[lit-ideas] Re: Five Years Ago
- From: "Judith Evans" <judithevans1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:43:58 +0100
OK, full reply
JE>> if you don't want to answer the questions, how about defining "root cause"?
LH> Ah, I didn't realize that you intended a quibble.
this is not, Lawrence, a quibble.
LH>Well, without Qutb there would not be Islamism as we know it
LH>today; so he is a necessary cause.
I think I agree (but am not sure how much we are saying when
we say this). My argument is that this does not explain 9/11,
and it does not explain other terrorist acts.
LH>I am not a determinist (as Barnett and Fukuyama are,
LH>by the way); so I have a problem with applying the term
LH>sufficient cause to social events.
Fukayama certainly is a determinist, I'm not convinced Barnett is
(but my definition of "determinist" may be too strict)
LH> so I have a problem with applying the term
LH>sufficient cause to social events.
So you would agree that (the holding of) Qutb's ideology does not, by itself,
explain 9/11 or indeed any other terrorist act carried out by Muslims.
Good. But then you might want to consider other causes. And
I do not mean other ideologies, other Islamic writers; I mean,
other types of cause.
LH>Could a modern day Jihadist become militant without ever having
LH>heard of Qutb? Probably.
that isn't the only question (the answer is "probably", yes). How do people
become Jihadists? How do they move from holding such beliefs
to acting on them and acting violently? Why do some, exposed to the same
stimuli, not act? **Why did the fifth 7/7 bomber turn back? **
Judy Evans, Cardiff
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