Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Sectarian Thunder Dome

Let them get it out of their system in a controlled environment
 
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Seems to me that the biggest problem with removing dictators like Hussein, Gaddafi, and Assad from power in Islamic nations is that they are the sort of leaders under whom sectarian violence is virtually unheard of. Without the iron fist of dictatorship keeping them in line, the various sects of the Islamic faith just keep blowing each other up. If you put one sect in charge, they're going to discriminate against the others, who will retaliate with bombs and guns, spurred on by visions of 32 dark haired dark-haired virgins dancing in their minds.

So, what seems apparent to me is that there is no shortage in these nations of people eager to kill people of other faiths, no shortage of bomb-makers, and no shortage of folks who fall into both categories.

So... we revive the ancient practice of arena-style Gladiator combat pitting willing volunteers against each other so society can watch and get their fix (so to speak), with a unique twist: no melee weapons are available. Instead, they get a chemistry set (the sort 8th of 7 would hug a kitten to get his hands on), some jars of assorted shrapnel, some electronic components (watches, clocks, copper wires, maybe a cellphone or two, and some batteries) and have at it.

Sectarian Thunder Dome: two men enter, one or fewer leave.

21 Quest, Sep 15 2013

The perfect centerpiece to my prior art http://www.halfbake...War_20Summer_20Camp
After all, why not get the leaders involved? [Alterother, Sep 15 2013]

[link]






       I'm guessing... the darker the hair the better?   

       You do realize that the whole 72 virgins thing is a complete fallacy, propegated almost exclusively in the West?
  

       Anyway, shamelessly self-promotional <link> to my similar idea. I think they'd go well together.
Alterother, Sep 15 2013
  

       Agreed. They'd go together like bleach and ammonia.
21 Quest, Sep 15 2013
  

       Sectarian violence is not a solely Islamic phenomenon, which makes the garb that this idea is dressed up in seem a little, eh, narrowly focused. Similarly, sectarian division is often only part of the context to a "sectarian" conflict and usually part masks social and historical factors (Alawite social and financial primacy in Syria, f'rexample, the historic flooding of Norn Irn with Scots as part of a policy of colonial pacification, frnotherexample).
calum, Sep 15 2013
  

       Right, but the Christian brand of sectarian violence has largely stopped. Kosovo, Czechoslovakia, Northern Ireland, etc are significantly less 'splodey than, say, Iraq or Syria or Afghanistan. I'm not defending Christianity, mind you, far from it (although, to their credit, I believe there were significantly fewer Christian suicide bombings). If the Halfbakery had been around during those times of turmoil, I'd probably have posted the same idea then. Those countries got where they are today through bloody civil wars and (excepting Ireland) American military intervention. Libya and Tunisia went though the civil war thing (again, American military intervention helped things along in Libya). Syria is in the throes of a full-blown civil war and once again, American military intervention is woefully likely to happen.
  

       My idea is proposed as an alternative to the civil war/American military intervention cycle.
21 Quest, Sep 15 2013
  
      
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