because these political and media leaders have gone on for years with the senseless and ridiculous garbage that Islam is a religion of peace. They should be held accountable for the lies they have propagated. Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, knew that repeating a lie often enough will make it appear like the truth (and of course persectuing those who tell the truth). He seems to have a host of followers these days.
voegelinian says
Indeed. Before we deprogram individuals who have been “radicalized” by an “extremist Islamism” that “has nothing to do with Islam”, we need to deprogram our mainstream West. How do you deprogram tens of millions of people from all walks of life spread out in dozens of countries? The Counter-Jihad has been trying to do it, without really knowing how to do it (as there is no guidebook on how to do this), and it has been achingly slow going, with glimmers of hope in drops here and there of melting ice amid a still massive iceberg toward which the U.S.S. & H.M.S. Titanic barrels full speed ahead.
voegelinian says
Another indication that Christianne Boudreau (the Canadian Mom) is reaching out to precisely the wrong kinds of assistance I gleaned from another article on this:
Muhammed Robert Heft, an anti-radicalization counsellor who works with new converts and serves as a liaison between the Muslim community and CSIS, said he corresponded with al-Gharib’s mother several times last year.
At the time she began speaking with Heft, she was still in contact with her al-Gharib. Heft had hoped to reach out to him as well.
Notice how the hefty Heft (see the video in the link below), himself evidently a white Canadian convert to Islam wearing one of those collapsed baker’s caps some Muslims wear, cleverly redirects the problem away from Islam (not that anyone was trying to direct it there, but always carefully just in case) and “explains” the problem in ways that have nothing remotely to do with Islam:
Heft said there are two types of people that choose to leave Canada for the battlefields of Syria.
He said there are Syrian-Canadians “who feel their family has been subjected to a tyrant” and then there are “overzealous converts or newly practicing people” who see Syrian conflict as “an indirect way to fight, fire off weapons, hate society and vent their frustrations.”
“One group, I would say, is legitimate in their concern and want to help their family, and one group is taking advantage of the fact that it’s a place they can go and be angry.”
This is one of the people Canadian Mom reached out to for help: like a desperate Hen reaching out to a Fox dressed as a Moderate Rooster.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1084216/calgary-man-damian-clairmont-reportedly-killed-fighting-in-syria/
tpellow says
“Our Present Is Your Future.”
by Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolffabeth.
“Below is the prepared text of the speech given in Chanhassen, Minnesota by Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolffabeth , at an event sponsored by SW Metro Tea Party Patriots and ACT! for America, Minneapolis Chapter.”
http://gatesofvienna.net/2014/09/our-present-is-your-future/#more-34206
tpellow says
-Apologies for transcription error, above: the excellent author’s name is, of course-
Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff.
E.g
http://english.savefreespeech.org/
voegelinian says
Yes, I often have problems spelling her name (similarly, “Nietzsche”); then I remind myself that it’s good for me to force myself to learn how to spell it without looking.
pdxnag says
“[W]hy does it fall to a non-Muslim[?]”
If a “moderate” Muslim is better than a non-“moderate” Muslim then it follows that an apostate from Islam would be better, and so too a non-Muslim who never was one.
A modified or tamed Islam would no longer be Islam. You would have to give it a new name, to distinguish it from Islam. Islam would thus still exist in its full violent glory. It, the idea, doesn’t just go away.
The only practical concern is what to do with those who favor Islam, and want to impose Sharia law upon us all, exclusively. At a minimum you must treat it as seditious. But to be effective you must expel them all. Let them de-radicalise from afar. A Muslim would never choose this option as a solution. It would put a major dent in Muslim recruitment of Jihadis.
Steffen Larsen says
Just saw this one on German television:
Two men called on a mother whose son had left to fIght in Syria. “Congratulations, your son is now in Paradise”.
Dave J says
I S L A M = M A L I S
I can’t believe the number of people who resort to moral and historical relativism, bringing up Old Testament rhetoric and ancient slayings. Don’t they realize that the present is all we have and we must denounce and condemn whatever the CURRENT most vicious cult is doing, regardless of its name. Correct me if I’m wrong but in 2014 there is only one “religion” that is committing mass genocide and has announced it’s intention to rule the world.
Brazooka says
Her son has been deradicalized in the only way that really works.
Cherish Freedom says
That’s just so sad… I can’t imagine what she must feel like.
Mrs. Boudreau – God Bless you on your journey. Be strong and brave. I wish you much strength.
dumbledoresarmy says
Maybe she’ll find her way here, thanks to the magic of google and the internets.
If so – my advice to Christianne Boudreau is this: the terrible truth, which must be faced head on, is that your son joined a cult far, far worse and far, far older than the Moonies or the Orange People or the Scientologists. It is as if, in 19th century India, he had joined the Thuggees.
He joined a Death Cult, that is also a mind control cult, crossed with an organised crime Family. It taught him and encouraged him to Kill, and to Hate, and he became a Hater and a Killer.
To understand this cult, read the testimony of a few of those who have left it – at risk of their lives, for one of the rules of this cult, Islam, which Winston Churchill called “the religion of blood and war”, is that anyone who leaves it – as also anyone who publicly criticises it – should be **killed**. (An ex-Muslim, now a Christian, one Patrick Sookhdeo, has written a whole book about the apostasy law of Islam, called “Freedom to Believe: Challenging Islam’s Apostasy Law”. It follows on from an earlier book by a great American scholar, Samuel Zwemer, called simply “The Apostasy Law of Islam”.)
So: start by reading Mark Gabriel, “Islam and Terrorism” and Daniel Shayesteh, “Exodus from Darkness” and Wafa Sultan, “A God Who Hates”.
They are not lengthy, complicated, or hard to read, but they are eye-opening; they are the life stories of people who were born inside Islam, and then, slowly, painfully, and at risk of their lives, extricated themselves, fought themselves free of the brainwashing, and chose Light and Life. These are people who have defected from the Army of Islam, and fled to the Camp of the Non-Muslims. (Others worth reading are Ibn Warraq, “Why I am Not a Muslim” and “Leaving Islam”, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, “Infidel”).
Then get, and read, two books by an Australian priest, Mark Durie, who has spent many years carefully studying Islam. “The Third choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom” and “Liberty to the Captives”.
The second book, which is quite short, will show you just how difficult it is for any person to leave Islam and to free themselves of the psychological conditioning that it imposes. **Nothing but a clean and complete break will do**; there is *no* moderate Islam, you are fooling yourself if you think there is. The Muslims themselves say that there is not; and those who have left Islam – such as a man called Ali Sina – say that there is not.
I also recommend Mr Robert Spencer’s “The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran”, and “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades”, and “The Truth about Muhammad”. They are scholarly and well researched and fully referenced. Another good book is Serge Trifkovic’s “The Sword of the Prophet”.
Set aside about three weeks, and give yourself time to quietly read, and read, and think, and read.
Then realize that the best thing you can do is to focus not on those already trapped inside the cult, but on those who might be suckered or lured into joining it; young men and women who are where your son was *before* he converted to Islam. Think about how to *prevent* these young people from joining Islam in the first place.
Wellington says
Very sound advice, dda. I hope she takes it. Probably she won’t——which, if the case, bespeaks to the greatest strength Islam has and that is ignorance of what it really stands for, what it really intends for all mankind.