The Discerning Texan
-- Edmund Burke
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Young Iraqis Becoming Disenchanted with Islam and Clerics
"After almost five years of war, many young people in Iraq, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach. "
". . . . young Iraqis, both poor and middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives."
Only 40 young Iraqis were interviewed in the course of two months in five different cities, but the study seems to indicate growing disillusionment among young people who are starting to blame Islamic clerics for their blighted lives:
"I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over us,” said Sara, a high school student in Basra. “Most of the girls in my high school hate that Islamic people control the authority because they don’t deserve to be rulers. "
"Atheer, a 19-year-old from a poor, heavily Shiite neighborhood in southern Baghdad, said: “The religion men are liars. Young people don’t believe them. Guys my age are not interested in religion anymore."
While we're hopeful that this is a lasting pattern in Iraq, we're brought down to earth by the knowledge that what is happening there does not reflect the mindset of young people across the Middle East, where Islam is the ruling force and where Islamic extremists are seen as heroes. Still.....it's a ray of hope that at some time in the future young people will rebel against the structure that keeps them mired, generation after generation, in hatred and violence.
The entire article can be read HERE.
