It never fails that when a group, or in this case, an army, such as ISIS starts carrying on in ways that the majority of people would never dream, that apologists will come out and say "remember that this isn't a reflection of the true faith".
It is important to learn, if we wish to fight against this profane intrusion, that there is no true faith. Regardless of the religion, there is no central authority that can claim to know the absolute tenants of any religion.
500+ years ago the catholic church notoriously tortured, killed or ex-communicated numerous people that were seen as enemies of the faith. We may look at that now as barbarism but at the time it was completely believed, by the "central authority" of the church to be acceptable, and they had the power and authority to carry it out.
We can't say that a group within a religion is acting outside the true faith just because we don't like what their beliefs are or that the majority of people in that particular faith don't believe in the same things. We can't pick and choose what central tenants we believe constitute the true faith. In 20 years we could easily say that speaking out against homosexuality is wrong and not of the true faith, but how can we know this? 20 years ago it WAS acceptable to speak out against it by all monotheistic religions.
Religion will get away with what they can. It only drops the more brutal or socially unacceptable beliefs when humanity calls on them to be more humane. Let's not kid ourselves, the leaders and fighters in ISIS are strong believers of the islamic faith.
If we believe that an angel revealed God's word to an illiterate desert merchant, then it's impossible to claim what the true belief is. We can only claim to know based on what sounds reasonable to us. Unfortunately for those of us who believe in the rights of man, ISIS believes that cutting the heads off of unbelievers is reasonable and directed by their texts.
Boko Haram - have you heard of them?
This is a releatively young terrorist organization who operate under an islamic banner. The meaning of their name translates roughly into "Western Education is sinful". Once again their religious fanaticism affects those who are young and often, as of late, female.
The group is believed to have kidnapped some 200 teenage girls and sold them into slavery. I'm always amazed that organizations such as these will committ acts that would be considered despicable by 99% of living adults and justify these actions against a sin (education) that 99% of people would not view as sinful.
Fighting against theocracy is important and will continue to grow in importance in years to come. I have to shake my head at the fact that this group is against an education that the leaders themselves have probably never received and would know very little about. It is similar to catholic priests teaching the poor and ignorant about prohibitions on sex and birth control - when they themselves are virgins.
The preachments of Boko Haram; anti-education, sharia and islamic fundamentalism forced on the populus is an attack on freedeom and other innate rights that we possess. The government and army of Nigeria have the job to protect their citizens against attacks that will collide with their freedom. And the rest of us have the job to educate all that we can around the world about the dangers of theocracy. You need to remember in past ages how governments and churches worked against truth and wisdom when they felt they had god on their side and the right to dole out judgement against those who disagreed. Little has changed on the other side of the world- where women and children and even men are under the thumbs of those who apply their beliefs on others and feel justified by the almighty.
There is no need to extend any form of respect for their religious beliefs. As always, they should be free to believe whatever they want, unhindered in the privacy of their homes, so long as they leave us alone.
Although I feel strongly about the need for individual freedom - there is a time where it brings such suffering to others that it needs to be debated. The importance of religious freedom has been well documented and in most cases is an acceptable premise. However, religious fanaticism rarely affects those that promote it. So often the victims of such fanaticism end up being children and in many cases females of any age.
What has spurned me on to write this was the recent story of a Pennsylvania couple who had recently lost their SECOND child to a disease that in no way should have been a death sentence for the child. They belong to a christian sect that believes that the crucifixion of Christ, and the resultant flow of blood during that execution has broken the power of evil and that divine healing is the only acceptable form of recovery. As such, they are against all medical intervention in fighting diseases; the power of god will take them through it.
Their pastor, who I am sure is a real delightful gentleman, said that the death of the children was due to a spiritual lack in their lives. Once again, the deranged belief of adults results in suffering of those who have no choice but to take part. The truly despicable part is that the parents will hide behind the bible while the children sit and suffer - it's not the parents whom are diseased, it's the children, who look to their parents for help and comfort.
Get used to this. And not just in North America but around the world. There are islamic fundamentalists who are so sure of their doctrine and faith that they will murder school children to keep them from learning what they believe is "western education" (or stone women suspected of indecency). When you quickly look into it, it becomes apparent that they are simply against learning period. The acquiring of knowledge, and applying it to the betterment of your life has been a hostile point for religion whether it is to apply such learning to medicine, or in the case of radical islam, to pull oneself out of poverty.
The more you look outside the window, and LEARN about the world and what it has to offer, the quicker these religious beliefs are seen as a shallow attempt at redemption that most of us can clearly see. It once again becomes a sad incident, that in the case of children, many of them are indoctrinated or in other ways harmed before they are able to truly open their eyes and think for themselves.
