" . . . empires conveniently define peace as the absence of struggle against their power." "Fellowship" a magazine of peacemaking published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation Sep/Oct 04
Muslim resistance to our cultural domination, resistance to our imposition of our culture upon theirs, is understandable. This resistance is not necessarily in opposition to our interests, nor to peace, freedom, and democracy.
We must, absolutely must, separate our culture from our vision of democracy, from our vision of freedom. Our culture is not a democratic one, our government process is. In many ways our culture works in opposition to democracy and freedom, works in conflict with, and in opposition to, the purpose and intent of our government.
"To prevent and reduce terrorism, the world must address the profound grievances that give rise to violent extremist groups." FCNL Newsletter Oct 04
"The "global war on terrorism" is a lost cause. You cannot shoot or bomb terrorism out of existence. Terrorism thrives on war; war fighting is its goal. The effective answer to terrorism is prevention, and prevention relies primarily on civil not military power." FCNL Newsletter Oct 04
So what are the grievances that give rise to violent extremist groups and how do civil powers address them?