Belgian authorities say it was three suicide bombers,two of which were brothers, who carried out the brutal terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday. Here in the United States, or there was an immediate reaction to the events from presidential hopeful Ted Cruz,who released a statement saying, "We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."On Fox News, or he elaborated: “This is a war with radical Islamic terrorism. ISIS has declared jihad on Europe and on the United States of America,” he said.
It's a familiar framing of the issue — Islamic terrorists are the enemy, with an emphasis on "Islamic." But to what degree is this really approximately religion? The Islamic State as an organization, and with its prostitution and kidnapping,seems more like an organized crime gang than a devout group. To figure out what role religion should play in this conversation, we turned to Maajid Nawaz. He's author of "Radical: My Journey Out of Islamist Extremism" and the founding chairman of Quilliam, and an anti-extremism think tank. Nawaz says that while Cruz and Donald Trump's rhetoric is alarming,we can't separate the issue of terrorism from Islam. What you'll learn from this segment:Analysis of the debate surrounding terrorism and religion.
What western governments can enact to curb recruitment.
How moderate Muslims and other groups can fight radicalization.
Source: wnyc.org