It’s hard to fathom the amount of hatred that certain individuals and groups have against people they don’t even know.
As the state of the world continues to become more frightening and unstable, dangers are encroaching even within places of worship, once thought to be sanctuary spaces. A church in Egypt has been bombed as people were observing Palm Sunday inside. So far, it’s been reported that 21 were killed and 38 injured. Sadly, this isn’t anything new for Egypt, a country that has seen terrorism rise against the minority religious group of Christians within its borders.
There was a similar bombing of a church in December in Egypt that ISIS took responsibility for. So far, they haven’t claimed this latest act of cowardice, but I’m sure it’s coming. These atrocious acts illustrate the dangerous movement of radical Islamic terrorism and how terrorists view minority religions in the Middle East and other predominately Muslim areas. Most of those who practice Islam will argue that the religion is one of peace and love. They may even denounce terrorist acts and participate in peaceful demonstrations to show solidarity against acts of violence and discrimination. At the end of the day though, many of those Muslims reside safely in Western countries and are surrounded by civilized communities who are not accustomed to committing murder in houses of worship.
It’s hard to fathom the amount of hatred that certain individuals and groups have against people they don’t even know. To delve into the thought process of psychopaths who murder in the name of religion can be mind boggling. We live in a world full of diversity and individualism. Many human beings cannot comprehend the inner workings of radical Islamic terrorists who justify hurting other humans and taking lives in the name of a god. That’s what makes terrorists who wage jihad so dangerous. They have somehow convinced not only others but themselves that there is an entity who has promised them riches beyond imagination. All they have to do in order to obtain that is to violently kill anyone they deem to be an enemy of Islam.
The most scary thing about terrorism is that it comes in many different forms and catches people off guard. Recently, the world has seen that it even adopts new methods of lethal action. With attacks being carried out by truck drivers simply plowing into pedestrians, radical Islamic terrorists have shown time and time again that there is no boundary or limit to their barbarism. They will murder in cold blood without thinking twice and have zero respect for human life. To me, that sounds the complete opposite of a god.
The latest attack comes just a month before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt – and the site of the church bombing in December. Hopefully they prioritize security for his visit because it is highly likely the Pope will be a target for extremists in the region. In any case–no matter how controversial–the world has no right to be outraged with the United States taking every precaution to prevent these incidents from migrating to America.
Angelina Newsom is an OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. She has ten years experience in the military, including a deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She studies Criminal Justice and is still active within the military community.
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