European and other Western youths are turning to Islam for more than just weird thrills. Secularism, which is good for governing a democratic society has crept into the every day life of the people. This intrusion into our lives is creating a vacuum in the human spirit. This is not to say that there are not those among us who can go through life perfectly happy faithless.
Throughout history and all over the world humans have found a way to quench their thirst for something more than what we are as individuals. We have always searched for a reason of being. This search has lead us to worshiping a power greater than anything we can explain. Early societies have turned to worshiping mythical gods or spirits such as those embodied in animals, other things of nature such as trees, star constellations, and finally monolithic beings.
Each of these beliefs answered the quest for understanding the why things are and the things that happen over which we have no control. They also gave us a logical reason to behave in an orderly and cooperative manner. It gave us a nucleus from which to build on. This gave us a way to determine just rules to live our lives by. It allowed us to label actions as being good or evil. We were able to develop laws, what is illegal, and how to deal with unacceptable behavior.
Through innovation and scientific discovery the different societies and consequently their faith’s, began to interact with each other and peoples of varying beliefs ended up living next to each other. This presented a situation of potential conflict of ideas and has been so throughout history and man faced a choice, war or tolerance. In the Judeo-Christian ethic (and most other faiths) tolerance of others and their belief system became part of that faith system. To further allow freedom to choose one’s faith the idea of government not mandating the individual beliefs, liberties, and freedoms of the people, secular governments evolved where religious beliefs are not mingled or part of the rules and laws of the state.
Not being ruled by a theocracy gave us more freedom of thought since religious teachings are left to the leaders of these faiths. This made following our faith voluntary. As our lives became more and more complicated, pursuit of material and personal fulfillment took up more and more time, and the concern for allowing freedom of thought took over parental authority, religious practices became less and less a part of our lives. So that after a few generations the decision to practice and even to choose a faith was left to children of parents that were too busy to practice any faith.
Without direction from our parents and the many distractions in modern times, our youth did not learn to dedicate them selves and their time to practicing any faith. This has worked for some but there are many others who without knowing what it was, feel they are missing something on their lives. Since the authority figure, their parents, have obviously rejected their own religion (by not practicing it) it must not be that fulfilling. The only religion that is vigorously perused by clergy, teachers, and parents is Islam and it offers spiritual fulfillment without, at first, emphasizing its dark side. These young converts may not even be aware of what they are searching for. As in the past some converts get into the faith while others accept only the “exciting” portions that Islam has to offer which is the violence that comes with Jihad.
What is needed in the West is for the re-acceptance and the assertion of parental authority and responsibility for fulfilling spiritual direction in their children. If this does not happen, the state will take over this responsibility by instilling a socialist order where the people look towards their government for all their needs. This will lead to a more and more totalitarian state where the individual is nothing and the sate is every thing. Soon any resistance to this will be futile and we all will be forced to conform.
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