Why are conservatives so concerned with the threat of militant Islam?

[SpicyMcVoodoo]

This may sound like a silly question, but why are conservatives concerned with the threat of militant Islam?

I'm not asking what about Islam itself makes them think there's a threat. I'm asking what is it about being a conservative that makes you see a threat that people to the center and left don't see (or at least don't see to the degree you see it).

Perhaps what I'm really asking is a question about psychology. Why would a person who is religious, traditional, fiscally conservative, etc. see a threat from from certain religious people that those who are secular, progressive and fiscally liberal don't?

There must be some psychological root tying all of these seemingly unrelated things together. It's occurred to me that maybe the root is black and white thinking, which leads to a belief in good and evil, which manifests itself in accepting religious dogma and seeing good USA vs. evil enemies. I've actually seen a study by someone at Berkeley which shows conservatives are uncomfortable with ambiguity, so I suppose there's some evidence supporting that theory.

Opinions?

[IminWonderland]

I would say that considering the religious views of many conservatives, and their strong Christian Values, they may see a Holy War, where people not of strict Christian Faith see the conflict as political. I've heard some strong Christians say they really feel that Islam is trying to prostelyze and convert worldwide, and they see it as a threat to their own religion.

[Donkey®]

Why were conservatives so afraid of Communism?

[IminWonderland]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

Why were conservatives so afraid of Communism?

Maybe because it goes against Protestant Work Ethic that has been drilled into them.

[SpicyMcVoodoo]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

Why were conservatives so afraid of Communism?

Well, conservatives tend to be religious, and Marxists are atheist, so...

But like I said, I think there's something even deeper at work here. There's something about the conservative psyche that yearns for a battle of good vs. evil, and therefore they need an "evil" which the "good" USA can battle.

[SpicyMcVoodoo]

To zoom out even more, I think conservatives tend to be more tribalistic than liberals. They tend to think of humans in terms of groups, not individuals. This may sound counter intuitive, because it was the liberals who came up with communism, which sought to manage people as groups and do away with individualism. But it was the belief that people are inherently individuals, with selfish motivations, that made the communists think people needed to be managed and organized into groups.

I think conservatives tend to think of people naturally falling into teams (or tribes, from an evolutionary perspective). This explains why they tend toward religion, which is really just tribal glue, and why they tend to think in terms of black and white, good and evil...because black and white thinking is good for your tribe's welfare...if people start to use shades of gray to assign blame to their own tribe, that endangers the tribe's survival. If people start going against tradition, that endangers the stability of the tribe, and therefore its survival, etc.

So basically, conservatives have it ingrained in their minds via evolution to think in terms of black and white, obey the religion that binds the tribe, identify the enemy, call the enemy 100% evil, and call the home "tribe" 100% good. This profile was probably very advantageous to survival for most of human history. In other words, liberals are a sort of evolutionary mutation, and not necessarily a good mutation from the perspective of survival.

[6SpeedTA95]

Are you seriously suggesting that democrats and liberals dont see a threat?

[Thomas Crown]

Because there is a threat. If you listen to comments by radical militant islamic leaders, they want to destroy us. It isn't that they just don't like us, they want to kill us.

Not just the Christians, but the Jews and athiests too. In general, those who do not follow Shea law are considered sinners and should be wiped off the earth by soldiers of Allah.

Turning this in to a conservative vs liberal argument is simply partisan stupidity.

They don't want to just kill me. They want to kill you too.

[avsp]

I dont like the labels 'conservative' & 'liberal', ..., but just for once etc

I dont think 'liberals' dont see a threat

The difference is in how to counter it

Generally it seems to me that the liberals want to use soft power whilst the conservatives, generally, see military force as one appropriate at a lesser 'trigger' level.

Of course both things are usefull & can be appropriate.

Perhaps the conservatives distaste, (distrust?), of bodies such as the UN mean that they see less opportunities for the use of 'soft power'?

Also economic soft power can actually cost & both sides seem reluctant to deny the US public even the slightest piece of material comfort, ..., but maybe thats just my bias.

The Jihadists, of course, welcome the military fight for they believe that thje west doesnt know how to counter them militarily & that attempts to do so merely serve the jihadist cause anyway, ..., thats largely what 'terrorism' is about.

But with regard to SMcV musings on some deeper 'psyche' then again its the level at which you intervene militarily, .., how willing one is able to 'tolerate' 'disorder' or percieved insults to 'honour', (flag burning etc). The threashold does seem lower for conservatives. This may, possibly, explain the greater occurence of belief in religion or other 'systematic' beliefs (market theory etc)

Perhaps it is this, possibly, overarching desire for 'sense' & 'order' that they recognise in the jihadists & thus they 'fear' it more coz they are looking at their own 'darker' selves, ..., though this is such a gross generalisation as to be almost meaningless

[SpicyMcVoodoo]

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

Are you seriously suggesting that democrats and liberals dont see a threat?

Of course not. I'm asking why conservatives seem so preoccupied by it. If you go on a center/left TV show, I doubt you'll see programming telling you how militant Islam is going to take over the world and you better watch out. On the other hand, if you turn on Fox, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush, etc., you'll get an earful about how we're in battle against good and evil, a nuclear bomb is going to explode in America at any minute, etc.

Just now, there is an hour long program on Fox running Called Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, and Glenn Beck has been running a special all week about militant Islam.

You don't see this sort of (no pun intended) obsession on the center/left. Why?

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by SpicyMcVoodoo

Of course not. I'm asking why conservatives seem so preoccupied by it. If you go on a center/left TV show, I doubt you'll see programming telling you how militant Islam is going to take over the world and you better watch out. On the other hand, if you turn on Fox, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush, etc., you'll get an earful about how we're in battle against good and evil, a nuclear bomb is going to explode in America at any minute, etc.

Just now, there is an hour long program on Fox running Called Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, and Glenn Beck has been running a special all week about militant Islam.

You don't see this sort of (no pun intended) obsession on the center/left. Why?

Have you seen what militant islam wants to do? They do want to take over the west and they want to kill as many of us as possible, they made this evident on Sept11. I could see that perhaps its being overblown on the far right but its also being downplayed wayyy too much onthe left. I know two of the muslims here at work think its a serious deal and believe that we need to stand up against militant islam because they will if given the chance hurt us again.

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

I could see that perhaps its being overblown on the far right but its also being downplayed wayyy too much onthe left.

I agree. The ultra-left rationalizes their behavior. They try to make excuses or blame us for the actions of radical Islamics.

"You know we funded them decades ago!"
"We were their allies!"
"We created this hostility when we...!"
"If we would just leave them alone we wouldn't have this problem!"
etcetera etcetera.

Their arguments not only ignore the threat that has become, it offers no viable solutions and turns the tables making the militant Islamics the victim and the US the perpetrators.

When asked why do conservatives seem so concerned with the threat of militant Islam, I think it's very fair to question, why do some on the left seem to take such a radical stance on the other side of the fence. We were attacked on Sept. 11. Blame America all you want for what the terrorists did, but the fact remains there is still a threat, and it is something to be concerned about. The entire montra of "I have a better chance of being struck by lightning than being killed by a terrorist" is evidence of extreme downplaying.

[IminWonderland]

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

Have you seen what militant islam wants to do? They do want to take over the west and they want to kill as many of us as possible, they made this evident on Sept11. I could see that perhaps its being overblown on the far right but its also being downplayed wayyy too much onthe left. I know two of the muslims here at work think its a serious deal and believe that we need to stand up against militant islam because they will if given the chance hurt us again.

But, they have wanted to do this for a long time, a couple decades at least...

So, what, we need a new enemy besides terrorists, so now this is who we are going to focus on?

To me, it's a reality that these people want to kill us, and I believe that the Liberal mindset is the better option for calming them down, but all these shows, and the hub bub is just more Culture of Fear.

[Diesel66]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

Why were conservatives so afraid of Communism?

100 million dead isnt a good enough reason ?

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by IminWonderland

But, they have wanted to do this for a long time, a couple decades at least...

So, what, we need a new enemy besides terrorists, so now this is who we are going to focus on?

To me, it's a reality that these people want to kill us, and I believe that the Liberal mindset is the better option for calming them down, but all these shows, and the hub bub is just more Culture of Fear.

you're kidding me?

They've wanted to do it for decades and have succeded on many fronts we finally have someone in office willing to take a stand for this country.

What liberal option is it that you speak of? Leave them alone? we tried that under Clinton.

[SpicyMcVoodoo]

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

Have you seen what militant islam wants to do? They do want to take over the west and they want to kill as many of us as possible, they made this evident on Sept11. I could see that perhaps its being overblown on the far right but its also being downplayed wayyy too much onthe left. I know two of the muslims here at work think its a serious deal and believe that we need to stand up against militant islam because they will if given the chance hurt us again.

I really don't care what they want to do. I'm only concerned with what they can do. They can want to take over the West all day, but it's never gonna happen.

So is that what it is? Conservatives are measuring the threat by the size of their ambition? All they have to do is speak huge threats and suddenly they are a huge threat?

I really don't see these people as a huge threat to America or the West. The biggest threat I see is that we go bankrupt in perpetual wars abroad fighting them, just like the USSR and many other great empires over stretching themselves. But as far as their ability to actually inflict damage on us, I don't really fear them.

9/11 was horrible, but it wasn't really from a survival standpoint. The damage was mostly psychological. 3000 people died in a country of 300,000,000. We lose more people to car accidents. Over 10,000 are murdered every year. This doesn't negate how immoral and despicable terrorists are, but it does show that from a survival of the West point of view, that's negligible.

In other words, from my perspective, if people take the threat of a few thousand people being murdered as a real threat to the entire Western civilization, they're being drama queens.

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by SpicyMcVoodoo

I really don't care what they want to do. I'm only concerned with what they can do. They can want to take over the West all day, but it's never gonna happen.

So is that what it is? Conservatives are measuring the threat by the size of their ambition? All they have to do is speak huge threats and suddenly they are a huge threat?

I really don't see these people as a huge threat to America or the West. The biggest threat I see is that we go bankrupt in perpetual wars abroad fighting them, just like the USSR and many other great empires over stretching themselves. But as far as their ability to actually inflict damage on us, I don't really fear them.

9/11 was horrible, but it wasn't really from a survival standpoint. The damage was mostly psychological. 3000 people died in a country of 300,000,000. We lose more people to car accidents. Over 10,000 are murdered every year. This doesn't negate how immoral and despicable terrorists are, but it does show that from a survival of the West point of view, that's negligible.

In other words, from my perspective, if people take the threat of a few thousand people being murdered as a real threat to the entire Western civilization, they're being drama queens.

It's never gonna happen? Whats happening in France? England? Germany?

[Thomas Crown]

Originally Posted by SpicyMcVoodoo

I really don't care what they want to do. I'm only concerned with what they can do. They can want to take over the West all day, but it's never gonna happen.

So is that what it is? Conservatives are measuring the threat by the size of their ambition? All they have to do is speak huge threats and suddenly they are a huge threat?

I really don't see these people as a huge threat to America or the West. The biggest threat I see is that we go bankrupt in perpetual wars abroad fighting them, just like the USSR and many other great empires over stretching themselves. But as far as their ability to actually inflict damage on us, I don't really fear them.

9/11 was horrible, but it wasn't really from a survival standpoint. The damage was mostly psychological. 3000 people died in a country of 300,000,000. We lose more people to car accidents. Over 10,000 are murdered every year. This doesn't negate how immoral and despicable terrorists are, but it does show that from a survival of the West point of view, that's negligible.

In other words, from my perspective, if people take the threat of a few thousand people being murdered as a real threat to the entire Western civilization, they're being drama queens.

I think you are grossly misunderstanding the threat.

It isn't that they WILL take over western civilization. It is that they WANT to and they are willing to kill thousands upon thousands of people to do it. They don't see any chance of them losing, so they don't mind murdering a few hundred K people with a nuke in midtown manhattan.

THAT is the threat.

[SpicyMcVoodoo]

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

It's never gonna happen? Whats happening in France? England? Germany?

What is happening there? I'm not aware of any Muslim armies threatening Europe's existence and forcing people to convert.