Would you mind if I be a little bit cynical?


Since September 11th, what good reason would a person in a western country have for converting to Islam? Before September 11th, converts to Islam tended to be imprisoned criminals seeking gang protection, aggrieved racial minorities seeking an anti-Western identity, and - rarely - misguided children rebelling against their thoroughly sick White liberal parents, such as John Walker Lindh. Of course, these cases still persist, but now we can add the additional possibility of misguided westerners - typically losers who have failed in society - seeking to align themselves with the most salient (and violent) anti-Western group they can join for the purposes of "striking back" at their host civilization for various perceived wrongs.


Of course, we have seen this. John Walker Lindh grew up in ultra-liberal Marin county, California - home of Barbara Boxer - and, despite wealth and priviledge, immersed himself in Spike Lee's "Malcolm X", and eventually found himself battling his own country in Afghanistan. Australia has it's own "Jihad Jack" Thomas, who went from being a Melbourne cabbie to undertaking terrorist training in Pakistan. The British had Richard Reid. Germany had Christian Ganczarski, who fraternized with Osama himself and bombed a Tunisian synagogue. A quick google search will yield examples for pretty much any western nation you wish to inquire about.


Before I venture my own opinion, I'd like to ask forum members this: How should converts to Islam be viewed and how should they be handled legally?