Religious extremism: the world's biggest problem

The government of Nigeria and those of several other sub-Saharan nations have agreed on a press release announcing their intention to wage all-out war against Boko Haram. I agree with them. It's the only way. The kidnap of nearly three hundred girls last month is the event which alerted the wider world to their threat, but for years now they have been waging their own war against anyone who disagrees with their perverted view of Islam. Only a couple of weeks ago they fell upon a (doubtless predominantly Christian) village and murdered 370 people.


I am not a pacifist. Although I am generally against war and would prefer a negotiated solution to any given problem, there are exceptions. In World War 2, there was no option: the Nazis had to be crushed, and so did the militarists in Japan. And they were, albeit at a terrible cost. Slowly, painfully, the world was made a safer and better place as a result of their destruction. And now I say: Boko Haram and Al Shabbab must likewise be crushed. Their creed of "join our faction of Islam or die" is anathema to anyone who believes in the principles of freedom, tolerance and diversity.


But religious hatred is not confined to radical Islam. In Jerusalem, ultra-orthodox Jews jeer at Christian children on their way to school (just as unionists do to Catholic schoolchildren in Northern Ireland), throw rotten vegetables at them and scrawl graffiti on their most revered sites- even the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, perhaps the most holy place in Christendom, has been daubed with hateful slogans. And you thought it was just the Palestinians they didn't like? Just like Boko Haram, they don't like anyone, even other Jews of less extreme persuasion, who don't share their elitist, "we're right and everyone else is wrong" view.


In the past I have often thought of Rodney King's famous admonition to the world: "why can't we all just get along?" Trouble is, you can't just get along with people who would kill you if you don't agree with them, you have to do it to them before they do it to you. There. I've said it.