ZenHalfTimeCrock
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There are certainly complexities, which you would have been alerted to had you read Maher's article. A shame that you did not bother to do that.
It's also unfortunate that you are not prepared to consider empirical evidence on the nature of the adolescent brain that may have a bearing on the Begum case. People with open minds should be prepared to engage with material like this, and challenge the content specifically rather than dismiss it out of hand.
I did realise that I might run the risk of coming across like Lord Longford in referencing this neurological research. And some teenagers do mature intellectually at faster rates than others, and are indeed capable of being aware of the moral implications of their deeds.
The following is from Islam Beyond the Violent Jihadis by Ziauddin Sardar and is an extract from his encounter with Sixth Form Religious Studies students at a girl’s school in Bradford in 2015. These students almost certainly fall into this category:
‘Perhaps we can start with a simple question.’ Several girls raised their hands immediately, and I randomly pointed towards a pupil who oozed confidence. ‘Would you say that Islam is incompatible with postmodernism?’ she asked. There was no way I could duck the second question. ‘Yes, it is,’ I replied. ‘Postmodernism suggests that almost everything that provides meaning and a sense of direction in our lives is meaningless – such as religion, history, tradition, reason and science. It also argues that all truth is relative. As a faith, Islam seeks to provide meaning and direction in the lives of believers. It places strong emphasis on tradition, history, reason and science. And it sees only some truths as relative. Ironically, postmodernism itself functions as a religion for some people.’ A lively discussion followed, with some girls expressing slight disagreement with my explanation. ‘It wasn’t nuanced enough’, said one.
…As one question followed another, it became evident that the sixth formers were into asking critical, complex questions. And they were not going to be satisfied with simple answers. Not the sort of women who will go and join the ‘Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL) to become ‘jihadi brides’.
…What, I asked, did the sixth formers think of those who leave Britain to fight for the Islamic State’? ‘Misguided’. ‘Brainwashed’. ‘Not very educated, are they?’ The answers came thick and fast. Another girl in hijab said, ‘They know very little about Islam. What they know they have acquired from the social media or websites run by ultra-conservative imams. They think they are learning about Islam but they are being fed propaganda and a literalist, extremist version of Islam.’ Another lively discussion followed, and we ended up exploring the reasons why some young Muslims are happy to give up their lives in Britain and head for ‘the Caliphate’ in in Syria.'
Pupils like this would certainly have been capable of knowing what they were doing at the age of 15. But I doubt that Begum resembled them when she was the same age.
In closing I will just point out that moral certainty can be just as dangerous as amorality, and I perceive an unwarranted degree of that certainty in your posts.
Megan Phelps-Roper, formerly of the Westboro Baptist Church, has written very perceptively about this:
'Doubt causes us to hold a strong position a bit more loosely, such that an acknowledgement of ignorance or error doesn’t crush our sense of self or leave us totally unmoored if our position proves untenable. Certainty is the opposite: it hampers enquiry and hinders growth. It teaches us to ignore evidence that contradicts our ideas, and encourages us to defend our position at all costs, even as it reveals itself as indefensible. Certainty sees compromise as weak, hypocritical, evil, suppressing empathy and allowing us to justify inflicting horrible pain on others.'
As you consider my contributions to lack credibility, I will therefore leave it at that.
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