About five hundred years ago, Catholics and Protestants engaged in endless warfare that lasted for over a hundred years. They butchered one another, killed women and children and laid to waste large areas of land. Today, a similar war exists among Muslims, particularly in nations like Pakistan and Iraq where Shiites and Sunnis take turns killing the innocent. During the past few weeks, the Sunni Taliban has killed over a hundred Shiites in bombings that struck at religious processions in Lahore and in other parts of the country. Yesterday, Shiites were gathered to express solidarity with their Palestinian brothers–most of whom are Sunni–when the Taliban launched still another attack. Do these people ever grasp the irony of their murderous assaults? A Shiite group has organized a rally to support a group of Sunnis in Palestine when they are killed by Shiites in their own land!
We find pertinent the absence of any demonstrations by Muslims in the world against such slaughter of the innocent. We find disturbing the absence of any organized protest by Muslim clerics against the killing of innocent Muslim men, women and children. Of course, if some Christian cartoonist printed a cartoon–then Muslim crowds would fill the streets expressing anger and condemnation and we can be certain the imams would be upset. We cry for our Muslim brothers and sisters who died today at the hands of fellow Muslims.
