Uncertain

I was looking through the Aljazeera website today and found an article that caught my attention. It seems there are always news of someone dying everyday. This article is different from other articles because it deals with religion.

“Christian priest shot dead in Iraq”

Summary: On Saturday April 5, 2008, Youssef Adel from the Saint Peter’s Church in Iraq was killed by a silencer. He died at the gate in front of his home. His wife did not realize he was shot until he fell to the ground.

Members from religious group are experiencing high death counts. Before the US-Iraq invasion, the number of followers from the Iraqi Christians and Chaldeans total to 800,000 members. Since the invasion, the number has been sliced in half because of the low level of safety due to poor security. Many members have fled the country in hopes to finding a country with better security.

Source: Aljazeera.net

This article is significant is many ways. A priest is a respected position in the community. They spread hopes and joys to believers and many look to them for guidance in life and difficult situations. In some way, they are the parent to those who attend church. This incident occurred because the killer knows this. The death of a priest hurts a person internally more than the death of someone who is not a priest. So why have the killer decide to attack priests? The war between them is not based on religion so it can’t be a religious war. But attackers know that when they attack someone who is close to the community, they are decreasing the community’s morale. By taking a priest away, they are killing the community psychologically.

Religion is an important tool in this war. Al Qeada uses religion to give bring in more followers and to motivate their army. One of the questions that many have is why do people dedicated their lives to being a suicide mission? Why would a person give their life to a mission that whether they succeed or not, they will perish? I found out in a news channel couple months ago that one of the tactics that Al Quaeda use to recruit people to go on suicide missions is by promising them that their family will be taken care of financially once they agree to go on the mission. They tactic attracts many individuals who are poor and cannot provide food and shelter to their daughters and sons. The other tactic that they use is by preaching the principles of their religion in the name of God which in this case is Allah.

Religion is a powerful tool that can move people in a positive direction. It gives followers hope in time of despair. It gives them motivation to believe in a better future when the present is not full of suffering. But at the same time, religion is a powerful tool that can move people in a negative direction. It makes follower feel despair when the better future is not within sight when they need it the most. It makes followers do deeds that prevent a better future from appearing.