Attack in Nice on July 14th

[grumbler]

They are different organizations and who they attract are different.  This is No True Scotsman garbage. Albanians and Bosniaks would eat pork and drink rakija and crucify Serbian or Greek rebels whenever they got uppity.  The great Sufis were alcoholics and pedaphiles.  The fact that sinning can lead to guilt which informs faith should not be new information, nor should the fact that Islamic fanaticism around the periphery of the Islamic world is the norm rather than the exception.

I have no idea what (if anything) you are trying to argue here, but I would note that Islamic fanaticism isn't found at the periphery of Islam, but at its heart.  Mecca is located in a country that executes gays, stones rape victims, and chops off the hands of thieves.

[The Brain]

Er, not being nice isn't true Islam.

[Legbiter]

Er, not being nice isn't true Islam.

Exactly, Islam has nothing to do with Islam. 

[Queequeg]

They are different organizations and who they attract are different.  This is No True Scotsman garbage. Albanians and Bosniaks would eat pork and drink rakija and crucify Serbian or Greek rebels whenever they got uppity.  The great Sufis were alcoholics and pedaphiles.  The fact that sinning can lead to guilt which informs faith should not be new information, nor should the fact that Islamic fanaticism around the periphery of the Islamic world is the norm rather than the exception.

I have no idea what (if anything) you are trying to argue here, but I would note that Islamic fanaticism isn't found at the periphery of Islam, but at its heart.  Mecca is located in a country that executes gays, stones rape victims, and chops off the hands of thieves.

Boko Haram, Sudan, Chechnya, Mindanao, the Berbers in Mali, Pakistan.....I'd argue that it's simultaneusly strongest in the center and the periphery.  You can get away with being a lax Muslim in, say, Algeria, but in Northern Nigeria or Chechnya you really can't.

[The Minsky Moment]

Albanians and Bosniaks would eat pork and drink rakija and crucify Serbian or Greek rebels whenever they got uppity. 

And Serbs and Greeks would do much the same to Albanians and Bosniaks, as well as to each other.  So what's your point?  Islam is a belief system.   Being Scottish isn't a belief system one joins voluntarily by pinching pennies and eating revolting sheep gizzards.

I think it's pertinent to point out that IS attracts the "allegiance" (sometimes ex post) of a significant number of people with no discernible religious background or inclinations and that it advocates conduct contrary to the Quran or any known Sunni sharia school.  At least if you believe that one should understand a phenomenon if one wants to combat it effectively.  As opposed to grind some political axe.

[grumbler]

Er, not being nice isn't true Islam.

Exactly, Islam has nothing to do with Islam. 

Smells like straw around here.

[The Minsky Moment]

Boko Haram, Sudan, Chechnya, Mindanao, the Berbers in Mali, Pakistan.....I'd argue that it's simultaneusly strongest in the center and the periphery. 

Yes and also in between: Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Libya, Tunisia, Pakistan (not periphery . . .)
So it is strongest everywhere and weakest everywhere. 

[The Minsky Moment]

The fact that ex-baathists appear to be in key positions of authority in Daesh is also revealing.

[Legbiter]

Smells like straw around here.

Just bantering with the Brain. Not aimed at anyone.

[The Brain]

Albanians and Bosniaks would eat pork and drink rakija and crucify Serbian or Greek rebels whenever they got uppity. 

And Serbs and Greeks would do much the same to Albanians and Bosniaks, as well as to each other.  So what's your point?  Islam is a belief system.   Being Scottish isn't a belief system one joins voluntarily by pinching pennies and eating revolting sheep gizzards.

I think it's pertinent to point out that IS attracts the "allegiance" (sometimes ex post) of a significant number of people with no discernible religious background or inclinations and that it advocates conduct contrary to the Quran or any known Sunni sharia school.  At least if you believe that one should understand a phenomenon if one wants to combat it effectively.  As opposed to grind some political axe.

Serbs would eat pork to Albanians? How does that even work?

[Malthus]

Albanians and Bosniaks would eat pork and drink rakija and crucify Serbian or Greek rebels whenever they got uppity. 

And Serbs and Greeks would do much the same to Albanians and Bosniaks, as well as to each other.  So what's your point?  Islam is a belief system.   Being Scottish isn't a belief system one joins voluntarily by pinching pennies and eating revolting sheep gizzards.

I think it's pertinent to point out that IS attracts the "allegiance" (sometimes ex post) of a significant number of people with no discernible religious background or inclinations and that it advocates conduct contrary to the Quran or any known Sunni sharia school.  At least if you believe that one should understand a phenomenon if one wants to combat it effectively.  As opposed to grind some political axe.

Serbs would eat pork to Albanians? How does that even work?

"Long pig".

[The Great Santini]

I have a solution to this. A final solution.

[Sheilbh]

One other thought is how weird is it to attack a Church at a Tuesday mass? I may be generalising but that is literally a service only for nuns and legionaries of Mary

[dps]

One other thought is how weird is it to attack a Church at a Tuesday mass? I may be generalising but that is literally a service only for nuns and legionaries of Mary

Well, it's possible that who the attackers wanted to target.  It's also possible that they can't read a calendar properly and didn't know what day it was. 

[CountDeMoney]

One other thought is how weird is it to attack a Church at a Tuesday mass?

Same reason the 9/11 hijackers did what they did on a Tuesday.  Slow day, manageable crowds.