In Christianity, those who are chosen have "ears to hear", hear His voice, He knows them and they follow Him (John 10). The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control (Gal 5).
What a difference in spiritual hearing one must have to be drawn to Islamic fundamentalism...
I honestly don't think people are in any sincere way "drawn" to this blood-and-death devil cult. They are born into it and, as you both say, it's a "by rote" cult. Constant repetition from babyhood, of these murderous phrases, demands, commands, exhortations to kill, kill, kill. This is the greatest scourge EVER!
The Shinto religion and the belief that the Japanese Emperor was a god was bad enough, but it was confined to that one island nation. What is so horrifying (and difficult to combat) about this inhuman cult is that it is everywhere. It is spreading like a true intellectual, psychological virus, and I'm frankly scared out of my wits about it.
I read FR comments here and there on different threads where someone will say, "Well, just NUKE 'EM!"
Hunh?
You can't "nuke" an ideology!
I wish I knew what the answer is, but President Bush certainly isn't wrong to be promoting democracy. It's literally "man's last, best hope for mankind's salvation."
Char