What is going on in the Muslim World?

In December 2014, Talban terrorists murdered over 100 school children in Pakistan. It is an act that is inconceivable by almost every person in the world. Here is a quote from NBC News given by a 'spokesman' for the Taliban:

"Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani told Reuters his group was responsible for the attack. 'Our suicide bombers have entered the school, they have instructions not to harm the children, but to target the army personnel,' he said".

So they go into a school, not to harm children, but to target army personnel.  What can be said about this ridiculous statement?

Ahmed Rashid, an expert on the Islamic militants, told the BBC the insurgents had various reasons to attack the school, one of which was to send a message to the supporters of Malala Yousafzi, awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, who advocates education for women and children.

Apparently, the Taliban consider murdering children a rational response to a woman who wants education for women and children in Muslim countries.

This is just one attack out of hundreds that have resulted in the murder of thousands upon thousands of innocent people, mostly Muslims, by those who think they are doing God's will. We've heard about so many of these that they have become commonplace.

Clearly, this is a relatively new development. Beirut, Lebanon used to be the most common vacation destination in the Middle East. Who would vacation there now? My grandparents were born in Syria and Lebanon, so my parents went to Syria in 1971 and had a wonderful time. Times have certainly changed.

Obviously, most Muslims are peaceful. But far too many are not. And the peaceful Muslims have allowed terrorism to occur in their countries. In the United States, if there is a terrorist attack, we immediately go after the perpetrators, and we don't allow terrorist cells to form.

What is there to say about those who murder in the name of Islam?  And why have so many terrorist attacks been done in the name of Islam?

My belief is that due to the lack of a good education, and to the many corrupt and harsh governments, many Muslims are angry and frustrated. And many of those are weak-minded in the sense that they blindingly believe those who think that murdering innocents will award them an esteemed place in Heaven. Why else would a suicide bomber kill himself in a school?

The only reason I can think of to explain this, is that the forces of Evil have taken advantage of the hate, fear and anger of many Muslims. This is main way that the forces of Evil influence any of us. And this is one reason that Christ taught us to love others, even our enemies.

The way out of this is for the peaceful Muslims to decide that they will no longer put up with terrorism. Governments would have to be fairly non-corrupt, so that people could report terrorist cells, and report about individuals who advocate terrorism.

This will be a long and difficult task, but I see no other way out of these impossible-to-conceive-of inhuman acts.

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Tim Farage is a Senior Lecturer and Graduate Advisor in the Computer Science Department at The University of Texas at Dallas.  The views expressed herein are those of the author. You are welcome to comment upon this blog entry and/or to contact him at tfarage@hotmail.com.
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