CO brought up an awesome point -- we've never discussed just how many of the 1.4 billion Muslims are extremists/terrorists. I'd like to do some research before I add my two cents but I will throw out a ballpark guess. I don't think there are more than 100,000 Muslim extremist terrorists in the entire world. Edit: I was looking around a bit to get a better estimate of how many Muslims may be considered Muslim and I came up with different guess of about 40% of Muslims being "fundamental" with around 5,000,000-10,000,000 being considered terrorists/supporting cast. I stand by 100,000 or so being the actual terrorists to carry out the acts.
The largest number I saw once was about 600,000 belonging to terrorist groups but of course that was just an estimate. I can't remember where I saw that number. I'm trying to remember a number Fareek Zakaria used in The Post American World but for some reason I'm drawing a blank. I'm going to have to look for that book and find that number now.
Depends on where you draw the line. Extremist to one is moderate to another. For one it's an ultra-conservative muslim, for another it is only those who use violence towards people of other creeds. For me the problem of Islam is twofold. First there's the terrorists limiting the freedom of us to employ ourselves. And secondly, there's the muslims in the west not adapting to our lifestyles, but keeping to themselves, forming a state within the state.. with different affiliations and a seperate agenda, which at some points conflicts with our ideals. As such they undermine social cohesion and harmony and are IMO nothing but a nuissance.. but that's just my opinion. :cute: Btw, this isn't aimed at individuals.. it's more that the very concept of putting two cultures together that just won't mix in one state is generally a bad idea that can only lead to disaster (India).
The question would be "Should those terrorists be considered Muslims? Are they Muslims in the first place"?
Great point. I mean as a Catholic I don't think anyone that kills in the name of Christianity should be called Christian.
Your religion is whatever you decide it is, regardless of your actions. Thats why you can put Jedi as a religion in a census.
Well, I am a Muslim & I understand my religion very well.... Islam never calls for violence, terrorism or killing innocent people... It is a religion of peace & mercy..... Those terrorists are not following the instructions of Islam... They do not show you true Islam...
The question is similar to saying that black South Africans were Freedom Fighters. The answer is no. Only a certain percentage were members of the Umkhonto we Sizwe. The majority believed in the cause but few were prepared to fight for the cause. Numbers are not an issue but beliefs are. Was the Berlin Wall wrong? Yes but nobody did anything about until they changed their belief and acted. My question is this; If Islam is against violence and terrorism them why does the majority not control the radicals as it is giving Muslims a bad name.
As Bjarki has already stated, you really have to define a line. Terrorism is not a religion or a club or even a label to adopt. Are the Palestinians who fire rockets into Israel terrorists? ...What about the Uzbek fighters planting IED's in Afghanistan? You could probably hazard a guess with how many Muslims are affiliated with recognised terrorist organisations but to try and define how muslims as terrorists is to open a question. I could ask how many Catholics are terrorists? ....am I taking about the couple of dozen "soldiers" in Northern Ireland who actively terrorise by planting bombs and shooting others, am I referring to the larger network of people they belong to that might number between 200-1000, what about the wider population, the kids rioting in the street or the housewife using her coal bunker as a weapons stash, maybe another 10,000. We could just say those who support the cause could be seen as terrorists as well, add the other 250,000 of NI, the 4M of ROI and how many Americans could I add, either through association of supplying arms and finance or through no association at all? .....and we still have not addressed whether any of them are terrorists, some seem them as devout, some freedom fighters or liberators, some feel religion has nothing to do with it.
