 |
| The fruits of religion |
I try not to write about religion all the time, but the pestilence that religion is to humanity is hard to avoid. From the Israel's murder of children in Gaza, to religious discrimination against gays, to the atrocities and genocide being committed by Sunni Muslims in Iraq, the common root of the hate division and death is religion. Religion that justifies a mindset that anyone different or who subscribes to differing beliefs is subhuman and even worthy of death. Yet insanely, religion still is afforded special deference and privileges even in modern nations which by now ought to realize that religion outside of one's home or house of worship is not a positive good. Oh yes, we hear of religious based charities, but in some total those good works pale in comparison to the evils done under the guise of sincerely held religious belief. The ongoing horrors in Iraq underscore this reality (in the past, Christianity has caused similar horrors and widespread murder such as the Cathars in France and "old believers in Russia). Here are highlights from the Huffington Post on the horrific fruits of religion in Iraq:
Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of Iraq's Yazidi minority, burying some alive and taking hundreds of women as slaves, an Iraqi government minister told Reuters on Sunday.
Human rights minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani accused the Sunni Muslim insurgents - who have ordered the community they regard as "devil worshippers" to convert to Islam or die - of celebrating a "a vicious atrocity" with cheers and weapons waved in the air. No independent confirmation was available.
Sudani said in a telephone interview that news of the killings had come from people who had escaped town of Sinjar, an ancient home of the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking community whose religion has set them apart from Muslims and other faiths.
"We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic State have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar," he said
"Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar."
Kurdish regional president Masoud Barzani urged his allies to send arms to help his forces hold off the militants, who have bases across the Syrian border. During a visit by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Barzani said: "We are not fighting a terrorist organization, we are fighting a terrorist state."
"In some of the images we have obtained there are lines of dead Yazidis who have been shot in the head while the Islamic State fighters cheer and wave their weapons over the corpses," he added. "This is a vicious atrocity."
A deadline passed at midday on Sunday for 300 families from the Yazidi community - followers of a religion influenced by the Zoroastrianism of ancient Persia - to convert to Islam or die. It was not immediately clear if the victims to whom the minister referred were from that group of families.
Obama said it would take more than bombs to restore stability, and criticized Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government for failing to share power with Iraq's Sunni minority, which dominated before the U.S. invasion.
France joined the calls for Iraq's feuding leaders to form an inclusive government capable of countering the militants. "Iraq is in need of a broad unity government, and all Iraqis should feel that they are represented in this government," Foreign Minister Fabius said.
Maliki's critics say his sectarian agenda has prompted heavily armed Sunni tribes to join the insurgency.
Personally, I believe Iraq needs to be divided - as it should have been at the end of World War I. It has always been an artificially created country and it is time to recognize the reality that maintaining Iraq as a unified country will likely never succeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment