At least 138 people are dead in Sri Lanka.

[Yooper]

Sri Lank has only about 10% Muslims, perhaps the terrorist kind.
We should think long and hard about that.

The defense will be that Sri Lankan Muslims are a put-upon, low-percentage minority. And many across the time zones will agree with this premise and support the group's choice.

As an aside, I am hard pressed to think of any religious persuasion that actively and on such a grand scale practices violence upon themselves and others as Islam. So talk as everyone might, there MUST be an underlying philosophical/theological "thought stream" that not only advocates violence, but also encourages it. From a theological perspective, it makes me question if there can be an Islam without the violence. Unless the argument is that these violent people are violent people first and Muslims forty-second (taking on the mantle of Islam only to give some sense of justification for their acts).

In the end, I think SamSpade has the dynamic correct here...

[The hosted Sri Lankan student] was very impressed by my parent's church which like many churches in the DC area was very raciallly [sic] and ethnically mixed. He was a bit overwhelmed that such an organization could really even exist let alone do well. One remark he made to my parents was his wish that people in his nation could be like their church.

Sri Lanka is generally regarded as a safe place to travel to.
My guess is that will change.

I think this "safe" period was a pleasant, but unfortunately all too brief, period....

--- End of line (MCP)

 

[Hijinx]

So talk as everyone might, there MUST be an underlying philosophical/theological "thought stream" that not only advocates violence, but also encourages it.


It's called the Koran.

 

[SamSpade]

In the end, I think SamSpade has the dynamic correct here...

Thanks - I noticed the spell checker didn't catch the extra "L" in "raciallly". What's the matter with the damned spell checker?

 

[TCROW]

Sri Lanka is currently Level 2 from the State Department. Info was updated yesterday, but not sure if the level was raised or current info was updated.

This is the same level as the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. The advice from State is to be aware of your surroundings, which people who travel internationally should do anyway.

I travel to many of these countries regularly and have never had any issues. No current plans to travel to Sri Lanka, but I doubt this would change any of my plans.

 

[Yooper]

So talk as everyone might, there MUST be an underlying philosophical/theological "thought stream" that not only advocates violence, but also encourages it.


It's called the Koran.

I'm not going to dispute that. But the same criticism could be made about the Old Testament (it would be a poor criticism. Nevertheless, it could be made). But you don't see Jews (or Christians, for that matter) on a global scale running around killing, revenging, etc. So, yes, there's "the problem of the Book," but I think there's more to it. As in, there are no brakes within the Quran to slow down/discourage/disapprove such behavior and that the cultural environments that are receptive to the Quran have an underlying, complementary current of violence.

In other words, culture and religion feeding off each other to perpetuate violence for - essentially - its own sake. That there are people who do not advocate violence but seem to hold to the central tenets of Islam leads me to believe it's the cultural/theological connection (a literal "dance of death") that must be central to all of this.

For whatever any of this is worth....

--- End of line (MCP)

 

[stgislander]

I hope it's not some branch of AQ. Before you know if, we'll be sending US troops to Sri Lanka

 

[Kyle]

It would be so helpful if that hemisphere of the globe were to glow red hot for a few minutes.

 

[Yooper]

It would be so helpful if that hemisphere of the globe were to glow red hot for a few minutes.

Not to dispute the sentiment, but....

I know there are/were a few in Gitmo (and elsewhere) who say/have said the same thing about a certain other part of the globe.

I guess the essential difference is this: one of the sides is expressing frustration, the other continues planning to actually do it.

--- End of line (MCP)

 

[Hijinx]

I'm not going to dispute that. But the same criticism could be made about the Old Testament (it would be a poor criticism. Nevertheless, it could be made). But you don't see Jews (or Christians, for that matter) on a global scale running around killing, revenging, etc. So, yes, there's "the problem of the Book," but I think there's more to it. As in, there are no brakes within the Quran to slow down/discourage/disapprove such behavior and that the cultural environments that are receptive to the Quran have an underlying, complementary current of violence.

In other words, culture and religion feeding off each other to perpetuate violence for - essentially - its own sake. That there are people who do not advocate violence but seem to hold to the central tenets of Islam leads me to believe it's the cultural/theological connection (a literal "dance of death") that must be central to all of this.

For whatever any of this is worth....

--- End of line (MCP)

We stopped using the old Testament 2000 years ago and went to peace and love your neighbor.
The Koran has been around almost 1400 years and it teaches slavery or death to infidels.
When a mother states that she hopes her son becomes a suicide bomber there is definitely a cultural problem.
When women are forced into slave scarves and Burka's beaten and stoned , have their clit removed and they still profess a faith in that cult?? Yes definitely a cultural problem

 

[Hijinx]

Not to dispute the sentiment, but....

I know there are/were a few in Gitmo (and elsewhere) who say/have said the same thing about a certain other part of the globe.

I guess the essential difference is this: one of the sides is expressing frustration, the other continues planning to actually do it.

--- End of line (MCP)

That's why they are in Gitmo. they say it and mean it. We have the sources to make the Middle east glow red , but we will never really do it.

 

[RoseRed]

That's why they are in Gitmo. they say it and mean it. We have the sources to make the Middle east glow red , but we will never really do it.

Weren't quite a few released on their "bestest behavior"?

 

[Monello]

Unless the argument is that these violent people are violent people first and Muslims forty-second (taking on the mantle of Islam only to give some sense of justification for their acts).

The sheer number of attacks and the gruesome nature of the attacks(beheadings, burned alive, stoned, blow up) lead me to believe that they are both violent people and muslims first.

On some level I can understand some goat herder with very little education being used as a pawn for some holy war. He's told from an early age that the holy book says to kill the infidel. What is a little harder to comprehend is the person that immigrated to London or St Paul. They live in the west for a few years. They experience freedoms beyond anything they could have imagined in their home nation. Then they leave to return and wage their holy war. You would think the western experience would be enough to make them have doubts about the evilness of the unbelievers.

 

[Monello]

Sri Lanka is currently Level 2 from the State Department. Info was updated yesterday, but not sure if the level was raised or current info was updated.

This is the same level as the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. The advice from State is to be aware of your surroundings, which people who travel internationally should do anyway.

I travel to many of these countries regularly and have never had any issues. No current plans to travel to Sri Lanka, but I doubt this would change any of my plans.

View attachment 136606

Do you travel for work or are these places vacations spots?

 

[Yooper]

We stopped using the old Testament 2000 years ago and went to peace and love your neighbor.
The Koran has been around almost 1400 years and it teaches slavery or death to infidels.
When a mother states that she hopes her son becomes a suicide bomber there is definitely a cultural problem.
When women are forced into slave scarves and Burka's beaten and stoned , have their clit removed and they still profess a faith in that cult?? Yes definitely a cultural problem

Granted, but let me add (from a side conversation I've been having with another member of the forum) that Jews (in some form or fashion) still abide by the OT. Yet you do not see marauding Jews running around all over the globe beheading folks with their scimitars or blowing them up in (suicide) attacks.

By the same token, you do see multitudes of Muslims who have made a peaceful adjustment to the modern world.

So something exists that is fueling this latching-on to the most violent parts of the Quran. My theory is that there is a significant cultural component that creates a toxic brew (gas vapor and fire, etc.). Too simple, imHo, to pin this entirely on the Quran.

--- End of line (MCP)

 

[Monello]

I hope it's not some branch of AQ. Before you know if, we'll be sending US troops to Sri Lanka

We can operate the drones from here. No need to put boots on the ground.

 

[TCROW]

Do you travel for work or are these places vacations spots?

Both. UK and Netherlands for work and pleasure. Others, for pleasure. All within the past 12 months.

 

[Hijinx]

Weren't quite a few released on their "bestest behavior"?

5 were released when Obama decided to trade terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl the traitor who got 4 men killed looking for him.

It's funny the Democrats had nothing to ay about that/

 

[RoseRed]

5 were released when Obama decided to trade terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl the traitor who got 4 men killed looking for him.

It's funny the Democrats had nothing to ay about that/

That's what I thought. :crickets:

 

[Chris0nllyn]

I'm floored by this. Even by those who claim to BE Christian.

You know, Truimp didn't say "Christians" either.



It's like some of you folks just look for things to be pissy about. It's political point scoring. Congrats. You get a point and we all lose.

 

[Gilligan]

It's like some of you folks just look for things to be pissy about.

LMAO...oh the irony...