The Sri Lanka terrorist attacks

Let me start by saying that I am not a very religious person in the traditional sense of the word; I rarely go to church and I rarely fast or pray. However, I do believe that there is a god. In other words, I don't really believe in the institution but I believe in a greater power that watches over us and our actions on this earth can determine our afterlife journey. You may or may not have guessed my religious beliefs but I don't think that there is any point in stating them. But let me expand on that.


Everyone has the right to believe in whatever he or she wants. And this is one of the civil rights. So, being a Catholic, a Muslim, a Buddhist, an Orthodox, an atheist, or something else is fine. It is your right.

However, imposing your religious belifs on others is NOT your right. The whole world was shocked when the news of the Sri Lanka terrorist attacks were broadcasted. I remember sitting in the living room with my mother and my sister and hearing about it on the news. It was mostly my sister's comment that made me realize the seriousness of the situation. Her comment was that she couldn't imagine going to the church and being killed there. And this is logical as the church is a sacred, a safe place, a shelter for the soul and the mind. You go there in order to get away from the problems of everyday life and to be spiritually lifted. Thus, the thought of placing bombs in that place where no danger is expected is extra scary and horrifying. The question on everyone lips is why. Why cause so much pain and death? In order to kill people for being Catholics? No one has the right or the jurisdiction to force someone else to apostatize or to kill someone just because he or she believes in something different.

Things get more and more disturbing when you hear that although the authorities were aware of the potential bombings in the churches, they did nothing to stop them. Evidence that the police knew about the attacks were leaked. They knew and they did nothing, they just let it happen and they arrested suspects afterwards. Why? Many claim that some politicians were benefitted by these attacks. This means that the lives of more than 300 people were considered less worthy than some political gains. 

One more thing that I feel that I have to point out is that bombings occurred not only in Catholic churches but also in hotels. But what we mostly hear about is about the churches. And I think that this is because we are so used to hearing about attacks in public spaces, like bars and concerts, that if the bombings were only in the hotels, the impact of the news would not have been so great. That was the first time that a Catholic church was hit. People know now that there is no place where they can feel safe, not even in the places that they considered sacred. 

To conclude, either you celebrate Easter or not, either you are a Muslim or a Catholic, we are all humans. We are all the same no matter how much some of us try to arise as better from the rest. We all bleed and we all die. Only the moment that each and every one of us feels respect and solidarity towards his or her fellow being we can live peacefully and happily on this world. If we keep verbally and physically hurting people, if we keep killing people for the sake of our ideology or for the sake of our rising higher and higher in the social or political hierarchy, then the years to come will be bleak and sinister. 


P.S. This is my reaction and my opinion after hearing about the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka. I would really like to read your thoughts at the comments. This is THE DAILY podcast from which I contrived information about the police's intelligence on the event and the approximate number of victims. The image was contrived from the New York Post's article.