What I Discovered From Interviewing Imprisoned ISIS Fighters

[thucythucy]

9. I didn't read this OP as saying "religion had nothing to do with it"

More like, for many people, religion is far down on the list of reasons they join. Particularly people from war torn regions with a long history of political violence and/or oppression and social unrest.

The more we understand why people do what they do, the better able we'll be to end or prevent it.

Edited to add: there is of course a subset of people for whom religion is certainly a primary reason. Osama bin Laden was hardly oppressed or discriminated against. He was indeed a religious fanatic. Even so, I think it makes sense to try to understand as much about these people as we can. Whatever the struggle or debate, I don't think willful ignorance is ever an advantage.