Nigerian Massacre of Christians, Nobody Cares

[Skeptic]

By the religion of peace (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100308/wl_afp/nigeriaunrest), of course.

UN calls for "restraint": "please don't kill anybody else just this minute."

Of course, the local Archbishop is already claiming this has absolutely nothing to do with Islam, even as the murders shouted "Allahu Akbar" as they went about the killing:

However the archbishop of the capital Abuja, John Onaiyekan, told Vatican Radio that the violence was rooted not in religion but in social, economic and tribal differences. "It is a classic conflict between pastoralists and farmers, except that all the Fulani are Muslims and all the Berom are Christians," he said.


Yes. Except for that, it's a "classic conflict between pastoralists and farmers."

[lionking]

I certainly care, but I remain to be convinced that it has a religious base. Nigeria has always been a basket case.

[The Fallen Serpent]

By the religion of peace (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100308/wl_afp/nigeriaunrest), of course.
This massacre was an escalated retaliation for an earlier massacre in January in which Christians were killing Muslims. Again, it was largely over political and economic pressures rather than religious.

UN calls for "restraint": "please don't kill anybody else just this minute."Exactly, continuing the escalation of blood feud retaliations just leads to more murders. The UN is calling for both sides to stop the violence. The UN is not condemning the arrest and charges being brought against the Muslims that perpetrated the massacre, they are calling for prevention of yet another retaliatory strike.

Of course, the local Archbishop is already claiming this has absolutely nothing to do with Islam, even as the murders shouted "Allahu Akbar" as they went about the killing:

Yes. Except for that, it's a "classic conflict between pastoralists and farmers."
Yes, people find reasons to murder one another regardless of religion. The people are separate for a number of reasons including religion and language. The fights will happen along these lines. Also yes, people will bring their religion into play during conflicts even if the conflict is not based in religion. In the US people call upon Jesus for baseball games but we don't consider baseball to be a religious competition. In most any mass violent conflict a number of religious people are going to vocally call out to their divine overseers in the process of committing murder. I think Islam, especially radical fundamentalist Islam which has such a strong hold over many Muslims, is problematic and spreads more violence. I do not think simply stating "They are Muslims, that is why they are violent" is useful nor accurate.

[funk de fino]

Another facepalm OP.

[leftysergeant]

You could as easily say that the Eastern and Russian Orthodox churches were teaching a relgion of violence. Just look at the slaughter they wrought on Muslims and Catholics over the last few years. They actually employed rape as a military tactic in siezing and0 pacifying areas.

Pastoralist vs farmer is as good an explanation as any for the violence in Nigeria.

[Darat]

By the religion of peace (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100308/wl_afp/nigeriaunrest), of course.

...snip...

And this is something I personally very much care about, I lived in that region and I am still waiting to hear from some people I know there, friends are missing and I am fearing the worse.

Your attempt to use it simply as another one of your repeated bigoted attacks on Muslims absolutely sickens me; as in all these types of instances the religion of the people involved is only one part of a very complex problem.

[The Fallen Serpent]

And this is something I personally very much care about, I lived in that region and I am still waiting to hear from some people I know there, friends are missing and I am fearing the worse.Hopefully you receive positive news. My condolences if you do not. It is difficult to remain in the dark while waiting to discover if those you care about are injuried, dead or alright. I went through that in the '89 San Francisco earthquake and my grandpa was unable to be reached for nearly a day.

Your attempt to use it simply as another one of your repeated bigoted attacks on Muslims absolutely sickens me; as in all these types of instances the religion of the people involved is only one part of a very complex problem.This.

[Thunder]

By the religion of peace (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100308/wl_afp/nigeriaunrest), of course.

UN calls for "restraint": "please don't kill anybody else just this minute."


for the Love of God...will you EVER stop with the strawman arguments??

[dudalb]

I certainly care, but I remain to be convinced that it has a religious base. Nigeria has always been a basket case.

Agreed, Nigeria is like Yugoslavia: a country created by Foreign Bureaucrats who ignored the fact that several of the major ethnics groups in the country basically hate each others guts.

[leftysergeant]

Trying to turn what is an ethnic conflict into a religious conflict is unlikely to ever bring about peace or security. It merely gives the entire world a reason to take up one side or the other of the conflict and join a fight to the death.