“If we expose our children to these things from a tender age, it will not be difficult for them to fall into the hands of extremists when they are teenagers. The extremists can easily trap them into conducting a suicide bombing or being trained for other similar violent acts. Childhood exposure to toy guns can make them easily adapt to using weapons [when they grow up].” – “Peace activist” Sana Ijaz in Pakistan Goes After Toy Guns to Prevent Kids’ Militant Aspirations [at theatlantic.com]
Peace activists like Ijaz have to go after thing like toy guns, because if they identified the root cause of their culture of violence as being religion, they wouldn’t survive the night.
Not really religion. More village culture, superstition, oppression and general…… stupidity.
Just like in Chicago and other big cities. They blame everything but themselves for failing their children.
Bingo! They’ve been killing/injuring “the other family” since Cain and Abel.
Nope. It’s religion disguised as culture.
“If we expose our children to religion from a tender age, it will not be difficult for them to fall into the hands of fundamentalists when they are teenagers. The extremists can easily trap them into conducting a suicide bombing or being trained for other similar violent acts.
There are some radical portions of the religion, but that is not the majority. The issue they have is the same one we have here in our inner cities and in some cases worse. In Afghanistan, the literacy rate is only 28%, the jobless rate is very high and it is easy to be fooled by someone who will promise you endless riches when you have none nor have the means to know the difference. They have a very authoritarian culture so one village idiot can often lead everyone astray. Free thinking is not encouraged.
This is why in regards to the post, it is very stupid to believe that removing toy guns will solve anything. This issue with progressives and activists is they believe every little thing counts and the truth is, it does not. This does nothing be detract from real solutions because they have in their mind some false belief or solution. But, because it makes “them” feel good, then it must be Ok even if it does nothing because there something in their brain that is now happy although in the real world nothing will have changed. At that point, to keep that good feeling vibe, they try to force everyone to think in their way to keep that good vibe while the reality is much different.
Believe I am wrong? Look at what the war to eliminate DEET did to deaths from malaria. Yeah, we removed DEET, and at the same time increase the number of deaths from malaria.
First paragraph I was saying, “F-yes, spot on”
Second paragraph, “Here we go with generalizing again.”
Third paragraph, “Yay, back to making sense.”
I believe you mean DDT. DEET is a repellent not insecticide. Other than that I agree with you.
I put it down more to cultural values rather than religion itself. However, it is true that depending on the specific example there is often overlap between the two concepts. In a place like Pakistan culture and religion are probably close to the same. The reason I’m writing this is because some people rationalize out terrorist type violence as a teaching from their religion and other people do not.
It’s really more because hustlers exploit religious fanaticism to suit their own ends, whether power, status, money, chicks, or whatever. See Jackson and Sharpton, for example. Did anyone ever notice that AQ[XX] leaders never go on suicide missions?
Bam +1
pot – coke – crack – meth – heroin
toy guns – real guns – mass killer – suicide bomber
Yeah, I see it now. How could I have missed those obvious progressions? What was I thinking?
(for those without the sarcasm recognition gene, that was sarcasm)
Toy guns, the gateway toy.
Wait – how is Heroin worse than Meth?
Eh, off-topic. Either way, this brainwashing of Pakistani youth is unfortunate, though I wouldn’t expect anything different from such a corrupt, inefficient government.
Instead of going after the toy guns to halt the kids “militant aspirations”, why not go after the radical imams who spew their hate filled diatribe for the 18 to 20 years it takes to cultivate these budding terrorists?
Because that might actually be effective. But we would not want to hurt the militants’ feelings now would we?
Because she would remain alive until the sun sets. Maybe.
Because that would be hard. This is easy and symbolic, and after all, you get full credit for symbolism now days.
Real evil is incredibly easy to ignore.
This is exactly what Bhutto was looking to do. She would’ve allowed the US military into the borders and into the mountainous regions of Pakistan along the Afghanistan border to look for AQ and more. As the current police and military there are either AQ or corrupt into being paid off, the current administration allows it.
And she was assassinated for it.
That women is either making that statement up or she’s completely how boys behave.
They will always play “guns” in some way shape or form (I.e. “Cowboys and Indians”).
When I was growing up we played “guns” all the time and the vast majority of us turned out normal and for those of us who didn’t it had nothing with playing with toy guns either.
Again we ALL played “guns” … If you didn’t it probably meant your parents were absurdly strict and you were going to end up some rebellious miscreant of society. My parents were strict yet they let me have an arsenal of toy guns.
And guess what happens if you don’t have toys guns? You made your own. Yup. We made them out of Construx, bamboo, etc, etc.
We didn’t bring our toys to school so during recess what did we use? You guess it, we’d use our hands and to either fight each other forces and fight imaginary bad guys.
Boys will be boys.
I think she needs to look deeper and find out the conditions behind such militant extremists.
Again me and my friends growing all played war, guns, violent shoot’em up video games etc, etc and not a single one of us became militant extremists. Not a single one.
How Sana Ijaz came up with this conclusion is very peculiar.
She must have grown up sheltered.
That or she’s grasping for straws.
Bingo.
There’s a certain kind of female these days, educated far beyond the limits of common sense, who thinks that because she has all manner of educational credentials that she knows something about men and boys.
It is almost funny to see this in action. What they don’t know about boys and men could fill tractor trailers. In this case, boys will be boys. Boys play war games, “cowboys and Indians,” whatever you want to call it. Boys will pretend they have guns if they use nothing other than their thumb and forefinger.
I have a better idea. Teach your children to value all human life, period. And teach your children that it is never okay to attack someone, period. Finally, teach your children that they should defend themselves when another person attacks them.
Careful, your treading in shallow waters by wanting to teach them early American values and common sense. Notice how I said “early” vs making it present day or absolute.
How about we call them “proper” American values 😀
That sounds a little too much like Stand Your Ground, you racist.
Ha! Good one.
Pascal, I think you meant DDT not Deet. Deet is an ingredient in insect repellants like Off. DDT should be brought back, at least in Africa and other areas with a high rate of malaria.
Dave, your suggestion makes too much sense which is why it will never happen.
DDT has probably directly saved the lives of more people than any other chemical invented in the 20th century. Best estimates are between 60 and 80 million people lived to adulthood because of the use of DDT in south Asia and Africa.
The resurgence of bedbugs in NYC is the universe’s way of visiting retribution upon the know-it-alls who got DDT banned.
Big Suicide Vest selection at Toys r Us?
That would’ve gone good with those entertech water guns they sold in the 80’s
Awwwww, they’re trying sooooo hard. Aren’t there awards for that ?
Darwin Award…
I’ll have to do some google-foo for this, but there was a 20/20 from the early 90s that placed kids in rooms with a gun on the table. Kids who had never been exposed to guns in real life, picked them up pointed the pistol at each other and pulled the trigger – basically acting out any tv shootout. Kids who had gun training left it alone and immediately got an adult.
That’s why bad parents + unsecured guns + uneducated, curious children = accidental shootings.
Every day I am more convinced that Eddie Eagle should be mandatory in public schools.
^ This. Let them play and be kids. Teach them good morals , values, virtues and a little bit of common sense safety.
My friends and I used to play “Vietnam War” in the wooded areas around our homes. It’s a sad, sad shame how I turned out”
A productive member of society, a business owner.
Volunteer in my community on several fronts.
Raising two smart, well-balanced children about whom I receive unsolicited compliments and praise from teachers, their friends’ parents, community leaders.
I am *such* the extremist.
You’re an outlier, that’s for certain.
Thanks for reminding me of why I don’t bother reading the Atlantic any more.
Sana Ijaz, I have a better idea. Send the little b@stards to a real school instead of a madras, teach them to read something in addition to the quran — I recommend a textbook or two — train them in basic hygiene and stop promising them that they will bugger 72 virgin goats in paradise if they murder a busload of Christians or Jews. I guaranty you that they’ll have a better chance of becoming productive citizens than if you simply take away their toys.
Go Ralph! *clapping*
Ralph, Ralph, Ralph…
You’re being insensitive. All cultures are equally valid, didn’t you get the memo?
When living in Phoenix AZ for a few years, in grade school during summer my two older brothers and I would sneak out late at night to meet up with neighbor kids to shoot rubber band guns at each other.
Running though dark alleys, using garbage cans and orange trees for cover. It was my first experience in what I now know is tactical training. We had a blast, never got caught by the parents/grandparents and 2 out 3 of us kids grew up to be avid gun owners and along with being responsible, law abiding, tax paying citizens. Kids are going to be kids. Play is instinctive in the young. Provide healthy wholesome environment, you have a better chance of having responsible grown children.
I am 100% for this initiative. If other nations don’t start making their boys effeminate too the West is going to be in even more trouble. Emasculate away, Pakistan!
Banning toy guns in Pakeestan? Well, that’s almost funny.
This is the place where you can get a working handmade replica of just about any firearm you can name. One-man gunsmiths make the frames, barrels, and parts in in tiny forges and hand file them to a finished product. Beretta’s and S&W’s are among the most popular knock-off’s. I’m pretty sure their violent gun culture was established back in the British colonial period and has shown no signs it’s slowing down.The Muslim hoards hate the West, but they don’t seem to hate the guns of the West. Doh! I guess that banning Islam is a nonstarter?
I played with toy guns as a child and never had any inclination to become an extremist. Now, if a bunch of evil murdering scum on the other side of the planet regularly bombed my home town and murdered my friends, that would definitely have given me a pretty “extreme” dislike of said murdering scum.
Interesting. Funny though, that same logic could be used with regards to religion – and there would be more proof to support that theory over toy guns.
Libtard lunatic.
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