Religious Iraq

Friends,
A fine article on religious faith in Iraq. The bloody hand holding the Koran. Maybe we should send some Christians to show them the "true" religion. Oh, yeah...we have.

Rev O

"After almost five years of war, many young people in Iraq, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach."

“The religion men are liars. Young people don’t believe them. Guys my age are not interested in religion anymore.”

"Iraq offers a test case of what could happen when extremist theories are applied. Fingers caught in the act of smoking were broken. Long hair was cut and force-fed to its wearer. In that laboratory, disillusionment with Islamic leaders took hold. "

“When they behead someone, they say .....“God is great.”
“The young people, they think that is Islam,” he said. “So Islam is a failure, not only in the students’ minds, but also in the community.”

"........which explains why even nonreligious kidnappers will behead hostages."
You might want to read this again. Yes, this is really what it says, even those fucking non-religious kidnappers think that they can behead their captives also. Where do these non-religious assholes get off?

“We use our minds just to know what to eat. This is something I am very sad about. We hear things and just believe them.”

“Now I hate Islam,” she said, “Al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army are spreading hatred. People are being killed for nothing.”

"In one joke, people are warned not to give their cellphone numbers to a religious man.
“If he knows the number, he’ll steal the phone’s credit,” the journalist said. “The sheiks are making a society of nonbelievers.”"

Violence Leaves Young Iraqis Doubting Clerics
By SABRINA TAVERNISE New York Times
Many young people in Iraq have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach.