Is anyone concerned about what's happening in Iraq now?

[LaraOnline]

I've been shocked and dismayed by the news from the north of Iraq... one of the oldest communities of Christians forced out from their homes under fear of death. They were relieved of all personal possessions, down to the gold earrings from their ears, and wedding rings from fingers, at ISIS checkpoints as they fled.
Now the UN has confirmed that ISIS is trying to forcibly 'circumcise' (mutilate) all females living in the city of Mosul!
How can people invoke any God whilst enforcing a genuine hell on earth?
Scary and horrible!!!

 

[movie zombie]

I've been shocked and dismayed by the news from the north of Iraq... one of the oldest communities of Christians forced out from their homes under fear of death. They were relieved of all personal possessions, down to the gold earrings from their ears, and wedding rings from fingers, at ISIS checkpoints as they fled.
Now the UN has confirmed that ISIS is trying to forcibly 'circumcise' (mutilate) all females living in the city of Mosul!
How can people invoke any God whilst enforcing a genuine hell on earth?
Scary and horrible!!!

question for the ages......and no religion is immune.....one wonders how Christian Spain could have implemented the Inquisition and continued down that literally and figuratively tortuous road for 300 years. and then, of course, we have the protestant Christians killing each other off in northern Europe. not to mention some Buddhists in the not too distant past.......certainly not the same as forced female circumcision but certainly not very evocative of what I think of as "God" like actions either but they pretty much all have invoked God.

as in all things, it isn't the religion per se as much as it is the people who implement said religion.

sigh.

 

[LaraOnline]

Well the Spanish Inquisition was a very long time ago, almost another universe in terms of scientific understanding. we could talk about the puritans killing witches as well couldn't we. as a global community has discovered the world is round since then. We have discovered deep space. Yet today My national newspaper is showing a photograph of a seven year old son of a ISIS militant in Iraq, lifting the decapitated head of a dead enemy combatant. What a disgrace! What an invokation of a modern 'god' in these modern times! Every te I see a killer pointing the heavens I want to puke!

Well I get the impression no one wants to discuss. Fine but the images of this filthy uprising have shocked and dismayed me.
Factor in that perhaps thousands of these bloodthirsty people have flown in from democratic states such as Europe and the US, Australia etc the mind just boggles. One hotshot was collecting an Australian disability pension months after he left to join the fighting!

And still Islam lobby groups here in Australia at least seem to have no real connection or words of sympathy for the displaced. There are thousands of people starving and dying on a mountain and the head priests of this religion in Australia can only speak of discrimination against Muslims living in Australia. No word of kindness or support for those vanquished and destroyed. Children are being be headed, young people actually crucified, yet the local priests can only think of themselves and their social standing, insulted as they are by the goveremt's desire to improve security regarding Islamic activism.

I feel so sad. Like a part of my soul has been momentarily crippled by the horror

 

[movie zombie]

unfortunately, humans haven't evolved much over time.......and, yes, it is concerning.
but i'm now at a stage in life where I see history repeating itself within my own lifetime.

and while I did not support the US invasion of Iraq in the first place, I do support giving the Kurds the weaponry to fight and the airstrikes we have started to assist them. anyone remember the posited "we're going to make life better for Iraqi women" used also to justify our invasion? yeah, right. things are worse now than they ever were and this particular group will really take women back further. so, yes, again, it is concerning.

the glamour of being a fighter in other people's wars has a long history. many americans went to fight in the Spanish civil war [ernest Hemmingway being one of the more famous]. women and men. and while one might think religion wasn't part of that war, in fact, it was as the church aligned itself with the Nationalists. the Republican constitution certainly striped power and privilege from the church........

again, we haven't evolved much over time........which is indeed a sad thing.

 

[GliderPoss]

...And still Islam lobby groups here in Australia at least seem to have no real connection or words of sympathy for the displaced. There are thousands of people starving and dying on a mountain and the head priests of this religion in Australia can only speak of discrimination against Muslims living in Australia. No word of kindness or support for those vanquished and destroyed. Children are being be headed, young people actually crucified, yet the local priests can only think of themselves and their social standing, insulted as they are by the government's desire to improve security regarding Islamic activism.

I feel so sad. Like a part of my soul has been momentarily crippled by the horror

I couldn't agree more. It's difficult to feel any sympathy when so little is being shown here the other way!

This post is doing the rounds on FB at the moment http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/fox-news-analyst-kill-every-last-isis-terrorist-and-their-pet-goat and http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ralph-Peters-ISIS-Iraq-death-cult/2014/08/13/id/588526/ every soldier I've spoken to agrees completely. This violence must be ended and tip toeing around it will not help. Confess I'm nervous about a new round of potential deployments through...

 

[SB621]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but this just really BURNED me today. Walking around a fairly major European city today to attend a Xmas/ Winter market and someone was waving around the ISIS flag. Many people were cheering. I just wanted to ask the locals if they had any idea what that flag was!!! Did they not know what ISIS was doing in Iraq currently? Unknown number of people murdered, over a million people displaced, thousands of women sold into human trafficking or sold as brides and they were clapping!!!

 

[ksinger]

unfortunately, humans haven't evolved much over time.......and, yes, it is concerning.
but i'm now at a stage in life where I see history repeating itself within my own lifetime.

and while I did not support the US invasion of Iraq in the first place, I do support giving the Kurds the weaponry to fight and the airstrikes we have started to assist them. anyone remember the posited "we're going to make life better for Iraqi women" used also to justify our invasion? yeah, right. things are worse now than they ever were and this particular group will really take women back further. so, yes, again, it is concerning.

the glamour of being a fighter in other people's wars has a long history. many americans went to fight in the Spanish civil war [ernest Hemmingway being one of the more famous]. women and men. and while one might think religion wasn't part of that war, in fact, it was as the church aligned itself with the Nationalists. the Republican constitution certainly striped power and privilege from the church........

again, we haven't evolved much over time........which is indeed a sad thing.

Same here. I'm too old and tired to muster real outrage. (Resignation perhaps: my outrage changes nothing and makes ME ill, and I don't have the energy to be ill by choice anymore) That and I live with a historian, which gives one an even more of a "history repeating" viewpoint: I have HIM telling me exactly what and when we are repeating, on any given outrage/event. The difference betweent the two of us, is that I think the US has passed a point of no return of sorts, due to the technologies now in play and he thinks it will cycle back.

And yes to the understanding that religion simply cannot be teased out of war, or given a pass by those who wish to keep it pristine and uncomplicated in their own minds. It is an integral part of war. Always has been and still is.

 

[AGBF]

I absolutely do not have the energy to do a dissection of religion today, although it is one of my favorite topics, historically. I just want to go at the issue this way:

If George W. Bush has not decided to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein to show up his father, Iraq would not, now, be in little splinters and there would be no ISIS. Saddam kept Iraq together, just as Tito kept Yugoslavia together. Do I think he was another Albert Schweitzer? Not exactly. I just wanted to make the point the without George W. there would be no ISIS. I would really, really, really like the Republican Party to get stuck with the responsibility for that in everyone's eyes.

Deb/AGBF

 

[movie zombie]

I absolutely do not have the energy to do a dissection of religion today, although it is one of my favorite topics, historically. I just want to go at the issue this way:

If George W. Bush has not decided to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein to show up his father, Iraq would not, now, be in little splinters and there would be no ISIS. Saddam kept Iraq together, just as Tito kept Yugoslavia together. Do I think he was another Albert Schweitzer? Not exactly. I just wanted to make the point the without George W. there would be no ISIS. I would really, really, really like the Republican Party to get stuck with the responsibility for that in everyone's eyes.

Deb/AGBF

amen.

 

[ksinger]

And in keeping with the whole depressing tenor of this thread, I submit the following quote by Chris Hedges.

"Dreams of a universal good create hells of persecution, suffering and slaughter…the Earth has swallowed millions of helpless victims in the vain pursuit of a new heaven and a new Earth. Ironically, it is idealism that leads radical fundamentalists to strip human beings of their dignity and their sanctity and turn them into abstractions."

Pretty much covers it.

 

[Dancing Fire]

I absolutely do not have the energy to do a dissection of religion today, although it is one of my favorite topics, historically. I just want to go at the issue this way:

If George W. Bush has not decided to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein to show up his father, Iraq would not, now, be in little splinters and there would be no ISIS. Saddam kept Iraq together, just as Tito kept Yugoslavia together. Do I think he was another Albert Schweitzer? Not exactly. I just wanted to make the point the without George W. there would be no ISIS. I would really, really, really like the Republican Party to get stuck with the responsibility for that in everyone's eyes.

Deb/AGBF

Deb
I'd agree with you... I must be sick today

 

[movie zombie]

I absolutely do not have the energy to do a dissection of religion today, although it is one of my favorite topics, historically. I just want to go at the issue this way:

If George W. Bush has not decided to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein to show up his father, Iraq would not, now, be in little splinters and there would be no ISIS. Saddam kept Iraq together, just as Tito kept Yugoslavia together. Do I think he was another Albert Schweitzer? Not exactly. I just wanted to make the point the without George W. there would be no ISIS. I would really, really, really like the Republican Party to get stuck with the responsibility for that in everyone's eyes.

Deb/AGBF

Deb
I'd agree with you... I must be sick today

DF, the world must be coming to an end!

 

[Dancing Fire]

I absolutely do not have the energy to do a dissection of religion today, although it is one of my favorite topics, historically. I just want to go at the issue this way:

If George W. Bush has not decided to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein to show up his father, Iraq would not, now, be in little splinters and there would be no ISIS. Saddam kept Iraq together, just as Tito kept Yugoslavia together. Do I think he was another Albert Schweitzer? Not exactly. I just wanted to make the point the without George W. there would be no ISIS. I would really, really, really like the Republican Party to get stuck with the responsibility for that in everyone's eyes.

Deb/AGBF

Deb
I'd agree with you... I must be sick today

DF, the world must be coming to an end!

Yup, Very soon!...