It's really, really hard to talk about radical Islamic terrorism

[The2ndWheel]

37. People don't usually like to give the other side of a political debate any credence

Then if someone does, people on the same side will usually end up questioning whether or not you've turned on your own side. Then new lines get drawn.

We're a tribal species. It's part of who we are. Especially in the abstract world that we live in. We always have to qualify everything in the "but it doesn't represent the whole of that group" thing. Which, as you say, ends up making discussion difficult, because you can't accuse anyone of this or that, as that isn't fair to anyone.

If you feel guilty just writing or thinking something, how can anyone talk about it? Whatever someone agrees with makes it difficult to justify or rationalize criticizing it. If you disagree with something, it's very easy to talk about how bad it is, or how something needs to be done, etc. There's no guilt involved at all. The white patriarchy, very easy for people on the left side of the spectrum to talk about. Anything that isn't that, much more difficult. Now you're going after what is traditionally the minority, which the left side is usually fighting for. With radical Islamic terrorism, you're talking about a minority of a minority, at least in the US, which makes it that much more complicated.

Then people always have to add in Western imperialism. You can't get away from it, because it's right there. On the other hand, radical Islamic terrorism is right there too. Who threw the first punch? How far back does that game go?

We're prisoners of history, and slaves to the future. We're all stuck with the reality that past actions created, and can't go back to re-do anything. Human consciousness and what we call history is a tough nut to crack.