This isn't about big household brands though, not sure how this is relevant to extreme religious views? Which from my understanding was what this terrorist organisation was about?
It's in fact extremely relevant. There are so many things that have contributed to the rise of Islamism and many we are indeed blameless in, but in many we are not. Many, many large companies based in the West have caused suffering in Eastern countries. It happens continually, and so many of our large brand names are responsible. There have also been many campaigns to stop it but really no one cares. No one stops buying, no difference is made. One very recent example is the privatisation of large areas of water in Pakistan by Nestle in order to make mineral water to be sold in the West, forcing many out of their homes, and causing poverty, sickness and death. For many, the fact that we allow this, and support it with our trade, is basically an act of terrorism in itself. Like I said, this happens continually.
Then you have the fact that in countries where Islam is the main religion, the consumerist society, which is seen as very much 'Western' (and is to a large extent), is to a large extent completely at odds with Muslim values. Extensive consumerism, nudity presented in adverts, or immodest clothes and an obsession with beauty, idolisation of brands and lifestyles, all stand against Islamic values. And yet this consumer culture of the West is everywhere, directly contradicting the beliefs and lifestyles of many. Then there's the fact that there is often a very large rich-poor divide. If people living in extreme poverty are seeing the wealth of their country going seemingly directly on Western consumerist lifestyles, they are gong to rebel against the West, and for the most part this results in people attempting to return to 'true' Islamic values, and therefore acting more modestly, living more traditionally etc. For the vast majority this by no means results in terrorism, but for some, the combination of poverty, suffering, atrocities committed by Western companies, and a loss of their traditional values can lead to extremism in the form of terrorism.
We also mustn't forget that the West colonised many Muslim countries, forcing our values and laws on people, causing suffering and destroying traditions. Then we supported various corrupt leaders, including the Taliban. This not only fostered contempt of the West in Eastern countries, but to an extent it made the governments and religious institutions (Islam has no body of authority in the way that Catholics have the Pope, as it was destroyed) themselves unstable when they became independent, meaning that many Islamic countries have suffered poverty and unjust governments as an indirect consequence of Western greed and power.
Then there are the countless wars we have been involved in, rightly or wrongly, which, regardless of their intentions have caused the death and suffering of millions of innocent people. Many in the West are of the opinion that the Iraq war was largely about oil and so wealth and power in the West (again), so imagine your opinion of our ways if your home had been destroyed and members of your family killed for this reason. Then after we take action in countries, we often try to implement our ways of thinking. It isn't okay to do this any more than it is okay for others to insist that their way of thinking is correct and come to Britain and force change. I'm not talking major human rights issues either, because that is understandable. For example, after Saddam Hussein's death there was a whole thing about how the US didn't want to put a Muslim president in to power in Iraq... Like what the actual fuck?! It's a Muslim country and a Muslim president is as natural as a Christian or atheist leader would be in the West (and yes I would absolutely support a leader of any other religion in Britain/America but I am just drawing a comparison).
Then there are things like Gaza, which is directly supported by America's provision of military funding to Israel. Not to mention the fact that we, the West, took land from others and gave it to the Jewish people, which in turn has caused decades of death and suffering.
So no, we are not innocent. Totally to blame? Of course not. But I really think we need to try and understand their point of view because force alone will not stop the problem. It is like trying to solve a stomach ache with painkillers alone, and not addressing the food intolerance that is causing the problem in the first place.
Instead though, we are turning to hate and fear in equal measures. Religious intolerance in the West has dramatically increased. Racism has increased. And so the divide between the West and Islam, even in the West itself, is growing, and so will terrorism.
Our countries are not blameless?! Some of these fighters are from our countries! Countries that have provided them with a home, education, health care, religious freedom.
Providing health care etc. is a great thing but it doesn't make the country as a whole blameless, just like a find act of a criminal does not excuse a crime.
I think that statements like yours are what is wrong with the UK at the moment, everyone is so afraid of being labelled racist or ignorant that we're all frightened to speak out against these terrible acts.
No one is afraid of being labelled as racist, I don't think many people, myself included, would deny that these acts are horrendous, and I certainly wasn't labelling anyone as racist. Every politician in the country has condemned it. I really think that this 'afraid of speaking out' is nonsense, and far from what is wrong with our country.
You shouldn't throw those words around when what the pp said was accurate anyway. She wasn't being ignorant, it was a pretty accurate description of a terrorist surely?
1) If you believe in souls at all, who is anyone to decide absolutely who has one or not? It's ridiculous. And it's also silly to assume that evil and compassion are mutually exclusive. Everyone has the capacity to do evil, and to an extent everyone does. The vast majority of people have the capacity for compassion. And yes it is stupid to say someone has no compassion because they commit an evil act. Anyway, if these people were without souls, as they have been described, these acts would not take place. The problem is that while they are atrocious and disgusting acts, to see them as evil for the sake of evil is counterproductive, because it means we cannot effectively solve the problem because we are not understanding it or addressing the source. Fact is, awful as they are, they are not without purpose (and no, I do not agree with the purpose, but it cannot be denied that there is one). To these people the reason behind these acts is incredibly potent and something they feel is vitally important. Extreme acts, especially in large organised forms, rarely happen without an equally extreme reason.
If we are going to stop this then we need to take responsibility for our wrongs and try to right them. Stopping Western based companies from committing atrocities against people in Eastern countries is just one thing we could do.
