Some people have the “gift of gab”, the (often dangerous) ability to convince others into doing what they want.
(The gift of gab is supposedly given to one who kisses the Blarney Stone in Ireland, but it seems that some individuals kissed the Malarkey Stone instead and ended up spouting crapola).
Many of these blowhards are often unsuccessful opportunists looking for ways to improve their forgettable status.
They trawl the flotsam of society, prospecting for alienated, restless, angry young men (or women).
When they hook a prey (generally a gullible slacker) it is like a match made in heaven.
-Hello brother, are you looking for adventure, excitement?
-Yeah I think so…
-I thought so. Are you a True Believer?
-Yes I think so, I am not sure… (Some militants have been known to carry “Islam for dummies” in their rucksack.)
-That’s OK, I’ll show you the way.
And just like the generals of yesteryear, these rabble-rousers will send thousands of impressionable young people into harm’s way, while safely staying put behind the lines.
The spark for this new crusade is the perceived and drummed notion of unfairness toward Islam. And the answer for this capital sin is Jihad, a bloody war against “unbelievers”.
To defend Islam threatened by Infidels.
Jihad evokes adventure, the thrill often lacking in otherwise drab existences.
And there are rewards: guns (who doesn’t love them?), war brides (willing or not), terrorizing victims, and bragging rights if coming out unscathed of this adventure.
Most of this recruiting is done online. So the fight against “Islamofascism” should start on the web.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenave recently went to the United States to promote policing websites promoting extremism.
He talked to Internet operators Facebook, Google, Twitter trying to convince them to better police the Internet.
This is a good beginning, but the fight against extremist propaganda should not start on the web. It should start at home.
Relatives and friends should be on the lookout for somebody’s new and unusual behavior. And if they notice anything odd, they shouldn’t be afraid to implement an intervention “an occasion on which a person with a behavioral problem is confronted by a group of friends or family members in an attempt to persuade them to address the issue.”
And if the intervention is not successful, alert the authorities!
If you ever catch me growing a beard, becoming sanctimonious, showing any suspicious signs of unexpected piety or proselyting, I beg you, INTERVENE!
Tie me up, tie me down and do everything possible to bring me back to my normal state of swearing, drinking, pigging out and wenching.
Thank you ahead of time for doing a good deed.
Alain
Merci a Eliana!