IslamicState

It's almost impossible to understand how three mothers and their vulnerable children could have persuaded themselves that going to a war zone and siding with ISIS was a good plan.
We in the West have been fed a diet of how horrific the Islamic Caliphate is and it is certainly substantiated by the pictures of the beheading of prisoners who were non Muslim.
Our understanding of Jihadi Brides, young girls marrying men quite a bit older than themselves, the Islamic fighters, was also very difficult for us to understand.

Part of the problem, a large part, is that we are naturally judgemental. It's also natural that when the norms which we carry around in our heads are challenged we do our upmost to reject the other persons point of view, especially if it is a cultural disagreement. A further issue is that it becomes extremely difficult for a person who believes in a whole range of alternative beliefs to speak up openly,  it is difficult, if not dangerous to go against the flow

I would imagine that there are many Muslims in this and other countries who would like to make a good fist of telling the story from their religious and cultural point of view but know that the norms and values of those around them, if they live in Europe, wouldn't give them much of an opportunity or the the 'time of day' to present their reasoning. The proverbial boot on the other foot is also true. Living in a Muslim country has many constraints and one has to be extremely sensitive to their norms otherwise you are in serious trouble.
We all have our opinions especially, if we are brought up in a secular society without the "surety" that religious belief and observance brings to those who feel their beliefs are the only surety in our lives.
Does a religious conviction trump a non religious one ?
Historically the Muslim case against Europe, the conflict between Christianity and Islam goes back a long way starting with the Crusades. More recently the relatively cack handed invasions against Muslim majorities in a number of armed expeditions undertaken by the U.S. and this country has defined and focused the differences between our Western culture and Islamic culture.
It's natural for Muslims living here to be confused and even resent the use of force against people they identify as having the same deep religious link even if the force was directed against a corrupt political establishment, they were followers of Mohammed and therefore brothers and sisters.
It "isn't" a huge shift to become absorbed by the propaganda which lies behind the creation of a Caliphate, where the teachings of Mohammed and the laws that pertain to the teaching have resonance for some who live in our complex laissez-faire society. Confusing to us, it must seem to be the work of demons if one has become absorbed in a religious life.
This is even more the case when they see their children becoming Westernised. Perhaps moving to an "Islamic State" makes sense. It brings the religious structures,"observance and law" into line.