Monday, September 30, 2013

Terrorists and their Drive


It is one week after the Alshabaab claimed responsibility for killing innocent shoppers at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. Many analysts have tried to understand the mind of such individuals who would kill indiscriminately children, women, elderly, in total disregard for life and its sanctity. It appears that whenever such a thing happens we come together to mourn with those who have been left by their loved ones, cry with those who may have lost a limb, contribute in our small ways to help in settling medical bills or otherwise, then sooner than later go back to our daily lives until another terrible thing happens.
We can burn the last oil trying to understand why an individual would degenerate to such a level to kill or maim their fellow human beings just for a perverted religious idea.  While I stand to be corrected it is my submission that such individuals are not driven by any religious ideology or philosophy but just pure HATRED – HATRED PERIOD, whether self hate or just hatred for human life.
Among the many religions we identify with today, whether Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or many others, they all have sets of beliefs, narratives, traditions, symbols and or sacred histories that seek to give meaning to life, thus deriving authority on morality, ethics, lifestyles and their individual understanding of cosmos and the human nature.
If any religion were to propagate the ideologies proclaimed by these terrorists would like us to belief they present would be self defeatist, something that no religion would propagate and at the same time expect to recruit more members. After all this terrorist phenomenon of individuals blowing themselves have for centuries had its real name – suicide. While suicide is not a new thing, situations where someone for their own reasons wishes to die and goes ahead to kill other innocent people have no comparison and drive other than hate. For example, over the centuries Christianity has placed emphasis in belief by putting forth Creeds that define correct belief and identified heresies, while Judaism and Islam have sophisticated systems of law to guide behavior while at the same time allowing freedom of conviction and intellectual expressions, on the other hand, Hinduism and Buddhism place focus in practices of ritual and transformation. 
 For those who walked into the Westgate Mall ten days ago were of diverse backgrounds whether religious, political, social or otherwise to conduct businesses of varying degrees, this is how a civilized society ought to live. People with sick minds will always find a justification for their actions. While am not here to offer an apologetic for Islam I refuse to be convinced that these people were acting for Islam. But the fact that Islamic faith have been used time and again as a disguise for these terrorists acts calls for action from their leadership and a conversation among the Kenyan populace that goes beyond periodic rhetoric of this are foreigners trying to drive a wedge amongst us. These are people who recruit the young among us through perverted messages that go beyond any right thinking society that have respect for and value for human life.    
As a Christian there is no doubt in my mind that religious ideas are not simply misleading products of human mind. There is something real and true about my faith. It is hard for me to separate my individual live from the society I live in. some might argue that religion is the human activity which speaks about social reality while using words about gods. People might seem to believe in and speak about God but in essence talking about about their own society without necessarily realizing it. The belief in God cannot exist independently of humankind, but even for the atheist I can as well say, society existed before you were born and exists after you die, it has given you the ideas and language to think and speak with, it protects you and makes you feel worthy of life, as human beings we may project all these ideas onto a god-figure but the ideas themselves are true and necessary if society is to be held together as a moral community. Among many ideas include the belief that life is sacred and ought to be respected. Next time you feel like blowing yourself for sheer hatred of life please take a walk to the desert or just throw yourself in the ocean.


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