Question:  Why do citizens seek a Mullah, a Religious Leader, as a Government Leader, as opposed to selecting a Leader that represents State separate from Religion?

Answer:  When a State fails their citizens – people will step forward, such as religious leaders, and other leaders that are ‘anti failed state’, to argue with citizens to seek a better life.  A State is expected to represent citizens, regardless of religion, sex, race, tribe or regional group.  A State is expected to be concerned that citizens have at least access to food, shelter, clothing and public services.  State leaders are expected to be concerned with propagating state institutions that can protect the rights of their citizens.  Religious leaders are concerned with propagating their religious laws as laws of the state.  When states fail their citizens, a correction is a monumental undertaking.  In a war, a State wins when it can count its citizens vote to fight, time after time after time.  These citizens must be willing to vote.  This fight might be against global warming, spousal abuse, organized crime, better public education, medical insurance.   There is always a fight on this front line of life.

Question:  Why do you say life and death cycle of Extremism? 

Answer:  When a state fails, it can happen that a religious leader has won support and is now a leader of a religious state.  For Islam, this leader can decide to enforce strict Islamic laws, as they live these ‘life of laws’.  As a leader they want their citizens to lead a similar religious ‘life of law’.  They might have to prove their citizens can survive harsh Islamic punishments.  Religious leaders can have an eye or a limb missing.  These leaders become living proof that citizens can still have a good life, losing an eye, or a limb, due to religious punishment.  To maintain rule, their bureaucracy must attract and reward citizens who support a religious ‘life of law’ and are willing to enforce these ‘life of laws’.   This transforms these citizens that step forward, into  ‘Extremists’.  They are Extremists because they must discriminate against non Islams and Islams, who do not measure up.  As in Afghanistan, when an Islamic religious leader is removed, Islamic Extremists feel compelled to continue their Extremism.  Most  will want to fight infidels.  Many are seen walking away to grow narcotics and selling their products worldwide.  Here they continue their fight by providing poisons to infidels and funding new revolutions to put an Islamic leader back into Government Control.  When a Mullah becomes their Supreme Government leader, once again,  these Islamic Extremist will walk away from their opium and other narcotic businesses and start to enforce Islamic law.  Extremism becomes difficult to shake off.  Even male and female groups congregate together and pray to enforce ‘life of laws’ on their neighbors.  It is a difficult situation to shake off.

 Question: How can an individual break this life death cycle? 

Answer:  A Supreme Religious Leader could step forward and declare to their citizens, that an evil state has been removed.  Now is the time for a new state, with religion and state being separated.  Citizens should now be concerned with their votes.  This would lead to national elections.   Extremists would transform themselves into citizens that can mingle with a general population.  They would lose their Extremism.  Some Military leaders have taken this kind of step, with success.  Egypt is a recent example.

 Question:  What occurs when such  a Religious Leader does not cede and demand that state be re-established and separated from religion? 

Answer: We can look at the former Soviet Union as an example.   Their citizens decided, after a 70 year experiment, that their socialism was not working and needed to be changed.  Their citizens changed it.  After this change, the world was surprised to learn that Soviet Secret Police, KGB, had been infiltrated by organized crime.  Under the Soviet rule, a Central Committee decided on a citizen’s goals, to live a Marxist Leninist ‘life of laws’.  To ensure these goals were enacted, a secret police, KGB, would provide that glue.  Citizens had deeply suffered under Soviet Union / KGB rule.

We can also look at a Religious rule of Tibet.  It took a Chinese Government to say no, it must stop.

We can look at the Chinese Government and assume that their glue is suffering the same fate as the Soviet Union:  Policies from a central committee are hard to enact with a ‘Maoist life of laws’ and requires an extremist group to provide a strong glue.

Question:  How does the USA continue fighting for this separation of State and Religion, and prevent Extremists?

In the USA, there are three government groups:  Executive, Legislative and Judicial.  They interact to prevent each other from overshadowing a citizen’s right to vote for their desires.   They prevent extremist groups from trying to be a glue to this country.

There are additional groups that represent citizens who work for corporations, separate from groups that represent corporations.  Labor Unions in the USA represent rights of citizens working at corporations.  Labor Unions fight to prevent extremism by corporations against its employees.

USA also has an extensive TV/Digital Industry that can disseminate news and expert commentators.  This keeps citizens well informed by a multitude of different global news/expert groups.   Facets of this industry is even protected by a US Constitution.

Question:  Are there religious extremists in the United States?

Answer:  Yes. Many politicians have stepped forward in the Legislative Branch and demanded that religious mores enforce rights such as preventing abortions.  Many judicial branches have ruled these types of actions discrimate against a sex, females who seek abortions.  Executive branches are also in that fight,   A woman should have a legal right to vote for an abortion.  Some Labor Unions have argued for abortion rights.  Associations representing medical doctors, such as the AMA, have also argued “Not Clearly Pro or Con”.

USA has had a terrible problem encouraging extremism due to severe sexual and racial discrimination.  This has changed tremendously, starting post World War II.  It took two global wars, requiring citizens from every walk of life, to fight….to shake off that extremism in the USA.  Every vote to fight had to be counted, time after time after time.  With citizens dying off and new citizens stepping forward, a right to vote becomes a serious issue to protect.  It has been a bloody lesson in the USA, from multiple battlefields of war, time after time.

Question:  What is a yardstick to use here?

Answer:  A citizens’ ability to vote for their desires has been an excellent yardstick.  Can a citizen say that they can vote for their desires, independent of race, religion, sex, tribe, or regional group?  And does a state have institutions that protect those rights?