What would Muslims non-extremists have to apologize for? I have never heard of any Christian sect apologize to the black community for the KKK, in which they dressed themselves in Christianity in order to broaden appeal within the masses. It doesn't make sense that Muslim non-extremists apologize for something they didn't do. That's like asking me as a Catholic to apologize for the Spanish Inquisition. I mean I know nobody expects them but....Or even to ask me to apologize for some Catholic priests molesting children. Doesn't make sense to me. Please I really would like to hear what you think, because maybe my brain doesn't work like yours and you see something I don't. And really to ATW you seem only to spout out the same thing without answering any questions that contradict your statement that most terrorist attacks are in the name of Islam. Really look at the Rwanda genocide and what is still happening today. Nobody cares about them because they have nothing of interest and that's the saddest part. This is probably one of the worst problems in the world that seems to be a shadow in the night.
I apologize to humanity and especially the Muslim world for the tragic comments of my misguided, at-least-nominally-Christian brother, OddsOn. Just trying to lead by example.
I consider this the end of this topic and discussion. No need for more dogpiling; OP's learned his lesson.
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Unfortunately, when you pick the news you like and ignore the rest of the story, you come across as someone with a clear vested interest in making a certain group of people look bad. The fact that you jumped on this story and I am guessing you ignored the previous act which seems to have spurred these revenge murders, say that you favor the Nigerian Christians over the Nigerian Muslims and absolve the Christians of any wrongdoing. Just a little fairness in the coverage, it is not too much to ask. Post the story of when those Christian villagers attacked and murdered a bunch of Muslims a couple of months back. Nigeria has had warring tribes for decades, and NEITHER side is innocent. They have been equally despicable.
And most illegal wars of aggression that end up slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people are carried out by the humane Christian West. Your point?
SJC, Not to distract from the topic at hand, but those 'random stats' you referenced are, in fact, tallied and provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), not some pro-Muslim organization. Just an FYI...
Wow, self-ownage at its finest courtesy of AroundTheWorld! That's what happens when people allow negative emotions such as prejudice and xenophobia/Islamophobia to get the best of them.
I gotta disagree with the statement that these clashes have very little to do with religion. Religion automatically creeps in when the North and South go at it because as we know the North is predominantly Muslim while those in the South are Christian and yes there's also ethnic beliefs coming into play but watch as time goes by, the country will continue to be a ticking clock until it gets to be too much and it becomes an all out Religious and ethnic war. Those in the North will be fighting as much for ethnic supremacy as for religious supremacy. Seriously the country should have just been divided in half by the British -North and South.
Hmm...so all these people here said that the attacks in Nigeria have nothing to do with religion...were they right? http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-new...lamist-attacks-in-nigeria-20111106-1n1ks.html 150 die in Islamist attacks in Nigeria At least 150 people died in a "heinous" wave of gun and bomb attacks in northern Nigeria carried out by the Islamist Boko Haram sect. President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the assaults which officials said included at least five suicide bomb blasts and "directed security agencies to ensure the arrest of perpetrators of these heinous acts," said a statement from his spokesman Reuben Abati. As corpses piled up in the morgue, a rescue agency official, told AFP the body count stood at 150. Advertisement: Story continues below "I was involved in the evacuation of corpses to the morgue. I personally counted 150 bodies," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at the hospital. He said some families had already collected their loved ones for burial, reducing the number to 97 by end of the day. An AFP reporter counted 97 corpses still in the mortuary. The Red Cross earlier said the death toll stood at 63, while police spoke of 53, of whom 11 were members of its force. A member of Nigeria's Islamist Boko Haram sect on Saturday claimed responsibility. "We are responsible for the attack in (northeastern) Borno (state) and Damaturu," Abul Qaqa told an AFP correspondent by phone. "We will continue attacking federal government formations until security forces stop persecuting our members and vulnerable civilians," Qaqa warned. The Friday bomb and gun attacks, targeted police stations, an army base and churches in the cities of Damaturu, Maiduguri and two other small towns. The military deployed to curb the violence in Maiduguri said there were four suicide bomb attacks in parts of the city, including an army base and on the outskirts of Maiduguri. The attackers bombed their targets then took on the security forces in gun battles in Damaturu. "It was a suicide bomb attack at one of our buildings. The attacker came in a Honda CRV and rammed into the building and explosives exploded," Lawal told AFP. An AFP reporter said no office was still standing at the police HQ which was still smouldering some 24 hours after the attack. Three burnt cars lay in front of the building. A journalist described scenes of chaos and destruction in Damaturu. "In fact, Damaturu is looking just like Libya... burnt cars and buildings." In a mainly Christian neighbourhood of Damaturu called Jerusalem, six churches were bombed in addition to a police station. "A police station and a mechanical workshop of the police were attacked. Six churches in the area were also bombed," said resident Edwin Silas, adding: "The whole city is traumatised." The string of attacks came two days ahead of the annual Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice. Police have been placed on red alert nationwide. Militants from Boko Haram, whose name means "Western Education Is Sin" in the regional Hausa language, have in the past targeted police and military, community and religious leaders, as well as politicians. The sect, which wants to see the establishment of an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, staged an uprising which was brutally put down by security forces in 2009. Nigeria's more than 160 million people are divided almost in half between Muslims and Christians, living roughly in the north and south of the country respectively. Regions where they overlap are prey to frequent tensions.
So they say the reason itself even has nothing to do with religion, they didn't even use religious voice in this article. They feel govt is attacking them and so they are attacking back. Both sides are wrong but what does that have to do with you trying to peg the religion on it?
Its not really ATW fault, he's just quoting the headlines of titles found on a number of mainstream news outlets ie. bbc. I don' agree with his commentary on whats going on in Nigeria or anywhere else, but I don't think the thread title is misleading relative to the other sources I've found. He just changed the word Islamists to Muslims, which I find to be interchangeable anyway based on the way its used.
Religion has something to do with it but it doesn't actually explain violence in Nigeria. Nigeria is pretty much the model for poor colonial borders. Nigeria was always treated as two (technically three) regions by the British. The British spent much more time and money in the South (Christian half) of the country which explains the significant disparities in education and infrastructure. The two areas also had very little in common. Historically they never were combined into a single unit. Their were large linguistic, cultural, ethnic and religious differences across the two halves. Even the East and Western portions of the country have ethnic differences but certainly not as pronounced as the North/South divide. So there's a huge difference between the sides. But the structure of their government compounds this problem. They have a government modeled off of the US government which is a problem. The US style republic is supposed to encourage parties to be broad and all-encompassing. Compromise and coalitions form within the parties themselves, rather than within the structure of the legislature like parliamentary systems. The problem is that this doesn't work in a country that has basically created communal electorates. Muslims only vote for Muslim parties, Christians only vote for Christian parties. Far from having large tent parties, you have the typical regional parties that are associated with communal electorates. That theoretical antidote is to force parties to compromise within government via a parliamentary system (although it would probably just result in unstable government) but the status quo just promotes divided government. Additionally communal electorates mean that the country fragments in half. The Muslim north now has its own laws and the Christian south has its own. There is little national harmony today and that is only reinforced by a poorly structured system of government. Nigeria never had the types of organic national movements that South Africa and India had. There is no national party that transcended religion and ethnicity. Instead the British quickly evacuated Africa and left a country with little infrastructure and bureaucracy. They didn't inherit 200 years of government and a fully functional bureaucracy like India. (who's bureaucracy also was made up of people from all over the country) It was a battle for control of government from the start and with no history of integration, communalism was inevitable. Now the part where you are partially right about is that unlike many other religions the radical elements of Islam are very well funded thanks to oil money. But to suggest that violence in Nigeria are solely a product of religion is silly. This is a problem in many parts of Africa. In fact many post-colonial nations suffer from this. Communalism is the consequence of poorly drawn borders and poorly constructed governments.
The fact that you never post those Past incidents that occurred in regards to attacks against Muslims makes it seem as if you have a one sided agenda. I think that is the point everyone is trying to make here.
