Today's news reports that a church was bombed in northern Nigeria, killing twelve people.
A statement by the Al Qaeda styled terrorist group read in part: "as it pleases Allah, we have killed them.
" If you live in America or somewhere in the Middle East then hearing that a person straps a bomb in his underwear, and then detonates it in a public place to kill himself as well as others may not be much of a shock to you.
However, to the rest of us it is! I would have loved to interview Osama Bin Laden so as to understand the tenets of terrorism, and be familiar with its aims and objectives.
Armed with this knowledge, I would have become an authority on the matter, assisting others to make informed decisions.
But alas! Osama Bin Laden is dead and as such, I will never have that opportunity.
However, I have found another person from whom I can get valuable insights into the world of religious fanatism.
Just last week, my own mother told me that I would perish in the soon coming world destruction.
My crime: I have turned my back on God.
I tried to explain to her that I wake up every morning before dawn to pray to God, that I constantly try to assist people who are in need, and that I treat everybody with love and respect.
However, she insists that I will perish because I have left the "true worship"-her church.
Thankfully, she is not going to bomb me to dust, she will rather wait for God to do it by himself at Armageddon.
Without a doubt, one thing that all religious fanatics have in common is the belief that they alone practice worship that is acceptable to God, and that all those who do not follow their beliefs will be damned.
Sadly, this is not a new trend in the world.
Religion has often been at the center not only of endless disagreements and quarrels, but of numerous riots, crusades and wars.
And there seems to be no end to this in sight! I can understand the "blind faith" that leads a mother to declare divine vengeance on her "innocent" son.
(This is clearly the result of years of misinformation bordering on mind control) But what I do not understand is how a man like me can give me a bomb to conceal in my underwear, instructing me to go on a suicide mission, while he and his children sit in front of a television-in safety and comfort-waiting to hear the news of my demise! Outright madness! With the situation the way it is, it appears that I-and perhaps I am not alone in this- am stuck between these two life threatening prospects: dying at the hands of religious zealots, and getting killed by the hand of the Lord God Almighty.
Frankly, I choose the later! I know that in His infinite mercy, He will remember what little good I have done here on earth, and will thus temper justice with mercy.
Maybe, instead of condemnation to death, I could get a life sentence!
A statement by the Al Qaeda styled terrorist group read in part: "as it pleases Allah, we have killed them.
" If you live in America or somewhere in the Middle East then hearing that a person straps a bomb in his underwear, and then detonates it in a public place to kill himself as well as others may not be much of a shock to you.
However, to the rest of us it is! I would have loved to interview Osama Bin Laden so as to understand the tenets of terrorism, and be familiar with its aims and objectives.
Armed with this knowledge, I would have become an authority on the matter, assisting others to make informed decisions.
But alas! Osama Bin Laden is dead and as such, I will never have that opportunity.
However, I have found another person from whom I can get valuable insights into the world of religious fanatism.
Just last week, my own mother told me that I would perish in the soon coming world destruction.
My crime: I have turned my back on God.
I tried to explain to her that I wake up every morning before dawn to pray to God, that I constantly try to assist people who are in need, and that I treat everybody with love and respect.
However, she insists that I will perish because I have left the "true worship"-her church.
Thankfully, she is not going to bomb me to dust, she will rather wait for God to do it by himself at Armageddon.
Without a doubt, one thing that all religious fanatics have in common is the belief that they alone practice worship that is acceptable to God, and that all those who do not follow their beliefs will be damned.
Sadly, this is not a new trend in the world.
Religion has often been at the center not only of endless disagreements and quarrels, but of numerous riots, crusades and wars.
And there seems to be no end to this in sight! I can understand the "blind faith" that leads a mother to declare divine vengeance on her "innocent" son.
(This is clearly the result of years of misinformation bordering on mind control) But what I do not understand is how a man like me can give me a bomb to conceal in my underwear, instructing me to go on a suicide mission, while he and his children sit in front of a television-in safety and comfort-waiting to hear the news of my demise! Outright madness! With the situation the way it is, it appears that I-and perhaps I am not alone in this- am stuck between these two life threatening prospects: dying at the hands of religious zealots, and getting killed by the hand of the Lord God Almighty.
Frankly, I choose the later! I know that in His infinite mercy, He will remember what little good I have done here on earth, and will thus temper justice with mercy.
Maybe, instead of condemnation to death, I could get a life sentence!