Perhaps it's the fact I live a sheltered life that's rooted in the golden rule and a laid-back approach to things; where my biggest concerns are grades and not spending too much on my mom's credit card. Yet I still don't get the point of suicide bombing in the name of God.
What makes sense about any sort of killing in the name of religion in both the past and present in all religions?
Do I not comprehend it because:
- I, like many twenty-first century college-age kids in America, don't experience religious zeal like people in Iraq, Pakistan, or other countries do?
- Because we don't dedicate our lives, or existences, to something so powerful and meaningful and therefore wouldn't have anything to die for?
- Perhaps the only person we'd take a bullet for is Brad Pitt, and only if we could make out with him?
And when it starts repeatedly happening, like it has been in Iraq for the past several days, I begin to wonder if it's your belief's you're dying for or the deterrence of someone else's.
In America, when one thinks of "terrorist" or "suicide bomber," Muslims or Arabs almost automatically come to mind. Minority groups are everywhere and don't make up the whole of a religion or party.
Whether it's Sunni's or Shi'ias or Buddhists or Catholics--violent religious struggle happens and has happened everywhere, even centuries ago in the Roman Empire. We all know the Medieval crusades were lame, and the Holocaust was one of the worst acts against mankind.
Yet it's still happening, and there's still no excuse for putting innocent peoples' lives at risk when any kind of person acts on their beliefs. If a mother of three in Kuwait or Sri Lanka did not personally attack you, what gives with blowing up the shopping center where she and 100 others are grocery shopping?
Maybe I shouldn't have a say in a problem that has been a struggle for centuries. Yet I'm probably not the only one who wonders if it will it ever end in our lifetime.
photo credit: Loay Hameed/Associated Press
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