The lost boys of Utah and suicide bombers, is there a connection?

[hedgehog]

The Lost Boys of Utah are young teenagers thrown out of cult communities for disobedience. In fact, these cult communities practice polygamy and must dispose of weaker males in order to ensure extra females for the more powerful males. Since polygamy is an accepted practice in many Arab communities, I was wondering if the willingness to be a suicide bomber has any connection to needing to dispose of extra males?

Please, I'm not calling Islam a cult, merely wondering at what effect polygamy has on young males without power.

[bryant69]

1. That's pretty esotoric

But even if that was a tangential part of the problem, it would seem like it would be a long way from the core of the problem. I think our own actions in the middle east might have more to do with terrorism than any lack of women to go around.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[hedgehog]

5. I agree it's very much a side issue. Clearly, the reasons for hostility

must be addressed. At the same time, I've seen reports of suicide bombings by the Taliban in Afghanistan aimed at other Afghans. I suspect that the cult of suicide bombing will plague the Moslem Mideast independently of outside events. I'm just wondering if an inability to marry has any connection with the use of suicide bombing as a tactic. Clearly it doesn't apply in all cases. Some married men and young women have been suicide bombers.

[Clark2008]

2. Actually, a lot of people think the lack of family planning - the

lack of ability to financially afford to marry or have a large family DOES lead to terrorism:

http://home.alltel.net/bsundquist1/terror.html#C4A

[aquart]

3. Check the inheritance rules in the Koran.

Also, I'm not sure of your definition of "cult." Did any of the Lost Boys become suicide bombers? In Merrie Olde Englande, primogeniture cut out younger sons who had the options of army, navy, or church. Polygamy is not that widespread among poor Muslim families.

Poverty and lack of birth control creates too many children to feed. Yet most poor countries do not deal with their children by strapping bombs to them.

Perhaps you would like to look elsewhere for your cause.

[hedgehog]

6. Well, I referred to cult out of respect for the Church of Latter Day Saints which has

rejected polygamy.

To the point though, your comment that in England younger sons had the option of Church, army or navy suggests to me that when a society limits opportunity, it must find a means to dispose of extra males. I believe the Crusades may also have been in part a response to this need to dispose of extra males.

[aquart]

10. Well, yeah.

I didn't know there was any disagreement about that.

[Warpy]

4. Most Muslims don't practice polygamy

since Mohammad admonished that it was allowed only when all wives could be treated exactly the same. Most Muslims can't afford multiple wives, in any case.

What provokes people into becoming suicide bombers is a lack of hope in one's personal life and a desire to do something constructive for one's people, even though we all in the west know that such bombings are counterproductive, at best. It's the only outlet they are offered, and they take it.

The lack of marriageable women isn't the problem, although the control of the whole process exercised by parents, grandparents and the local Imam might be a contributory factor.

Don't forget that there have been female suicide bombers.

[terisan]

7. I think you have a useful insight. Think on this and tell us more. nt

[terisan]

8. In our culture the extra males might be likely to be recruited for war in foreign lands.

The similarity would be that each group becomes a recruiting pool for military actions.

[hedgehog]

9. The corollary would be to question whether countries with

smaller families will be reluctant to go to war. Then there's China; will it go to war because of all the excess males or stay peaceful because of all the families with one child?