Just about every day, another “hero of Islam” dies by blowing himself or his vehicle to kingdom come. Yesterday, a van approached the entrance to an Iraqi army base, accelerated, and went straight into a group of Iraqi soldiers leaving four dead and about ten wounded. The man who drove the van is dead, and he is hailed by the website of the Islamic State of Iraq as a hero who is headed for his reward in the wonderful world up in the sky where virgins await his arrival. The same group admitted responsibility for attacking offices of the Arab TV station, Al-Arabiya on grounds it was a tool of the western world. There is something strange about men who love the Arab world, but insist on blowing themselves up along with innocent men, women, and children. They explode their body in a mosque where Muslims are praying and claim the act was ordered by Mohammed. Why, would the Prophet urge the murder of those who are praying is an interesting question that only those who kill can answer?
Throughout human history religions have emerged urging peace and love. But, for those in the Islamic State of Iraq, the Prophet speaks to them in ways he does not speak to other Muslims. We prefer believing the Prophet was a man of peace and social justice, not a man who wants children to be blown up.
