Sri Lanka explosions: More than 320 killed as churches and hotels targeted.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48001720

https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/apr/21/explosions-in-sri-lanka-in-pictures

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48028045

At least 207 people have been killed and 450 hurt in explosions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, police say.

Eight blasts were reported, including at three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo's Kochchikade district during Easter services.

The Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels and one other, all in the capital, were also targeted.

A national curfew has been put in place "until further notice" and social media networks have been temporarily blocked.

A foreign ministry official said 27 foreign nationals were among the dead.

Ostensibly, in the name of the imaginary guy/gal in the sky. Tragic.

Discuss.

Interesting that 'social media networks have been temporarily blocked'.

What a sad thing. First the New Zeeland thing and now this. I don't know anything about Sri Lanka or how common bombings are over there, but whatever the statistics it's of course a sad thing. My condolences to anyone who knew/knows any of the victims.

I don't know what there is to discuss. It's just a lot of pain brought into the world for a likely not very rational reason. Not just the pain of the victims but all the people who knew/know these victims, who are part of their lives... it's such a waste. I guess we'll have to wait to see if we can find any plausible motivation behind it. I mean it does seem religiously motivated.

I see there are long queues of people donating blood to the survivors. Lot's of people helping out. I guess that's the 'silver lining' in this story. For every monster who hurts people there are so many who, once they see the pain, are ready to help ease it. Many kudo's to those who are willing to help.

The last thing we need is some religious war starting because of these excessively violent acts against innocent people. I hope that people of the religions involved will be getting the attention and time from the media to denounce these kinds of things. Maybe they can calm things down and prevent an us vs. them mentality. As long as it's not normal for a religious following to do things like this, it should not be mistaken as such.

I'm part Sri Lankan, this isn't a surprise at all. There's multiple terrorist groups. The civil war ended only recently ended a couple years ago after it lasted something like 40 years. They only just removed some military check points in Colombo which I'm guessing is why it happened now and not sooner. They only fix immediate problems and not the causes. There's still social classes even though they aren't talked about because it's "been removed" . There's children born into prostitution. The country has nothing but problems and I've heard it's only getting worse.

Hmm. Do you think the lies about things like the class system being removed, are preventing Sri Lanka from taking care of the actual causes of their issues? Like, are the causes even discussed or talked about among its people? Or is there something else that is more seriously preventing the actual causes from being the focal point, as far as you can tell?

Another day in the "wtf is wrong with the world" saga.

4 posts in and no mention of Islamic Jihad, which is the no.1 cause of global terrorism by a mile, and clearly the leading candidate. Not that the mainstream media is as keen to speculate as if it could have been an alt Righter. If you went by the BBC's reporting, you'd think Sri Lanka was just a case of matter spontaneously detonating of its own accord.

Well I wanted to wait a little for confirmation. I guess I never typed Islam but it was constantly on my mind. Like I said it does seem to be motivated by religion, and I hope this doesn't lead to some kind of religious war. I know what you mean though. I hope that the msm isn't going to be weird about it... but I guess that's like hoping for a miracle at this point.

It's called waiting for confirmation, as was done w/ the right wing terror.....

Relax.

It's called suspension of judgement.

Utterly senseless and a disgusting waste of lives, can't believe people can have so much hatred inside them to carry out extremist acts like this.

Condolences to all of the families, and really hoping that death toll doesn't rise any higher. So many dead and injured though. :(

A damn shame. I can understand (but obviously do not support) terrorist attacks on government buildings, but churches?

For reals. People need to calm down and just wait until findings come out.

@mrbojangles25: It is BLATANTLY Jihad. I think it has been pretty much confirmed already. There was another big one in Nigeria 2 days ago, massacre at a baby shower, but obviously as its Africa nobody cares. Sri Lanka has people noticing but the motive MUST be made clear: it was Islamic Jihad.

@KungfuKitten: It's just the government making bad decisions. Like my family left because the government stole the money from the rich to remove the classes during the late 50's, but the social stigma remained. Then the civil war started because they wouldn't recognise that the Tamils were natives. After they started to loose the Tamils used horrible tactics. They only recently accepted that they were natives. The causes are talked about behind close doors according to my family, but not in public and if they are it's usually twisted to make the government look better.

Religion strikes again.

Silly people and their imaginary friends.

Religion has caused more misery to all of mankind in every stage of human history than any other single idea. - Madalyn Murray O'Hair

You're probably right but, jesus christ, calm down.

And nothing must be made clear, it will become clear once we have all the facts. It is not an Islamic Jihad until otherwise proved.

Muslims, Christians and Jews...fighting over which version of the sky daddy is cooler.

@mrbojangles25: nope, will not calm down. Islam is responsible for the VAST majority of global terror, but unlike when it is attacked by other groups, there is an obvious attempt to avoid stating the facts. When the attacker is a suicide bomber it pretty much can be assumed to be Islamic until proven otherwise, the global trends are clear.

And each group claims to be the moral authority.

That is Monty-Python level humor.

Why are you people making this sound equivalent behaviour between religions? Here is a list of atrocities committed by Islamic terrorists from the past WEEK alone. There is no equivalent list for other religious extremists:

2019.04.20 (Afghanistan)

Religious radicals stage a suicide assault on a government IT building, killing three guards and four civilians.

2019.04.19 (Cameroon)

Children and women are among eleven innocents slain by Islamists.

2019.04.17 (Somalia)

Islamists set off a car bomb outside a restaurant that claims four souls.

2019.04.15 (Afghanistan)

The Taliban fire a mortar round into a house, killing four family members, including two women.

2019.04.14 (Nigeria)

A pregnant woman and three children are among seventeen massacred by Fulani terrorists at a church baby dedication.

2019.04.12 (Pakistan)

A bomb targeting Hazera minorities at a vegetable market leaves two dozen dead.

It's a compendium of not only actions but beliefs and motives.

When looking at history as a whole, not just the modern era, the dangers of religion are evident. Any time religion gains the political crown, regardless of the religion, human suffering follows.

In the modern era, religious war is greatly suppressed by strong nation states. It's not that any religion has become more accommodating (just visit any forum as evidence) but rather that secular structures now exist as the political grid work rather than church institutions.

Look at any modern theocracy and you'll find human suffering. It would not be and has not been any different in a Christian theocracy.

Religion is a sickness of ignorance. Education is the cure.

200 killed is fake news according to agent orange:

@rmpumper: When I first heard about it, it was 20+ dead and 50 injured. So even orange man bad is lying obviously. :P

We still need to wait for some kind of confirmation on it.

@horgen: You must have missed the "million" part.

@br0kenrabbit: Rubbish. Over 55 nation states on this Earth are ruled to one degree or another by Islam. It is by far the most destructive religion. Yes in the past other religions have been similar, but for whatever reason they have moderated themselves, with the exception of Islam. But the list I posted, the constant flow of murder and oppression, it seems to be water off a duck's back to you people. Sri Lanka is only remarkable in scale, what has been happening in Nigeria lately is absolutely disgraceful lately with no media coverage. The military is being routed by Islamic terror groups and villages burnt down.

Wow what a stupid way to look to at this problem. Pushing your opinions aren't facts.

I did. Wow... 138 million would leave a bigger mark.

Ironically, Iran kinda did. Which is why the Iranian youth are relatively speaking pretty anti-Islam compared to the rest of the region.

The national government blames National Thowheed Jamath.

Source

Well, this is a classic radical Islamic terrorist act

So nothing to say since there is nothing that can be said or done so condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones

But it will be interesting to see the left if they are out in force and with the same condemnation and call to action like before.

I suppose groups like the Lord's Resistance Army just completely slipped your mind, hunh?

The only thing moderating Christians right now are the secular governments they typically reside in. If you want to see what Christians themselves think, visit some forums. It isn't pretty.

From stoning homosexuals to killing women who get abortions, Christians aren't any less bloodthirsty. If those Christians were given the reigns of theocracy, it would be just as bloody as any Islamic jihad.

Belief in invisible people are something that should have been left behind with your toys.

Think about it. If someone said something about an invisible entity that speaks to them and didn't mention the word 'God' you'd think they were mental.

Yeah, I don't understand how we can ally with Saudi Arabia and then criticize a relatively modern state like Iran. Makes no sense.

Islamic terrorists at it again... what a surprise. Buh buh muh Islamophobia.... This is why countries freak out when large portions of immigrants with this belief come into their country. They don't want this to happen.

Can't have to much of that progress :P

@br0kenrabbit: "I suppose groups like the Lord's Resistance Army just completely slipped your mind, hunh?"

Did you not see my list from the past WEEK? The scale of Islamic Jihad is immeasurably greater than anything you can summon up from a Christian source. Call me crazy but MAYBE that's because the whereas the Prophet of Islam was a warlord bent on global domination, the figurehead of Christianity was a pacifist hippy.

"The only thing moderating Christians right now are the secular governments they typically reside in. If you want to see what Christians themselves think, visit some forums. It isn't pretty."

I'm not a fan of any religion, but the drive isnt there to commit acts of terror on anywhere near the scale of Islamic jihad. If it was, they would find a way despite governments. I would argue as above that the reason for this is to be found in the texts themselves but hey, carry on slating a largely peaceful religion in the wake of one of the biggest attacks against its followers in living memory.

"From stoning homosexuals to killing women who get abortions, Christians aren't any less bloodthirsty. If those Christians were given the reigns of theocracy, it would be just as bloody as any Islamic jihad."

What a convenient hypothetical for you. Even IF you were correct, that is STILL not as bloodthirsty as Islam: all 4 schools of Islamic law prescribe the death penalty for those who leave the faith. Jihad is against the unbelievers as a general out-group. The law of Sharia is codified throughout the hadith and Quran, which contains an entire chapter on the rules governing the spoils of war (including of course women).

But tell me more about the hypothetical Christian terrorists and theocracies which don't exist.

When Christianity went mad, Islam was the voice of reason. Islams golden age pretty much corresponds with the European dark ages.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. That doesn't mean that the other foot isn't rotten, because it is. Just because there's a 'relative' calm in Christendom at the moment doesn't mean that the soup isn't simmering. Buddy, you better believe it is. From Breivik to Rudolf to Roof, the right wing certainly launches its share of terror.

The rise in the right-wing rhetoric that's come to the surface in the past few years didn't come out of nowhere. That rage has always been there. The racism, the xenophobia, the misogyny, etc. is just as malignant today as it has ever been, especially here in the south. All I have to do is turn on a local channel on Sunday morning and there it is.

And if you want to find your Christian Jihadists, just locate your local militia. The woods are crawling with them. And nearly every one expects a race/religious war in their lifetime.

@br0kenrabbit: "When Christianity went mad, Islam was the voice of reason. Islams golden age pretty much corresponds with the European dark ages.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. That doesn't mean that the other foot isn't rotten, because it is. Just because there's a 'relative' calm in Christendom at the moment doesn't mean that the soup isn't simmering. Buddy, you better believe it is. From Breivik to Rudolf to Roof, the right wing certainly launches its share of terror."

Dwarfed by the scale of Islamic oppression and violence. You name individual guys, there are nation states which deny basic rights in the name of Islam. There are expansive heavily armed militant groups waging wars in its name. And the kicker is it actually has the backing of the text. Do you think Jesus Christ was a warmonger?

"The rise in the right-wing rhetoric that's come to the surface in the past few years didn't come out of nowhere. That rage has always been there. The racism, the xenophobia, the misogyny, etc. is just as malignant today as it has ever been, especially here in the south. All I have to do is turn on a local channel on Sunday morning and there it is."

Unfortunately, I'm getting a picture of what you are exactly, the way you're so eagerly attacking Christianity and defending Islam... In the wake of a horrific Islamist attack on Christians. You're an SJW. So I dont trust your definitions of the above terms. Do you think Trump is basically a Nazi? Look, if the Vatican was saying ex Christians need to be killed, that would be equivalent.

"And if you want to find your Christian Jihadists, just locate your local militia. The woods are crawling with them. And nearly every one expects a race/religious war in their lifetime."

Theyre not doing anything on any scale approaching even a single Islamist militant group.

@br0kenrabbit: Islam was never the voice of reason. When Islam was developed. The middle east regressed from being one of, if not the most important mathematical places that develop algebra to religious nuts. Islam literally destroyed the golden era of the middle east.

@npiet1: Nah man, it was the Mongols that destroyed the Middle Eastern golden age.

@mandzilla: depends on who you ask, some say Mongols, some say the ottomans and others Islam. The Mongols definitely started the decline though, with the ottomans having major influence later on while this was happening social behaviour slowly changed due to Islam as the religion and cultural influences from the east and west. Which helped define the Islamic faith we see today. So while my previous statement was wrong but not entirely.

I rarely watch any MSM so I have to ask if the outlets were realistic or apologetic, coy and full of excuses.

Whoa whoa whoa...back the **** up,buddy. I am not defending anyone, I'm telling it like it is. I'm an atheist who would love to see nothing more than all religion lifted up off this Earth.

I have no bias toward any one religion, I hate them all. But that gives me an even-handed perspective in viewing events as they were or as they are.

And you go all into your argument about there being Islamic theocracies that are war-like and completly forget this conversation has already included a lengthy discussion on why that isn't so for Christendom AT THE MOMENT.

Look, I don't mind having a discussion, even a heated one. But keep your temper in check, and if you need to go back and read previous posts to get abreast of the conversation then you should do so. I've already explained that strong law-based nation states in the Christian/secular world prevent the rise of various militant christian groups that exist and stand ready to fill any power vacuum. I do not like repeating myself, and if it continues that I have to, you'll just have to argue alone.

Yeah I'm quoting myself.

It's not that I don't understand the religions, I've studied them extensively. If anyone wants to get into Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic/Sumerian we can dive right in, but my Arabic sucks so we'd be relying on English translations of the Koran.

How very tolerant of you............

I know, right.

It's almost like I'd rather live on a planet with rational beings that aren't so illogical that they relate fantastical supernatural beings to right law and order. How juvenile of me.

:-\

Holy Christ that’s a lot. RIP to the dead. This is exactly what the New Zealand shooter was attempting to accomplish; to incite a war. No doubt he’s loving this news.

Funny thing, the Leftist circle-jerk ResetERA had an 84 page thread on that shooting, which killed fifty, yet only an 8 page thread for this, which slaughtered over six times as much. I suppose the value of human lives to them only matters insomuch as it affords them the opportunity to blame the evil, straight white man. Yet radical Islam doing such a thing? Who cares about the slaughtered as only it inconveniences their political agendas.

Transparent pigs. Disgusting.

Except it wasn't the Arabs who invented the Algebra. It was the Indians (the Asian one, not the American indigenous people) from late 400 A.D.

An Indian mathematician and astronomer, Aryabhata (A.D. 476-550), wrote one of the earliest-known books on math and astronomy, called the "Aryabhatiya" by modern scholars. (Aryabhata did not title his work himself.) The work is "a small astronomical treatise written in 118 verses giving a summary of Hindu mathematics up to that time," according to the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

from: https://www.livescience.com/50258-algebra.html

@anthonyautumns: if you really wanna get technical it was the old Babylonians https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strassburg_tablet

Most people aren't proud to be bigots..............