QotD: "They’ve always been here. But not everybody’s joining up."

"Terrorism has ... come of age with the millennial generation. The Islamic State ... is miles from the Al Qaeda it grew out of. Its supporters aren’t coming from Afghanistan, Iraq, or Pakistan anymore. They’re living in Belgium, France, Britain, and ... even the United States. They’re not refugees or illegal immigrants. They’re legal, passport-carrying, Western-born or naturalised citizens of our countries.... ISIS isn’t just a geographical entity. There are kids sitting across Western countries, right here in our cities and neighbourhoods, being inspired and groomed by the group’s wide-ranging social media expertise and slickly produced propaganda videos as we speak. These kids are not coming here from Syria. They’ve always been here. But not everybody’s joining up. The success of a campaign like #ExMuslimBecause; the burgeoning memberships of ex-Muslim groups like the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), Muslimish, and Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA); and the steadily growing audiences of pro-secular dissidents and reform activists from Muslim backgrounds show that there’s something else brewing too—something you don’t hear about as much because it has historically been suppressed by governments, moderates, and fundamentalists alike."
~ Ali A. Rivzi, from his book The Atheist Muslim: A Journey from Religion to Reason

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