Idle Hands, Islam, and Generational Rebellion

So, I’ll try not to be long-winded.

We live in a world of ever-softening demands on young males. Historically, young men were forced to endure a ‘crucible’ of one sort or another. Some right-of-passage which proved the mettle of young men, and allowed them to lay claim to the appellation of “manhood”.

This is wholly-natural behavior. It’s reflected in the lives of young males of nearly-every mammalian variety. It’s a sort of evolutionary aphrodisiac, as well. The stronger the male, the better able to produce offspring and secure the survival of the species. This behavior often comes in the form of rebellion, whereby the young male seeks to assert his independence, and thus manhood, by extension. Manhood is a status and all status of any value, must be earned.

Boys in the west are no longer required, and often are not allowed, to engage in feats of manliness. For some of us, we joined the military and tested ourselves, pushing to and beyond limits we’d previously not breached. We recognize this in our fellow man, as an attribute which attains to manliness. This is, by no means, the only way of becoming a man, but this isn’t the side of the equation we’re focusing on, anyway.

Young men who have no right-of-passage, no crucible through which they are hardened and therefore earn the title of man, will seek all manner and means of emulating such behavior. Generally in a poor replication of true manhood.

We see this time and again in communities of absentee-fathers. Boys try to ape the behavior of men by becoming violent or joining groups where violence is celebrated (gangs). Add to this mix, a second generation islamic-immigrant background an the predilection of young ales toward rebellion and I’d say you have the perfect recipe for radicalization.

We can no more turn off our biological programming than can a feral pig. We are programmed to reproduce, to fight, to hunt, to survive. Like the feral pig who is penned, we can be taught to behave a certain way, but that biological programming is ever present in the operating system/source code of or lives.

It’s my contention that these second generation Islamic immigrants come from cultures where machismo is a valued attribute, but most of their parents are milquetoast muslims. That is, their parents are non-committal in their practice of Islam. In an act of rebellion against their parents (perfectly normal to challenge the male archetype in one’s life), these children become radicalized…in much the same way that American leftist children become radicalized against the traditionalist views of their parents.

These young males are doing the opposite of what their parents wants, in an attempt to assert their independence. This was a large driver behind my decision to be Muslim, so long ago. I recognized at the time, that most of the young converts came from similar backgrounds, from broken homes. They were, in essence, joining a gang. I think these radicalized young fools are doing the same thing.

To support this, I offer the description of nearly every set of parents of these radicals, that I’ve ever seen: ““They were nice people.”,”They’re a quiet working family.” et cetera.

What do you think? Any merit to my theory? If true, this will continue to increase, in the future, as young males have fewer and fewer options for asserting their independence and attaining manhood.

Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.