Lack of education is real cause of terrorism

We believe that the war that should unify all nations is the war against poverty. And we believe that the most effective weapon against poverty is education. The most effective way of helping people is by teaching and training them to help themselves.

Ignorance, not poverty, is the root cause of terrorism. The best proof is that the person suspected of being responsible for the September 11 terrorism launched in the World Trade Center, Osama bin Laden, is one of the richest men in the world. Instead, of using his wealth to educate the Afghans, he is taking advantage of their ignorance to utilize them for his terrorism activities. In Afghanistan, it is a crime for a man to shave, or for a woman to get an education. Television and the playing of music are outlawed, but the bombing of the Twin Towers is not only endorsed, world terrorists are given haven and protection.

The four freedoms as summarized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt sixty years ago were freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear and want. Ironically enough, those are the very freedoms in contention in the war against world terrorists today. Islam is a venerable religion, the Koran condemns terrorism. It is wrong to refer to the Talibans as Muslim fundamentalists. Fundamentalism means "strict maintenance of ancient or fundamental doctrines of all religions, particularly Islam." Osama bin Laden and the Taliban are not observing the basic teachings of Islam; they are misinterpreting it for their wicked purpose.

Poverty has been defined as "the lack of ability, in any given circumstance, to get whatever is necessary for comfortable living." Education can provide the necessary ability. And as Mark Twain said, education consists mainly in what we have learned. That is what the Afghans will have to undergo – an unlearning experience. Shaving one’s beard does no person any harm. Music is what comes closest to expressing the inexpressible. And television does not house graven images.

The war against poverty will have to begin with the poverty in the mind. Bin Laden’s billions did not make him humane. He has done very little to uplift the plight of the Afghans. Instead, he used his money and influence to inflict the worst terror ever experienced in the United States. A person’s mind – not his possessions – is what reflects his soul. It is the reflection of the person. Money is a great servant but deadly master.