Well Informed post 2.0: Radicalization and Religion

I would safely guess that radicalization is evident in almost every society, group, organization, school, religion.. etc. There are many studies that have been done on why & how it starts, but none (as far as I have found) have not been able to find a universal answer for both those questions because everyone has different motives,goals, aspirations..etc. I would also safely guess that a lot of people radicalize without noticing or recognizing that they are doing it.

The first thing that came to my mind when thinking of the topic Radicalization and Religion my thoughts arrived at the Islamic religion. Most, if not all religions, have radical followers. On the web and media the Muslim religion has been in the spot light because of extreme Radical followers. We know that there are many routes we can take on why people are radicalized, but another question to consider is how to prevent someone or a group from being radicalized.

• "Surveys, interviews, and focus groups conducted in Nigeria in 2013 suggest that poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and weak family structures make or contribute to making young men vulnerable to radicalization. Itinerant preachers capitalize on the situation by preaching an extreme version of religious teachings and conveying a narrative of the government as weak and corrupt. Armed groups such as Boko Haram can then recruit and train youth for activities ranging from errand running to suicide bombings." (How youth join Boko Haram)
  
  
  

Many people don't know that they are being radicalized. I know this because I have grown up in Utah, and I have seen friends who are LDS that made choices based on what their parents, peers, and friends have forced on them in any small or big way. Their conviction doesn't come from within, but it hangs on their parents or peers. Being a little kid I could probably say I was radicalized to believe without personal conviction on a very small scale, but aren't we all in some way radicalized when being little kids? My conviction stemmed from being taught that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints was the best church to attend. From my parents I was taught something else, which made me less rigid. Even though family life is different, we tend to believe authority in our culture when being young, especially those we are taught to trust without question.

I have a friend I love dearly, but growing up I have learned to take what he says with a grain of salt. Growing up we were best friends and we would always do things together when our families would visit. I believed he would always tell the truth. We were best friends so why wouldn't he? Growing up he would always tell me new gadgets that would come out, new movies with scenes he talks about, and I couldn't see that he exaggerated or lied about a lot of things. We would work together during the summertime at a bed and breakfast owned by my grandparents, and somehow I was always put with the harder job and he with the easier one. He would go on and tell me his ambiguous future plans because of his success to only find out that he exaggerated. I would always wonder why? Why lie or exaggerate? Don't worry, we're still friends, this is only to help bring understanding. I learned later on from observance that he felt insecure about himself, and thought he had to make himself seem greater than he already was. In the beginning I was radicalized by him because he was good with his words. He knew how to tell a story, how to motivate people whether or not it was exaggeration with a few lies or the truth.  

How do we stop from being radicalized or radicalizing? First, we need to recognize it. I think if we were just able to recognize what radicalization is and what it means we would be better off preventing it. This begins when students at a very early age need to learn to be critical thinkers. If that were to happen maybe the cloud of Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy would soon dissipate. On more important matters it would create more informed civilians not always being manipulated by the media, culture or someone able to manipulate with words. It would solve a lot of the world government problems. We would have greater leaders and more efficient ways to run our society.