Worlds collide, nobody gives

In keeping with the religion theme, here's a sad example of what can happen when two fundamentalist world views and two cultural worlds collide:

At least two German women and a South Korean woman kidnapped in Yemen last Friday have been murdered, according to Yemeni authorities.

Still missing is a German family with three children aged 5, 4 and 11 months, as well as a British citizen.  What happened?  The Spiegel gives a round-up of the events:

The German Christians kidnapped recently in Yemen were probably the victims of an act of revenge, SPIEGEL has learned. According to information obtained from the German Foreign Ministry's crisis task force responsible for the case, a dispute took place in Saada a few months ago related to missionary activities by one of the Germans, in the course of which angry Muslims threatened the German engineer Johannes H. and demanded that he cease his attempts at proselytizing.

Germans on the street are horrified about and saddened by the murders but there is always a caveat: How can you go to such a place, how can you bring your children along, how can you not heed any warnings?  That does not mean these brutal acts are excused or excusable but Germans are not passionate folks and like to see themselves as rational beings.  Going off to proselytize in a Muslim country in a basically lawless region is asking for trouble.  Most Germans are especially mystified how someone could possibly bring their children to such a place.

I admire people who go places and do humanitarian work.  I especially admire people who work in the health sector, and most of all those who work to make the world a safer place for mothers and children.  But you can do all of this without alienating the same people you are trying to help by talking about religion. It's a sensitive topic and it seems that Johannes H. was not sensitive enough to spot trouble brewing.

I'm sincerely hoping all will end well for them.  I especially hope this for the children.  But you know, in general, common sense is a good thing to have.

Comments

[Christine]

Well put. I'm with you on this one.