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Nun shot four times in the back by peaceful…

September 19, 2006

An Italian nun was killed by gunmen at a children’s hospital in Somalia yesterday in an apparent revenge attack for the Pope’s speech about Islam last week. 

Sister Leonella Sgorbati, 65, left, was shot four times in the back by two men at the entrance to the hospital in the capital, Mogadishu. Her bodyguard was also killed…
- TimesOnline: Nun shot dead as Pope fails to calm militant Muslims

An extreme, but not isolated incident despite the Vatican’s hopes.  A great deal about this has been written by others more astute; it appears that not everyone is in agreement over the corrosive effects of violence upon dialog.

Want to convince the world that your religion has a place at the table in Humanity’s future?  Here’s a hint: the world is getting too small for violent response to verbal insult.  Be among the first to just shrug it off… or just draw some rude cartoons about it.  It beats burning churches or shooting a pious 65-year-old woman in the back, anytime.

Categories: Religion
  1. September 19, 2006 at 16:33 | #1

    And, no doubt, plenty of people will still find a way to blame it on the Pope.

    I don’t care if Benedict got up there and said*, “You suck, and your Prophet sucks, and, oh, yeah, he ate McDonalds Bacon Cheeseburgers, too!”  Violent response to peoples’ words is what we usually expect to see from juveniles, not mature adults.

    Rrg.

    * The fact that Benedict’s speech was far less provocative than that just makes it all the worse.

  2. September 19, 2006 at 23:36 | #2

    True but why do religions need to fight in the first place over legitimacy.  I see that as also being juvenile.  I remember when I was a kid my friends and I would argue over who had the best whatever.  Oh oh yea!!  Well my bike has pegs and can carry multiple people.  Oh oh yea!!!  Well my bike has 7 speeds.  Oh oh yea!!!!  …

    It’s stupid.  Who gives a sh*t?  You all have cool bikes move on.  Should muslims get upset when someone talks sh*t about their God or religion?  Hell no!  But why the hell talk sh*t in the first place.  And you can tell me it was to prove a point or whatever, but it didn’t take long for the pope to apologize.  Spelling out to me that he didn’t use his brain before he spoke.

    I tell ya what though.  To solve 60% of the world’s problems, how about we abolish all belief systems.  Some say just religion, but I think it is the belief structure that creates radical fundamentalism.  If people instead think there is a God, there would be less fundamentalism.  Because a thought is easier to let go of then a belief.

  3. September 20, 2006 at 08:33 | #3

    Muslims don’t want to quit the war, it seems they like it. They think they protect their Mohamed as well, as they protect them, but this is murdering, not faith. Killing in the name of Mohamed does not change the concept of killing. Why non of the Muslims ask himself what is he doing?

  4. September 20, 2006 at 09:42 | #4

    Why non of the Muslims ask himself what is he doing?

    Some do.  There are a few, not enough, who actively oppose jihad.  I wish them luck.

    Then there’s the violent moron contingent: Al-Qa’ida threatens jihad over Pope’s remarks.  They’ll kill you for saying that they are violent.

  5. September 20, 2006 at 19:53 | #5

    But why the hell talk sh*t in the first place.  And you can tell me it was to prove a point or whatever, but it didn’t take long for the pope to apologize.  Spelling out to me that he didn’t use his brain before he spoke.

    I suspect that Benedict really didn’t consider that an academic footnote in a speech at a German university would cause the reaction it did.  It wasn’t the centerpiece of his address, and if, in retrospect, it was an error, I think it was a fairly honest one.

    I tell ya what though.  To solve 60% of the world’s problems, how about we abolish all belief systems.  Some say just religion, but I think it is the belief structure that creates radical fundamentalism.  If people instead think there is a God, there would be less fundamentalism.  Because a thought is easier to let go of then a belief.

    I suspect, sadly, that ideology is an intrinsic part of the human psyche.  Remove religion, and something else (“All hail the Power of the Proletariet!” “My country, right or wrong!”) will fill in the gap.

  6. September 20, 2006 at 20:26 | #6

    I suspect, sadly, that ideology is an intrinsic part of the human psyche.  Remove religion, and something else (“All hail the Power of the Proletariet!” “My country, right or wrong!”) will fill in the gap.

    Agreed, and yes I didn’t read heavily into the Pope’s speech before commenting, and I apologize for that.  But I still feel as though it seems that many religions bicker over legitimacy and this cause way more problems then should have been caused in the first place.

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