Motive for Massacre: It's not about "the West." It's about religious beliefs

Opinion Journal ^ | 09/27/2002 | PAUL MARSHALL

[Pokey78]

On Wednesday, gunmen entered a Christian charity in Karachi, Pakistan, separated Christian from Muslim workers and methodically shot seven Christians in the head. Although this massacre is the sixth in a series of attacks aimed at Christian targets in Pakistan, much of the media has played down religion's role in favor of a secular storyline.

[swarthyguy]

"we face a politicized religious fanaticism."

Excellent piece.

[struwwelpeter]

More than just food for thought. I hope others are starting to get the message.

It's beginning to look a lot like Armageddon.

[weikel]

Step 1 on winning the war on terror is putting every Islamic cleric everywhere in the world to the sword. Any Arab government which refuses to hand theirs over gets invaded and the rulers share the same fates as the clerics.

[swarthyguy]

Personally, seeing how they like beheading, we might wish to invite the French and make it a multicultural shindig.....

[weikel]

Just make sure the blade has pigfat on it and make sure the Muslim masses KNOW it has pigfat on it. I prefer more painful methods to deter the Islamic methods I suggest that they should be boiled alive in lard.

[swarthyguy]

HogCall!

[AncientAirs]

It is about the west. The powers behind the local murderers use religion as their tool.

It's about the west, oil, & power

[swarthyguy]

It's about murdering Islam and the islamists thirst for blood. Oil, Israel etc are just excuses and red herrings.

[CARepubGal]

Female executioners? Or sissy boys would be equally insulting! Give the hogs a feast! (Ok I am being mean to the hogs). Perfect for Saudis and Saddam!

[swarthyguy]

Spiked heeled Amazons...oh yea...

[A_perfect_lady]

Personally, seeing how they like beheading, we might wish to invite the French and make it a multicultural shindig.....

Yes, let the French make themselves useful for once. (anti France rant off). Ah, but this is REALLY against "Western businesses." Hm. What Western businesses... who do they think really runs "the West"... oh that's right, the Jews.

If we'd just quit supporting Israel, the Arabs would slaughter the Jews and then there would be peace in the Middle East!

See, it's all the Jews fault! In three easy steps!

Now excuse me while I fix another drink and watch the world go to crap.

[swarthyguy]

OK enough suppression....Here goes....

They say the head retains consciousness for a few seconds after decapitation. Take the head, hold it up and throw it below into a pit of hogs grunting and oinking.....Make sure they know the head will never be rejoined with body. Let them dwell on the sounds of Porkers while they await their turn.

Razorbacks or Fat Farm ones is OK.

As the clerics await their turn at execution, after the first one, they will be serenaded by the rutting of hogs as they chase the head of the first cleric.

[CARepubGal]

Sounds more and more right somehow every time. Nice visual imagery. As long as the pigs don't fall ill from their jehadi feast :-)

[Travis McGee]

Meanwhile, we can't even dare to face or name our enemy as we engage in the "War on Generic Terror".

[Travis McGee]

Where is the oil, the "West" or "the Jews" in the Philippines? Algeria? Kosovo? etc etc.

Radical Islam is an insane murder cult, "moderate" Islam is its Trojan Horse.

[Travis McGee]

An hour after a nuke goes off in America, Mecca and Medina become smoking radioactive craters.

One year later, there is no more Islam, as the evil wind falls from its black sails when a billion Islemmings see that their all powerful black moon-god ka'aba rock was just the devil's trickser.

[copycat]

While al-Qaeda makes its religious views explicit, religious terms in the West are avoided or hedged. Policy makers, diplomats, journalists and scholars, writes the defense expert Edward Luttwak, are ready to "dissect social differentiations" and "minutely categorize political affiliations," but they regularly disregard "the role of religion, religious institutions, and religious motivations in explaining politics."

See what I mean?

[Cleburne]

For some it certainly is. But the average Muslim jihadist does not entertain dreams of domination or running an oil-producing region. He is devoted to his idea of Islam, and that involves the destruction of the infidel. Certainly it has conotations with the West" Christians are viewed as being connected with the West, and thus even more outside the predominate culture. But besides that, the West and oil have little to do with it- for the average Muslim perpetrating these acts, just as Muslims- and slews of other people- have done for century after century. Now, the men who edge them on and lead them, they often have their eyes set on oil and power, and again this has been the case for century after century. In this century, for example, Islamic fervor has been used as a means to perpetrate esentially secular tasks: the Young Turks incited massacres of Christian Armenians by way of jihad- but their motives were secular nationalistic. Suddam is quite secular, and hardly a devout Muslim, but he uses Islam and its fervor when it is opportune.

Motives are complex things, and one can never really be certain of what a person's motives are in truth. But I can say that it is unwise to generalize them, in any conflict or debate.

[dwills]

that's because religious views are not as determinative of affliation with the west as are philosophical principles

we have room for freedom lovers and humanitarians of all faiths