Holy Ramadhan, Batman!

For the longest time, I have not been paying attention to the news too much.

Sure, I have had the tv on during the news in the afternoons, but that doesn't mean i actually listen too much to what's going on. After all, the U.S. news is *so* u.s.-centric I need to hunt for the BBC news on one of the PBS channels to get a better feel for what's going on "out there"

But a few minutes ago, this headline on the Yahoo! main page caught my eye:Attacks kill 44 in Iraq as Ramadan endsReading this, so many things that are SO WRONG jumped out at me.

Did you know that October has been the deadliest month in terms of U.S. deaths in the past two years? Does this have anything to do with it being Ramadhan? Perhaps these misguided "insurgents" think they are getting bonus points for killing during this holy month?

But you know what? [Not that I'm condoning attacks on U.S. troops, but...] these attacks are not *just* against U.S. troops: on Sunday alone, 44 Iraqis were killed; it is estimated that at least 100 Iraqis are now killed daily. I'm assuming that in general, Iraqi = Muslim [whether Shiite or Sunni, doesn't matter to me. Yeah so sue me.]. I know, I know, they've been killing each other for a long time, and while some would argue that the U.S. presence there is either helping or exacerbating the situation,,, but I'm still reeling from the fact that this is Ramadhan and these murders are not just going on as usual, but they seem to be stepping up the effort! Again - is it because of some misguided belief that they are betting bonus points for killing "enemies" of "their" version of Islam??

A friend of mine made the statement recently that she feels safe during Ramadhan because she has been raised to believe that devils/demons are "... tied up in hell for the entire month. This means that if we're engaged in any bad behaviour or other negative attitude/actions we can't blame it on the devil; it's totally us. There's no devil whispering at your left ear telling you to do things: it's 100% your call."

So, if you believe in the above,,, how would you explain this increase in violence and murder during this supposedly holiest of holy months????

I shudder at any/all answers that pop into my head.

And - icing on the cake: "The country's majority Shiites begin the three-day festival Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on which senior cleric they follow." OMG! Even within one country, and within one "sect" within that one country, they can't even agree on something as simple as the start of a new lunar month!!

I don't know what else to do except just roll my eyes, because i have no confidence that things are ever going to improve.

= = = = =

On a related note:
HAPPY DEEPAVALI / DIVALI
to all who celebrate this festival
of
light over darkness,
of
good over evil

[unfortunately, that's not quite happening this year,
Let's try again next year, ya?]