Mumbai - Why?

This past weekend terrorists struck once again destroying innocent lives. The location was Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. Mumbai is the "New York" of the Indian subcontinent. It is a city teeming with millions of people, many of whom literally sleep along roadsides or on folding tables in front of their very small store fronts. I remember taking a cab from the Mumbai airport to a small hotel late one evening (actually it was very early in the morning). I was shocked to see the masses of people living in such squalid conditions.

But, it was not these impoverished, destitute dalits that were the target of the hatred of the terrorists. No, the target was foreign business people, tourists, and Jews. The attack upon the Hotel Taj Mahal and the Jewish Chahad Center was well planned and executed. The slaughter was both indiscriminate and yet targeted. All who perished never met their attackers. All who perished never knew the reasons why they had become the objects of someone else's anger. All who died were innocent. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and were of the wrong religious beliefs.

And why were those ten young men from Pakistan so angry that they actually planned such mayhem and murder? Being Pakistanis they had a profound hatred of Indians. That is just a fact of history. Since Pakistan separated itself from India, those two ethnic groups have barely tolerated the others existence. Pakistan and India always seem poised on the brink of destroying each other. But of greater concern than the ethnic animosity is the religious animosity. These Pakistanis were radical Islamic extremists. They had a violent hatred toward Westerners and Jews - in their minds, "the Great Satan" and "the little Satan."

This was another in a long series of religious attacks we have witnessed since 9/11. Instead of trying to understand a different religious viewpoint through dialogue, the objective is the destruction of anyone who does not hold to my particular belief. The Romans attempted to destroy the new way called Christianity by mass crucifixions and coliseum spectacles. The Christians, later during the time of the Crusades, tried to destroy the infidel Muslims. Later even some of the Reformers persecuted Anabaptists who did not hold to a particular belief system. In each of the above attempts at destroying a belief-system, the attempt failed. Christianity survived the Roman persecutions. Islam survived the mayhem of the Crusades. And Anabaptism survived the intimidating threats of Calvin and Zwingli. And, I am convinced, the terroristic threats of radical Islam will fail as well.

I am alarmed that there has been no loud outcry from any Islamic leader condemning the attacks in Mumbai. In fact, there has been no cry at all. If the tables had been reversed and a group of Muslims had been attacked and slaughtered by a radical Hindu sect, then the entire Islamic world would be involved in a firestorm. Remember the outrage over some cartoons published in a Danish paper. Until the Islamic world stands up and condemns these fanatics as being outside of Islamic belief, these assaults will continue unabated because these fanatics will believe that the whole of the Islamic world is in agreement with them. And, perhaps they are correct in their thinking.

What happened in Mumbai is not an isolated incident. Could it happen here in the United States? Absolutely. Have you stayed at a luxury hotel lately? Security is lax. Lobbies are open and inviting targets for terrorists. As 9/11 caused a great change in the way that we travel by air...no security lines prior to 9/11, I believe the events in Mumbai could change the way we stay in hotels. Perhaps we will have to go through screening to even get into the lobby.

This world is changing. It is becoming increasingly more violent just as the Scriptures indicate will happen. We can either cower with fear or we can explode with hope. I trust we will manifest the later.