[Mr. Mopery]

Not a lot of time here, so please forgive my butchering of your text.

Originally posted by johnny: They gotta want that education themselves you know, and i wonder what kind of education your talking about. Teaching them OUR values of freedom and how one is supposed to live in peace ? You can't tell an un-educated person, "you're uneducated." And they generally don't think "I want education." You have to give them the opportunity. IMO, I wouldn't only want to teach them "OUR values of freedom" because, as is highlighted by things like the Patriot Act, our values of freedom aren't perfect. The fact that we barely tolerate theocratic governments is an example of the limits of American values of freedom. If they're not OUR values, we don't value them very much. (ps. I'm not saying theocratic governments are very good either, just playing devil's advocate) They have their own educational system, and their teachers ARE highly educated religeous people, who will continue to teach them that the way we live is wrong, or immoral. As long as we can live in peace together, that's fine with me. But obviously that's not going to work. So how do you propose an education that learns that the terrorist solution is wrong ? Have you read anything about the Mullahs in Afghanistan? Most of these men were highly educated--in the Koran. Only. I'm not trashing the Koran but many of them couldn't READ, just learned through oral tradition. And the Mullahs were running Afghanistan. Many of the leaders in the Middle East regard Islam as an entire system for living, encompassing government and commerce. That's fine, but unfortunately many Muslim teachers (radical Shias, mostly) believe that the only perfect time for Islam was a 30 year period of rule under the Prophet's first four successors. Hundreds of years ago. To answer your question, I propose Islamic education which teaches tolerance and meaningful communication with the West. We need education too, and tolerance, in order to forge a peaceful and understanding relationship that respects the beliefs of (non-radical) Muslims. Even the beliefs we think are counter to our way of life--they may be counter, but it isn't OUR way of life. And about treating others with respect, even if you don't get respected in the same manner, is NOT going to work either, you should know that. That's just not the "human" way. Every action causes a reaction. If the action is one that shows no respect, expect a violent reaction in return. That's the way it is, and always has been, and no education is ever gonna change that.

I agree with you to a point, but you're saying exactly what Sharon says. And it's gotten Israel nowhere...just more dead people. Hate breeds hate, true, but the Holy Land is gonna be blood red FOREVER if people mindlessly follow the logic you posted.