Parker: There are no absolutes when it comes to extremism

Antepli was also critical of moderate Muslims who feel the need to defend Islam even in the wake of terrorist attacks. A jovial fellow whose students have nicknamed him the “Turkish Delight Imam,” Antepli said he’ll “scream and pull my hair out” if he hears one more time that Islam is a religion of peace. It is and it isn’t, depending on which text one uses for one’s purposes. Just as the abolitionists used scripture to end slavery, the Islamic State uses the Quran to resurrect slavery.

No religion, said Antepli, is one thing. Every religion, especially those that are centuries old, is many things. Understanding requires familiarity with what Antepli identified as the three main categories of all religions: history, people and, last, theology.

The terrorist equation

In other words, religion is only part of the terrorist equation, but denying it altogether is a mistake, both Antepli and Stern agree. On this score, Obama’s critics may be correct, though others would argue that naming Islam risks alienating moderate Muslims.

Antepli countered that moderate Muslims are just as repelled by the Islamic State — and are just as often its victims — as the rest of the world. The question that puzzles the civilized world is why the Islamic State is so successful in recruiting.

Stern emphasized that the radical jihadist ideology is undergirded with a narrative of humiliation, reinforced with branding and perverse promises — sex slaves, drugs, power — all of which can be justified with Quranic text. The promises would be especially irresistible to a certain kind of person: The typical jihadist is a male aged 14-35 who has a mental health history and feels alienated.

Yes, some percentage of recruits are surely psychopaths attracted to the brutality the Islamic State justifies with text. And some are true believers. But many of the remainders are simply ripe for the picking. We do ourselves no favors when we play into the Islamic State’s hand by reinforcing their propaganda that America hates Muslims.

Nor is it useful to fight ideology with violence, which only nurtures brutality in the jihadi mind. And certainly not by creating divisions between them and us, a propagandist tool for recruitment and radicalization.

My favorite approach relates to a method Antepli uses in his work to de-radicalize young Muslims. He told the story of a young man who was considering joining the Islamic State. Antepli, who is often called in by parents concerned about their children, said though it was the lad’s decision, he should understand all the parts of Islam before making a decision.

The young man agreed to listen. By the time Antepli had finished his recitation of the nuances, history and reality of the Islamic State, the erstwhile sympathizer said, “I don’t want anything to do with that. It’s boring!”

Indeed, evil isn’t only banal; it’s a big bore.