>I don’t care what you find convincing Ally, I’m not your mother…. I’m not here to make you feel anything!

If you’re not trying to convince anyone of anything then what is the point of your writing?

> Assuming you are American, I imagine seeing outside your bubble is tricky

You’re right that I’m American but your bubble pejorative is frankly laughable. I’ve been out of the country for 2 years now. The only bubble I’m in is “not yours”

>Most of us wouldn’t countenance leaving behind our comforts, but some people do so & join missionary orders to work in the poorest & most dangerous parts of the world helping others, simply because of their faith. And for others their faith compels them to slaughter the infidel.

Finally something of substance. To paraphrase, your answer to my original question is that terrorism starts and ends with religion. You don’t disagree per se with the general explanative power of economics but you think it is irrelevant because terrorism is done by the zealous 1% who can’t be thought of rationally (eg the missionaries). Am I understanding you correctly?

This is exactly what I wanted. A plausible alternative to the conventional theories of “lone wolves” and “jobless disaffected youth”. Preferably one with at least some data to back it up (too much?). As fun as this has been I think I’ll leave it here.