I replied to your post last night but scrapped it because I came way too close to falling into my own trap.
I do think it boils down to ignorance. Ignorance is one of those words which has been used as an insult and thus degraded but it really means 'lack of knowledge'.
When the crusaders of medieval Europe set out to recapture Jerusalem from the Turks they did it believing that it was the Turks who were the enemy and that Jerusalem should be Christian. They charged into the slaughter waving banners with crosses on.
The Moslem suicide bombers stride into market places full of families shouting the name of Allah all-merciful even as they pull the pin.
We all know how wrong they are, but when it comes to trying to explain it it becomes much much harder unless we talk in real spiritual terms. We know they 'lack knowledge' but knowledge of what exactly?
What I mean is, it isnt enough to merely condemn - even when it comes down to suicide bombing. We have to know WHY we condemn and WHY it is so wrong.
I was going to type 'Know thy enemy', because I knew it was a genuine quote from somewhere but didnt know where (I googled it and here is the full quote: "Know thy enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle."
Unfortunately, this quote is rather self-defeating because it comes from Sun Tzu who was himself a general (Sun Tzu). In other words: it sounds spiritual but wasn't originally meant to be (which might also be said of many of the important passages in the Old Testament.)
It's easy for me to say: 'the man who decided that biblical quotations should be imprinted on rifles did not know his enemy' but when I do this I myself fall into the same trap because even as I say it I make him my enemy.
Which leads me back to what you called your post: 'I'm going to play the dummy here' because I think you have it spot on. In recognising the foolishness of me (my own ignorance) I am 'saved' from acting foolishly. In other words, you knew yourself . . . . . I'm sorry this post has become so tangled but, although it's actually so simple, it really isn't.
I need to think more about this. It seems really important.