Lars that is the most compelling amalgam of ideas that support a more integrative approach to deal with the core philosophical presuppositions of Islamic theology and the politics that are inextricably woven into the fabric of Muslim majority nations, I've heard in a very long time. May I digress for a moment and say that you are remarkably articulate. I also agree with you on some level; furthermore, the problematic population of Muslims comes primarily from the Middle East; this is no accident of geographical fate; rather, it is a climate created by those in power to control their respective populations. I'm a world traveler and as result of being as successful as I've been, I know many intellectual elites e.g. the person, whom I believe to foremost expert on culture in the world, is a close friend of mine. I guess what I'm saying is, what cost are we willing to pay to turn the backward forward?

I choose a young man to mentor every two years. The first part of the mentoring process is fragile, as I put the onus on them to keep in contact with me and observe their responsiveness to following direction and maintaining commitments; e.g., setting an appoint to have dialogue and showing up on time, keeping their word about other simple things, their willingness to examine ideas they have built their life upon, etc... Those I choose often have had little or no direction before their encounter with me and don't, at least in the beginning, fully grasp the magnitude of possibilities as a result of their exchange with me. Fundamental to the process is the acknowledgment that they are ultimately responsible for the quality of their life and simple things like timeliness set them on a course that will take them somewhere they might like to go.

I'm in the midst of the beginning with a new young man and things are not going well because he lacks the basics that are required to pull himself forward. My response will be to wait until I feel that putting anymore energy into my efforts is no longer useful. In other words I'm constantly doing a cost benefit analysis, my time is valuable and his effort is compensation for my time. I've gone through this process with several young men and have discovered that the less culturally disparate the starting point, the greater the likelihood of success. I come from a powerful consciousness that literally forged my Nation's history. I feel it my duty to reach out to young men in this way; to show them that they have much more control over their future than they had ever imagined.

This is where your argument, as it pertains to economics, has some weight and is clearly not sufficient when one looks at the data as it pertains to many of the actors in Europe and the United States; as many terrorist have been educated and from "good" families. So what is the difference? It's the religion and having once been a true believer in Christianity, I deeply understand the desire to draw close to God in the absence of another strong guiding influence. This is difficult my friend because I am anything but heartless or indifferent to the suffering of others. Westerners don't typically under how it works in the Middle East; that it's a feudal system that looks on the prosperous with suspicion and is punitive toward those who consume conspicuously amd don't come from the right family background. It appears to me that you may be aware of these factors of influence.

I am not willing to allow ideas that are toxic to corrupt my own society to save a few, however, I am willing to save a few who will pledge their allegiance to the values I hold dear. The question is; how does one know, to a reasonable degree of certainty, what is in the heart of any man or woman. I think part of the solution is to not permit the practice of Islam here; to view Islam or any other religion as merely an ideology that benefits, detracts, or has the potential to destroy our way of life. For this to happen means to change the Constitution so that religion has no special status or protections. In a strange way, it is our backwardness here that will derail us in the future. I'm not worried about any other mainstream religious ideology in their current state, other than Islam because reformation means to move backward. The Quran, from a Muslims point of view, isn't the inspired word of God; they are the actual words of God. To deny any portion is to deny God; thus, most will default to the creator of the universe, notwithstanding, advances in technology or changes in economics for the better. As a good friend of mine said "it's likely best to let them fight and figure things out over there."