Appeal of Jihad to Western Muslims

* In his Mar-1 Letter to the Tennessean Editor, Mark Goldstein  rants against a Jan-24 Saritha Prabhu Tennessean column that discussed factors enhancing the appeal of Jihad to Muslim youth.  He begins with a dismissive caricature of her column.  The rest of his letter is a series of rhetorical questions the expected answers to which associate Islam with violence.
* It is indeed shocking to find that some young people in the 21st century would be attracted to a group that beheaded and burned alive its helpless prisoners most of whom were never its enemies.  It is discouraging that young people in our midst would join in ethnic cleansing aimed eventually at us.  Such disrespect for and intolerance of those judged as infidels is incompatible with a civilization worthy of the name.
* Goldstein seems too opinionated for an objective or curious reading of Prabhu’s column.  Perhaps he has forgotten the turmoil of the adolescent mind, the antisocial fantasies that bubble up, the pleasure of mischievous company, the remoteness of eventual life satisfactions, the pain of indolence, the minefield of temptations–and, for a Muslim kid, the addition of special restrictions and humiliations.  These conditions with the provocations listed by Prabhu can account for numerous Jihadist choices.
* We could all use some modesty, considering that adherents to every monotheistic religion have engaged in religiously justified atrocities.

   *   *   Addendum:
* Prabhu listed the following provocations:  1) Iraq invasion, 2) Abu Ghraib, 3) Gitmo, 4) Drone strikes in Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan seen as indiscriminate (and cowardly), 5) Palestinian suffering (and hopelessness), 6) Specific disrespect of Islam.
* To that one could add:  7) The Crusades,  8) 1953 CIA overthrow of duly elected government in Iran, 9) Our national pride in "Shock and Awe", 10) Guarantees by our government to protect autocratic regimes in the middle east and elsewhere, 11) Hateful treatment of Arabs/Muslims in our popular culture (films, TV), 12) Unemployment in Muslim enclaves in western countries.