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The breeding ground of terrorist vermin

Donald Sensing:

I cited yesterday a piece in Arab News by Arab writer Dr. Mohammed T. Al-Rasheed calling for striking at the breeding grounds of terrorist "vermin." In the days since the bombings at Sharm el-Sheik many Egyptians are starting to ask just what exactly the breeding ground is and concluding that it just may be Islam itself. Reports the AP's Nadia Abou El-magd, "Egyptians debating if their culture encourages terror." ("Culture" however is being defined in almost exclusively religious terms.)

Stunned by terror attacks at a Red Sea resort, Egyptians are having a remarkably frank debate about whether mosques and schools -- and the government itself -- should be blamed for promoting Islamic extremism.

Even pro-government media say authorities have created a climate where young people are turning into radicals and suicide bombers.

In a country more used to hearing general condemnations of terrorism, critics on Wednesday were angry -- and specific -- hammering at instances where they say the government allowed mosque preachers or state media to promote intolerance.

At one mosque in Cairo, some worshippers objected to prayers for the dead and missing after Saturday's bombings in Sharm el-Sheik because some victims likely were not Muslims, said the editor of the government weekly Al-Musawwar.

As a "professional religous person" I know that religion is not merely believing beliefs, it predominantly what one does because of those beliefs. What is happening in Egypt now, and less overtly among British Muslims earlier this month, is questioning whether Islam itself is leading directly to terrorism committed in its name.

There is much more.