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Religious infighting? No. No. No. There is a low level muslim insurgency occurring Nigeria. No doubt spurred on by radical imams. A muslim militia, Boko Haram (translated - non islamic education is sin), recently launched attacks against Nigeria police stations across four providences that killed almost as nearly people.
KANO, Dec 29, 2009 (IPS) - Government has again clashed with a religious sect in the state of Bauchi. Just under six months ago, an Islamist sect called Boko Haram launched attacks on police stations across four northern states, and hundreds of lives were lost before the situation was brought under control.
Atiku Yusif Kafur, Bauchi State Police Commissioner, told a press conference that 35 members of an Islamic sect known as Yan Kala-Kato - including its leader Malam Badamasi - were killed on Monday by a joint army and police squad at Zango, about three kilometres from the state capital.
"We have made arrest of twenty people, eleven adults and nine youth and fourteen were injured. We carted away weapons from the group leader's house, including cutlasses and knives," he stated.
Boko haram does not have any relations with this massacre, they were just a group that fought with the government for a different reason.
This religious war was started between Muslim and Christian gangs who were threatening each other for unknown reasons, and eventually it spread around the villages and cities.
Actually, a lot of these disputes are economic at their core or old tribal feuds.
It's not that often that religion is actually the real reason for the strife, it's more of a motivational tool or group identifier.
While this may be true, it is the "logical pathway" religion induces onto groups of people that gives them the self-perceived justification to pursue violence, in my opinion.
Disputes over economic means, territories, etc., are largely motivating factors for disparagement, anger, and other feelings that generate hostility. But, as soon as a bunch of people think God wants them to retaliate there's pretty much nothing that can be said or done to quell the violence.
Uh oh, you realize those Nigerians are Blacks and not Arabs. Are you okay with stereotyping all Blacks as being Islamic terrorists now too?
You're comparing a racial designation to an ethnic one.
The term Black as an ethnic designation exists only in America. Nigerians are....Nigerians followed by their tribal or ethnic designation which is not Black. It's Igbo, Hausa-Fulani, etc etc.
A few years ago, a book was published titled, Say You're One of Them. It was a collection of short stories told through the eyes of children in Africa. It was incredibly well written - really well written. It left your mouth wide open.
One of the stories focused on Christian/Muslim conflict in Nigeria and beautifully detailed how such conflicts start and how they spiral out of control.
The book was wrenching and the stories really sprang to life. It didn't preach or promise answers. It was just honest. I highly recommend it.
While this may be true, it is the "logical pathway" religion induces onto groups of people that gives them the self-perceived justification to pursue violence, in my opinion.
Disputes over economic means, territories, etc., are largely motivating factors for disparagement, anger, and other feelings that generate hostility. But, as soon as a bunch of people think God wants them to retaliate there's pretty much nothing that can be said or done to quell the violence.
I don't know about that. Consider all the major wars of the past 100-200 years or so. In which ones did religion play a significant role and in which ones didn't it?
Even the Pak-India conflict is as much a nationalistic fight over territory than anything.
WW1, WW2, Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf War, Iran vs. Iraq, Napoleans conquests....
Video, Clinton: Nigeria Must Bring Muslim Killers of 500 Christians to Justice
AFP: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Monday on Nigeria to find and punish those responsible for the killings of more than 500 Christians in a wave of sectarian slaughter.
"We continue to urge all parties to exercise restraint," Clinton told reporters, adding the Nigerian government "should make sure the perpetrators are brought to justice."
in Nigeria. The murderers shouted "Allah Akhbar" as they did their deeds.
Appeals for calm after Nigerian sectarian slaughter - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100308/wl_afp/nigeriaunrest - broken link)
So what else is new?
Too bad there aren't any news stories about the Christians who actively cheer on the war because we're going after those "evil Muslims."
Too bad we just can't get rid of religion all together.
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