Don't Insult Faith? Protesters Burn 7 Churches in 4 Days.

[Rhinodawg]

The number of churches burned down in Niger as part of violent protests over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has risen to at least seven. On Friday, four people were killed in Zinder, the country's second largest city. The clashes, which took place the day after Zinder's 'black Friday', began late Saturday morning, when some thousand young people met by the city's mosque, despite a government ban. The crowd chanted slogans against France and Charlie Hebdo. The building was surrounded by dozens of policemen wearing anti-riot gear including helmets and shields. They tried to break up the crowd using tear gas. Several protesters threw rocks at security forces. They set fire to two police vehicles and the burning tires were thrown at a police station.


The violence then spread to other parts of the city, including a neighbourhood near the Catholic church. Several agencies belonging to French horse racing betting company Pari Mutuel Urbain and French mobile phone company Orange were pillaged, and metal sheets from the damaged kiosks were used to build barricades. Niamey's French embassy urged citizens to stay home, while United Nations staff were advised to steer clear of any gatherings.

http://www.agi.it/en/world/news/another_niger_church_burned_down_over_charlie_hebdo-201501172100-cro-inw0002

[cyberswede]

1. Does it seem that

people in Niger burning churches over a magazine published in France might just be grabbing any excuse to destroy those churches? Churches didn't publish the cartoons.

[icymist]

2. Yeah, I kind of get the feeling that they wanted to burn down the churches anyway.

France and Charlie Hedbo was an excuse to do so.

[Rhinodawg]

3. True.

If you ask for respect, you have to give respect.

These people sure didn't respect these churches.

[ChosenUnWisely]

4. AHHHHHHHHHH! Christians are being Persecuted! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Now Christians have a new excuse to go and kill Muslims.

Great...............

[TorchTheWitch]

5. what's the faith to do with what they did?

They used their faith as an excuse to do horrible things. How does that make the faith - the religion - the problem? Is it so difficult to distinguish the difference between the terrible things people say or do in the name of their faith/religion and the faith/religion itself where the vast majority of believers including the faith's/religion's leaders condemn such behavior and would never engage in such behavior themselves?

That kind of thinking is no different than blaming the entire concept of Black Lives Matter as the problem when a few of the people associated with them take it upon themselves to throw bricks through windows or otherwise behave badly. Any normal thinking person would blame those few that behaved badly and that they did so for their own reasons having nothing to do with the concept of Black Lives Matter and that anyone stupid enough to blame the entire concept as the problem is just an intolerant bigot with their own sicko agenda.

And here you are attempting to blame the faith/religion as the problem for what some sick assholes did that the vast majority of that faith/religion condemn and would never do themselves rather than placing the blame where it belongs - on those that USED the faith/religion as an excuse to do something terrible.

[Rhinodawg]

6. You missed the point....

It does matter why WE think they did these things....

It matters why THEY think they did these things.


And THEY clearly think some cartoons from a satirical magazine justifies, in the name of their religion, to attack people who have nothing to do with any of this because they are "offended".

[TorchTheWitch]

7. But that's not what your OP said

Or did you somehow miss that you tried to blame the faith/religion for what they did rather than blame THEM for USING their faith as an EXCUSE for what they did.

Here's your own title to your post...

"Don't Insult Faith? Protesters Burn 7 Churches in 4 Days."

What about that even marginally is about blaming THEM for what they did and not the faith itself? You aren't fooling anyone.

Before these attacks in France people here used to be able to recognize the difference between religion and the perverted views of extremist followers as well as the difference between a religion and its formal organization if it even has one. Not anymore. You and plenty of others have USED the attacks as an excuse to blame religion and all of the followers of any and all religions for the horrible things that the extremists believe and/or have done. And that's no different than the perversion of their faith that they do than the perversion of extremist atheists here have been doing for their non-religious faith minus the violence.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Yes, some people say 'Never denigrate anyone or any faith' then they burn Churches. Hypocrisy.

On the part of those who say 'no insult' then burn Churches. There is much of this in religion, a pretense that the 'rules' are strictly followed and imposed on others when they are not really followed at all.
Let's take Brunei, a nation with Sharia law. Gays can be stoned. Alcohol and pork and adultery are all forbidden of course. Strict Islam!!! Holy people! But the Sultan, who imposed these religious laws, buys and sells alcohol and pork for profit, so much so that production of pork products is done especially for him.
So they will whip someone for having a drink, then sell you 7 drinks and a pork chop. Hypocrisy. 'I beat you for doing what I also do'. Religion.

[Trillo]

9. Was Charlie Hedbo a religious organization?

I thought they were a secular, French magazine. I can't find any suggestion otherwise on a quick search. Unless Hedbo is a religious organization, then burning down Churches in response is either a logic error, or is being intentionally propagandized as such.