[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] A jacket wallah disguised as a woman went kaboom!in the parking lot of a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, killing himself and three others in the second such attack in as many weeks claimed by ISIS.
As a practicing agnostic I find it helpful to utter an occasional "Dear God help me!" Atheists don't have that outlet, since they actively disbelieve in God.
The latest attack and a suicide kaboom at a Shiite mosque that killed 21 people last Friday appeared aimed at fanning sectarianism and destabilizing the kingdom.
Us agnostics don't know, one way or the other, if there is a God (or gods, for that matter.)
Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
had vowed to crack down on the bully boyz after last week's bombing, and authorities appeared keen to claim credit for preventing the bomber from entering the Imam Hussein Mosque, the only Shiite mosque in the port city of Dammam. The state-run Saudi Press Agency said security guards halted a car in the parking lot and the bomber detonated his explosives as they approached.
I learned all about heaven and hell and good and evil when I was a child. As I grew older, the sheer splendor of the concept of God struck me.
But witnesses said worshippers had taken their own security measures, including setting up checkpoints, and young men had detected the bomber and chased him down, leading him to set off the kaboom.
We live in a universe made up of uncounted galaxies which are made up of uncountable stars and planets. It's enough to take your intellectual breath away.
Mohammad Idris, a worshipper who witnessed the attack, told the AP by telephone that the suicide bomber attempted to enter the mosque but was chased by young men, who had set up checkpoints at the entrance. "They chased the suicide bomber when he tried to enter the women's section of the mosque," he said.Another witness, who did not want to be identified because of security concerns, said security had been tightened at mosques after last week's attack and that women were told to stay home because there were not enough female guards to check them.
Perhaps God knows when every sparrow falls on this old Earth, and He knows when every splurdh wriggles on the gorsh on some unknown planet six or seven galaxies away.
Body parts were scattered around the area after the kaboom, which set four cars ablaze and sent black smoke into the air, said Mohammad al-Saidi, who arrived half an hour after the blast.
I have a hard time seeing God as anthropomorphized as an old fellow with a flowing white beard.
ISIS grabbed credit for the attack, saying it was carried out by its "Najd Province." A statement posted on a Facebook page used by the bully boy group said a "soldier of the caliphate," identified as Abu Jandal al-Jazrawi, went
kaboom!among "an evil gathering of those filth in front of one of their shrines in Dammam." The name Jazrawi suggests that the bomber is a Saudi national.
I have an even harder time seeing a God who created the universe--assuming this is the only universe; he may have created more, in multiple big bangs--having an ego weak enough to require me or thee to "adore" him like an ancient Oriental potentate.
It called on Sunnis to "purify the land of the two shrines from the atheist rafida," a derogatory term for Shiites.
See what I mean? Do you think God, or any god, one or many, could give a squat over which shape turban you wear?
Last Friday, an ISIS suicide bomber killed 21 people in the village of Al-Qadeeh, in the oil-rich eastern Al-Qatif region. It was the deadliest Lion of Islam assault in the kingdom in more than a decade. Saudi Arabia's King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians....
vowed to punish those responsible for the "heinous terrorist attack."
I can go so far as to accept the existence of God, but just think of the amount of either faith or stupidity it takes to wrap yourself with explosives and let 'er rip in the expectation of 72 lissome virgins with whom to diddle away the afterlife. In my expectation, you're not gonna wake up in Paradise.
Interior Ministry official Bassam Attiyah said earlier this week that ISIS had divided the kingdom into five self-styled provinces. He said on state TV that the group's short-term plans were to target the security forces and attack Shiites to foment sectarian strife. Then they plan to target foreigners, including those working in the OPEC member's oil industry, he said.
To test my expectation, go out on jihad and get yourself severely maimed: get a couple legs blown off or something. See if you wake up surrounded by 36 doe-eyed virgins.
"What we are seeing now is the short-term plans," he said.
Get a hand or two blown off preparing explosives. See if you even get a half dozen hookers.
Mohammad al-Hajji, a Saudi Shiite activist, called on the government to curb hate speech against Shiites in mosques, schools and the media, warning that the growing ISIS threat is "bigger than us."
Go ahead. Believe all that. Blow yourself to kingdom come.
"ISIS and whoever is behind it is trying to hit Saudi through the minority to create chaos in the region, and to make Saudi vulnerable," the activist said.
All I can say is: God help you.