They were all second-generation Pakistani-Brits, and didn’t fit the profile that we generally associate with West-hating religious nuts. They were educated and into sports:
Shehzad Tanweer, 22, was an outwardly ordinary young British man, a university graduate who studied sports science and loved cricket and football.
and employed in the caring professions:
Like Tanweer, Khan seemed an unlikely suicide bomber. Friends said he was married with an eight-month-old baby girl and that he worked with disabled children in a primary school.
but very religious anyhow:
Hussain lived with his parents and neighbours said he had become “very religious” two years ago.
I would hope that their mosque is heavily investigated.
A revisionist theory is floating around to the effect that suicide terror isn’t about religion but some sort of reaction to American occupation. This is a load of bunk, of course. The USA has had troops in Germany for 60 years and the Germans haven’t sent us any suicide bombers. Let’s get real, OK?
Juan Cole, of course, said this about the terrorist bombers: “…this bombing could not have emanated from the British Muslim community.” What a genius.
But he’s changed his tune
Legislators in democratic societies who are thinking about how to respond to this problem should give serious thought to RICO-like laws that could be used to curb religious cults, which typically isolate members, indoctrinate them, manipulate them, and sometimes coerce them. Cults avoid scrutiny by harassing critics and whistleblowers, often in ways that police find it difficult to respond to. The enormous problems modern societies have had with groups like Christian Identity, the Koreishites, Aum Shinrikyo, and now al-Qaeda, suggests that current legal frameworks are inadequate to address this problem. Ex-members, victims and critics of cults need a legal basis for protection from the cults. The American Family Foundation is doing excellent work in this regard.
Cole is fundamentally correct, and I agree with his prescription completely. We can’t allow destructive cults to operate freely under “freedom of religion” protection when they’re functionally the same as organized crime. Sorry, Tom Cruise, but you’re busted.