Thoughts for Paris

My thoughts go out to the people of Paris, what a horrible tragedy :(

I haven't seen the news, what happened?

Multiple coordinated terrorist attacks, ranging from supposed bombing (?) to a hostage situation, and shootings. It's terrible, keeping them in my thoughts.

Is this related to ISIS?

I'm keeping them in my prayers too. I hope all of this madness comes to an end and people could start to realize that we all are humans.

Friend is.in there. Been freaking out @.@

^ Do you have any news about your friend?

^ Scary to hear, thinking of you and all in Paris who are brothers and sisters.

Praying for an end to war, terrorism... for us to join hands in solidarity. To realize this could happen to us, but no matter where we are in the world, I believe we all just want peace.

As the song goes... "Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me"

I heard from her. Apparently she left right as it started o.o thank god

Yes, thoughts go out to the victims and their families. Unfortunately, despite our world leaders harping on about defeating terrorism, how do you stop one man walking into a public place and blowing himself and hundreds of others up?
Unfortunately, I feel this past decade or so is only the beginning of the madness. I hope I am wrong.

My thoughts and prayers also goes out to the family and friends of the victims.
I totally and very sadly agree with all you mentioned above Ben. :/

You can't Ben, not without taking away the general freedoms and liberty of the people.....This isn't a new type of warfare, remember the I.R.A., Hiroshima, tel aviv, etc.....except now, you have more people willing to sacrifice themselves in the name of religion, yet they are killing people who have nothing to do with their cause, innocent victims....It's cowards play, but like I said, there aren't any rules anymore, those who have rules are losing the game.

Such a sickening act on so many innocent lives..Allah would surely not approve?

^
I agree there is not a whole lot that can be done. This will continue until either, we all die, or we somehow learn that we are all from the same human race; and that we have evolved to know better...

alas, I fear more pointless death.

My thoughts go out to those poor families and friends.

A country in shock,
in a world of faceless foes:
spilt blood soaks the earth

Perhaps the "world leaders" must start supporting the legitimate governments which seriously fighting terrorism. Solving the issues starts from the inside.

Thoughts for Paris, Lebanon, and for Syria, for Iraq, for any nation or anyone who is suffering from terrorism.

These sons of Satan need to be dealt with as the vermin they are, before they devide people even further. Who are they to kill what God has created? They say they kill in the name of Allah? Allah is God and he loves all his children equally, no matter their religion.
All I could think of, watching the images, was 'This is the face of pure Evil'. :(

It was said months ago that ISIS were going to terrorise their own lands so that refugees would flee to other countries, amongst them refugees, they were going to place a number of ISIS devils to cause devastation throughout the world.. It seems that statement has become true. The saddest thing is that they believe they are doing it in the name of Allah and will go to heaven for doing his work.
I don't know much about Islam, my neighbours are Muslim and seem like very nice people. We have a large Muslim community in our city and I hope and pray that they preach against ISIS movements or we are what you call f*cked!!
Religion to me is about Peace, loving thy neighbour, being the nicest person you can be etc not bombing yourself up and taking as many innocent civilians as you can!
How do you fight against an army that divides itself up, doesn't look any different to you or I and seem to be everywhere but hidden.
ISIS members to me are devil worshipers and the only place they are going is to hell, unlike the innocent victims they take out with them.
We are human and have to be sympathetic towards the poor refugees that are having to flee for their lives but how do you know which are fleeing and which are pretending to flee so they can do the devils work?.. Unless already known to authorities! We don't and we can't just leave the refugees to die in their own countries as the majority are normal innocent victims not wanting to leave their country, but being forced out scared for their lives and their families.

ISIS have never, and will never, be about religion. That is simply a flag to fly under. If it wasn't religion, it would be something else.
Bob - what you touched on was very relevant, I think. Those with rules and morals don't stand a chance against this kind of warfare. So what is left then but to take peoples' liberties away and play dirty; not much of an option, is it?

So sad. Sitting at a bar in New Orleans last night about to leave, my group noticed footage on TV about the murders that occurred at the concert. We sat and watched for awhile until all 4 of us had tears streaming down our faces.

Another wound the whole world feels. We bleed together.

Later that night
I held an atlas in my lap
Ran my fingers across the whole world
And whispered
"Where does it hurt?"

It answered
"Everywhere
everywhere
everywhere ...."

Warsan Shire

Religion is the root of most evil, Some will say, tool used for most evil... but the two are linked at the hip...

while some are praying that they will do well in their exams or little Johnny will be ok, and if that happens "Bless me, God answered our prayers, merciful God how great thou are". While somewhere innocents are being butchered killed and raped, or in this case 129 innocents killed, families torn apart. And where is this merciful God ? he's no where to be seen... Oh he works in mysterious ways... many died hideous deaths.. Oh but they will have a lovely life in Heaven... well those that are christian maybe... what of those that weren't ? they are bound for an eternity in Hell... why ? for being innocent ?
Oh this Christian god is a lovely chap isn't he...

When will the world wake up and throw off the yoke of religion and we can go forward as one race

never i fear, stupidly rules

We seem to agree with the power of a spirit .
What other animal has a mind with the power to destroy so much good in a short space of time . If we look in the oldest scriptures we find drama in its Genesis. The communist manifesto proclaim we are all equal while the preamble states all we are created equal . Since our focus is on the 129 killed should we infer that all of the other homicide victims in the world are guilty? Atoms split can be destructive so perhaps we should ban them first because they are easier to reach than solar energy that produces fire . but wait, cannot the elements that destroy be also creative . OK Nicko you win. I will try to discourage faith in this members message forum for the rest of this month to see if the whole world begins to heal . I know you are not going to connect Hope and Love to the perverted Islamic State glorifying mass killings

We are already one race, Nicko. As Bob said a while back, if you back far enough, we are all connected as family. If you take that in consideration, we are killing our own. You don't need to be religious to see that.
There are good and kind hearted people in abundance in this world, some have a religion of kinds, some don't. Alas, you don't hear too much about that, as the media always focusses on what sells. What difference does it really make if you kill the other because of religion, race, social group, country of origin or whatever other reason you might think of? If you take away religion (always an easy target) that still leaves all the other 'reasons' for killing each other off. It is far better to say what this world needs is to treat each other like the family that we are. We can start by examining our own behaviour and conduct and be more tolerant and understanding. There is no need to deny people their personal belief, provided they don't abuse it to do evil deeds or to deem themselves superior to other groups.

By the way: who said we are here to live a fairy tale life? What would we learn from that? I know some people who have never known hardship and they are the dumbest and most narrow minded people I know with zero tolerance or understanding of what the other person might be going through or where they come from.

Ingrid I've already said we are one race. One race divided people. In my other thread.. And yes we will always find ways to kill each other...But religion divides us. And responsible for many wars and atrocities, so it's not just an easy target it's a major catalyst. You say we should love all people but Christianity doesn't extend this love to non believers they sent to hell for eternity, that's Muslims, Hindi, any other religion So where's Gods love ?? where's his tolerance for all those billions of people ??
How do you answer that ?? You hold one hand out in love and friendship then cast them to hell with the other ??

Yes, Nicko, I know you did. But we are divided over so much more than just religion. We are also divided because of skin colour, nationality, social group, wealth, you name it. And people are willing to kill for many of those causes too, just look back into history.

Maybe I should have added that I am not part of any church and don't really believe in organised religion. I was born into an atheist family and am the only person in my family and friend circle who believes in God (do have some religious friends on P and Q). I have this belief that an energy created us all and also gave us the power to create, but alas, also gave us free will... and that is where things go wrong. A lot of God's 'spokesmen' have done the most terrible things imaginable using their free will and they used God as an excuse. I don't believe that only those who believe in God go to heaven, that is silly. If a personal belief, of whatever kind, makes you do wonderful, loving and constructive things with your life, then what could anyone have against that? If a person, or a group, abuses the same belief to do evil deeds, like killing, or excluding others, then they should be dealt with by the courts.
I believe, Nicko, I believe that God is loving energy. I also believe we all have good and evil in us, and some are too weak to let the good prevail.

Sadly, while terrorism has no religion ISIS does, and it is Islam, which is not a relgion of peace in any way. They are taking the Koran literally.

Islam needs a reformation.

And it appears there agenda is to attack western society until some are silly enough to strike back at innocent Muslims which will unite all Muslims against the west.. Then they have there holy Jihad

Sounds extreme

Kevin, I agree with what you say to an extent. But the idea of taking a holy scripture and simply reforming it makes a mockery of religion everywhere. You simply are not supposed to reform the koran overnight, lol.
I have heard it talked about, and in reality, it probably needs looking at, but.......

Nicko, I am a Christian although I don't go to church regularly, my grandparents are devoted Christians and not once in my forty years of living have I heard them or a vicar say that if you are not a Christian you will go to hell. I was taught be good and do good and God will accept you in heaven.
I was told by a Christian on this site a few years ago that I was going to go to hell as I am in a lesbian relationship and that goes against 'Gods will' however my grandparents and our local vicar disagree and thinks that God would want us all to be happy and move with the times.
People take from the Holy book (whichever one) what THEY chose to take from it. I took from it not to Judge others.
Accept people for who they are not what religion, race, colour, sexuality etc they are.
And don't tar everybody in a group with the same brush.
Until I die I do not even know if there really is a God. However if there is and he doesn't accept me for me then I will party with most of my mates in hell. If he does accept me for me then I will party with most of my mates and family in heaven.
If there is not a God I hope that when I die that is the end! my body will turn into bug food or ashes and I will be no more. In fact I think I would like it that way the best!
Lets see if I got timed out again :/

I have always loved the sentiment we are not supposed to judge others, horsehockey , as humans it's almost utterly mentally impossible not to judge others, you perceive, draw a conclusion or form an opinion, that's judging, now the trick is not to be condemning, you never know what a person has gone through or what journey they have taken to get them to where they are today....So judge all you want, just don't condemn........as to the religious debates, it's all about faith, everyone has their own belief system, and who is to say what is right or wrong.......we abhor cannibalism and yet in some cultures it is a way of life, who is to say otherwise, surely not a book written by man, which can be misconstrued and interpreted to fit whatever way of life one chooses to live........I always marvel at the ones who say Pray for this and pray for that and then when they get the desired outcome, they say "isn't God good", but when the outcome is negative, nary a word......to each their own I guess.......

"it appears there agenda is to attack western society until some are silly enough to strike back at innocent Muslims which will unite all Muslims against the west.. Then they have there holy Jihad"

Seriously? Well, interesting. First of all, Muslims will never unite. And although I'm an atheist but I live in an Islamic country which has been undergoing the terrorism of ISIS for YEARS (but you don't hear about it that much, do you) and ISIS is killing people belonging to ALL religions and ALL nationalities. My father was a muslim and he was killed, 150 innocent uni students last week were killed in a car bomb in my city and most of them are muslims. Muslims are being killed everyday. So, it's not the west that is targeted, it's the whole world I'm afraid.

Everyone should watch this video about the political situation behind this, and other attacks.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b6c_1447660445#IQLuMduihEPeyGDM.01

Ok Bob, I will re phrase what I said. I try not to judge others. If I see someone acting like a **** I will have an opinion on that person whether I know them or not but you can't really judge what a person is like until you know their story or the journey they have been on, and I like to think I give everybody the benefit of the doubt.
Example: I met a girl once and my opinion of her was she was loud, outgoing and scary. I got to know her and now know the only reason she comes across as loud and outgoing was because of her excessive drinking which she used to hide all the hurt inside. She is one of my best friends now but she is scary and I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her lol I did not judge that book by it's cover and I'm glad that I didn't. As I am lucky to have her in my life.

While God is loving and merciful, He is also just, and does not always intervene.

There is a spiritual battle being fought in realms we cannot see, and it is playing out in our world currently. My heart breaks for this world - it is sinful and broken, and my heart is just heavy.

There is a difference between judgment and discernment. While I know technically discernment means judging someone, it's done with a different attitude/heart/spirit. It's making a judgment call, where judgment, to me, goes down the path of discrimination.

Exactly Donna and Nourayasmine, these attacks didn't just start happening, they have just widened the circle, some countries have been war torn for decades and even centuries , the battle for religious or governmental supremacy......there are thousands of people killed daily all over the world.....it amazes me how some countries think they are or should be exempt from it, when in essence humanity itself should be exempt from such horrific events......these groups don't really care who their victims are, but they are giving their religion a bad name and you'd think they'd care but they don't, if they knew the ramifications of their actions they'd cease, but it's all about a personal agenda, to me they are no better than every other rogue leader who tries to brainwash it's people to create havoc on innocent people who have nothing to do with their so called oppression......I feel for the children who have to live the rest of their lives without parents because some clown thought he was ordained to remove them from this earth, I feel for the mental and emotional victims who suffer daily because now they are looked at as a whole because of a few idiots......and idiots is about as nice as I can put it without getting into trouble.......before its all over more innocents will lose their lives from other governments trying to put an end to this senseless killing. Murder begets murder.........

There is a spiritual battle being fought in realms we cannot see, and it is playing out in our world currently. My heart breaks for this world - it is sinful and broken, and my heart is just heavy.

I agree although I think ISIS is satanic not spiritual and it seems to be them we are hearing of on a daily basis bringing devastation to the world. But you are right this world we live in is broken and is becoming full of sadness for everybody.

As was touched on above, lest we forget that ISIS are killing as many muslims as anyone else. But remember too, that Christianity has done some truly dreadful things in the name of religion. We hear some very biased reporting in the west, as I'm sure they do in the east.
No body and no one faith is to blame for this pit we are digging ourselves and as I said above, if it wasn't religion, it would be something else; it is simply a black flag to fly under.
Most muslims, most Christians etc just want to live normal, peaceful lives. But like everything else, it is the minority that ruin it for the majority, usually in the shape of thugs or politicians.....I'm not sure there is a difference sometimes!

Donna -- Satan and evil spirits are a very large piece of the spiritual battle. :)

Excuse me for being blunt, but I don't give a fig for the religious pretexts or the hand wringing about how this or that religion has engendered just as much horror.

The issue, plain and simple, is eradicating Al Qaeda and ISIS.

To worry about condemning all Muslims or all Semitics or all of any ethnic group diverts the issue and delays the solution. We're not after all Muslims, we're not after all Semitics (be they Arab or Jew), we're not after any ethnic group.

We must be against the members of Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Ah ok Britt :) I wasn't against what you were saying, I just didn't get the spiritual battle part.