Profile of a Homicide Bomber

[Jeff Gerke]

First part of an article on LiveScience.com:

The suicide bombers who have killed 10,000 people in Iraq, including hundreds of American troops, usually are alienated young men from large families who are desperate to stand out from the crowd and make their mark, according to a U.S. military study.

I read that and thought, isn't that always the case? It's not just in Muslim cultures, either. Who were the Crusader knights, especially the ones who wanted to stay and live in Outremer? The ambitious "second sons" or landless nobility wanting to carve out something for themselves.

It's true in our society today, isn't it? Who are the main entrepreneurs or the main ones willing to take a risk? Usually it's the young, and very often it's young men.

Thoughts?

Jeff

P.S. The article can be found at www.livescience.com/health/080316-ap-bomber-profiles.html.

[torainfor]

That would explain why, in a family I know, the second son is in the Army National Guard and the third was a cop. The oldest is a banker.

My husband works at the Air Force Academy in the division that coordinates seminars to try to teach young cadets how not to be idiots. This last seminar, they had Greg Mortenson ( www.gregmortenson.com/ ) who was saved from a climbing expedition to K2 by a village in Pakistan. In thanks, he has built numerous schools for the kids there--especially girls. He has found that the number one recruiting pool for Al Qaida is poor families with uneducated moms. To go on a Jihad, a young man must have the blessing of his mother. If she is educated to even a 10th grade level, she is far less likely to agree to it.

[Jeff Gerke]

Fascinating. And praise God for Greg M.

Jeff

[rwley]

And yet our culture continues to encourage young men, especially young black men (please nobody read racist here) to be alienated and disenfranchised be feeding the gangsta stereotype, the rapper bad boy image, and the "ain't got no other choice". Our culture does little or nothing to actively seek out the young men, and women from the slums and ghettos and show them there really is another way.

In this country of freedom for all (?) there is still a segment of the population that says "the government has to take care of me because I'm __________" fill in the blank. They are encouraged by leaders of their own communities to stay poor, stay uneducated and stay oppressed.

Of course that's not what the leaders are saying with their actual words, just with their attitudes and actions. And Hollywood and Madison Avenue do nothing to change that either.

Our churches don't do enough. We still look at people through the lens of human vision. We see gangsters, we see Goths, we see "bad girls" or "bad boys", we see cripples, we see homeless. What we should see is "LOST". And I don't mean the stupid television show. Unless and untill ALL Christians, of whichever denomination, begin to see their world through the eyes of CHRIST; unless and untill we see people as God sees them, lost souls in need of a Saviour, nothing is going to change.

Some people do this well. Not enough of them do it at all.

(Climbs down off soapbox)

Sorry; touchy subject.

[Spokane Flyboy]

When I think of alienate, disenfranchised youth in America I also see Columbine.

[Jeff Gerke]

Exactly.

I had an idea recently for a (very poor taste) political cartoon someone should run. It shows a government office with two desks and a big line of people waiting to be helped. One of the desks is marked "Terrorist Permits" and the other is marked "School Shooter Permits." A sign in the back identifies it as the office handling requests for those who want to kill Americans.

Jeff

[Divides the Waters]

In the questionable taste department:

Two Palestinian men are showing pictures of their children to each other.
The first says: "This is my oldest, Muhammed. He was a martyr.... this is my second oldest, Muhammed. He was a martyr too.... This is my baby boy, Muhammed. One day I hope he will be a martyr too."

The other replies: "They blow up so fast, don't they?"

[scintor]

There is a time in all young peoples lives where they have been designed to be ready to leave the confortable and make their own way. This most often coresponds to when they are ready to marry and start a new family. Some will take that drive and go to explor the world, start a new business or devote themselves to a cause.

Another major factor is boredom and lack of responsibility. Older children are often put in charge of the younger and are expected to take care of the family includig whatever family business. Younger children often have less expected of them and will attach themselves to a cause to give meaning to themselves.

These people will often find meaning in religion, military service, or political causes. Unfortunately, you will often find exploitive people who will use their natural energy and enthusiasm to further own personal aims.

This is why you almost never find young leaders sending off people on suicidal missions, and you almost never find older people going on suicide missions.

Scincerely,

[e-mail]

[myrthman]

Dr. Kevin Leman, Christian psychologist and relationship counselor, has developed an interesting theory about birth order and personality. He likes to play a "parlor trick" by guessing someone's birth order after a few basic questions. His book may be helpful to the current thread.