I opened the newspaper this morning to the shocking news that Benazir Bhutto had been murdered and her attacker then blew himself up, taking at least fifteen other bystanders with him. It seems to becoming almost routine to physically attack anyone who does not believe as you do. What is it that motivates these people? They are not all members of oppressed minorities. They come from all over the world and from many different faiths and beliefs systems. In fact the main thing these fanatics (of whatever faith) have in common is a lack of respect for others and a conviction that their way is better than that of everyone else. Surely they would achieve much more by showing that their belief was superior and so attracting converts instead of expecting acts of violence to change belief systems. I can't imagine that those who convert from fear to any faith are going to be genuine believers and lack of true faith must undermine any religion.
Coming, as I do, from a multicultural, multiracial family which includes Christians, Hindus and Buddhists, and where everyone's beliefs are respected and celebrated by us all, I find this quite incomprehensible. We are happy to accept our family members for the people they are and the same goes for those of our acquaintances who are atheist, Muslim, Baha'i or anything else. Why can't the rest of the world do the same?
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