Religion is the source of joy and comfort for many: unfortunately it also inspires some to kill.
ADEN, YEMEM — There is an interesting graphic that has been making the rounds for a number of years online that speaks to interfaith relations. Maybe you have seen it, maybe you have not: here it is (two versions):
I assume you see what the creator has done here, right? Combined the symbols from several different religions to write the word ‘co-exist’. I find it interesting and a good way to get a message across.
Alas you don’t need me to tell you this but the world’s faiths have not always gotten along. There are far too many conflicts and wars in which the proponents of one god (or even believers in the same deity albeit different interpretations) have killed the proponents of another. Check your history books.
Terrorist groups too often claim to embrace a creed and maintain that their way is the only way. This is particularly true of Islamist extremist groups. And there is perhaps no better example of aberrant religious adherence than that practiced by Islamic State (ISIS). The crimes committed by these violent religious terrorists are legion.
ISIS also targets those who belong to different faith systems on many occasions. Today’s act of terrorism is but one example. On this day in 2016 four suspected ISIS members murdered 16 people, including four foreign religious (i.e. nuns) at the offices of the Sisters of Mother Teresa in Aden, Yemen. The mother superior was able to hide and was not injured.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) issued a statement denying its involvement, saying that “this is not the way we fight”: don’t kid yourself, AQAP engages in lots of other heinous acts of violence.
And so the bloodshed continues.
To cite a verse from the Christian New Testament: ‘And Jesus wept’.
