Originally posted here by Dr Toker
... I did know that like 70% of the Afghan people were illiterate. How can you be following Islam if you cant even read the Koran?
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Dunno, it's too complicated for me to figure out how they're bamboozled, but here goes;
Not just the Afgan people, Doc. We who are here tapping out our thoughts to each other on a world-class bank of servers with folks who are leaders in their technical fields are in a *very* small minority of the world's population, and those who can even read in their own language are in another very small minority of the planet's population. OK, with that out of the way, here's what i've noticed over the years and it doesn't necessarily pertain strictly to Muslim folks: You get a bunch of folks who can't read, they're discouraged, poor, their girlfriends aren't really happy, they got no job, no money, no cars, no bank accounts, they're down and out, they're looking for some purpose in life. Along comes some self-appointed preacher (for lack of a better descriptive term), magnetic personality and the gift of gab, promising them a glowing afterlife and 72 virgins... doesn't matter whether they're preaching out of their version of the Koran (who can challenge their version if the audience can't read?) or the Bible or the Outback Survival When TSHTF Manual. Doesn't matter whether it's somebody listening to old Jim Jones in So.Cal before he hauled his flock off to JonesTown, a radical anti-gov survivalist in the northwoods, or a bunch of poor dudes in a dirt cave somewhere that we just carpetbombed. They believe what their preacher says if it sounds like something better or more exciting than what they got, and getting 72 virgins for just ending his miserable existence probably sounds pretty good to some guy who hasn't had a bath in two years, a square meal in three, and can't get a girlfriend even in the red light district.
But don't take this to the bank, Doc, it's JMHO based on what i been seeing...