Boko Haram
I haven’t written a blog in some time. Sometimes life gets in the way, but often I find
that I need to be passionate about an issue before I can write about it. I have never been more passionate than I am
now.
The militant group, Boko Haram, is responsible for
kidnapping hundreds of Nigerian girls, because they dared to go to school. Boko Haram is against Western education as it
feels it is corrupting. The following
link is for an excellent article on the history of the organization: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501).
Boko Haram now claims that it has converted these young
women to Islam. Originally, they planned
to sell the girls, but stated in a recent video that they would be willing to
trade them for captured members of their group who are being held in
prison. I doubt seriously that they
would release all of them if anyone agreed to a prisoner exchange. This is all about power and they see
themselves as having the upper hand.
There has been a great deal of discussion regarding why
there has been a rise of these militant extremist groups. There are a multitude of reasons such as
poverty and disenfranchisement. These
issues need to be addressed, but our first priority must be the return of these
girls to their families.
The U.S. and a number of countries are actively involved,
but the rest of the world should rise up, as well. Members of the Muslim community have come
forward and stated that Boko Haram does not represent their faith. If they are truly appalled at the actions of
these men, then they need to do something about it.
Jon Stewart’s take on this atrocity was excellent (http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fck-you-rush-stewart-tears-into-limbaugh-boko-haram/). He said that the girls are the real “bad asses” as they went to school every
day, knowing that this could happen. He went
on to call Boko Haram a “bunch of little
girls.” His conclusion said it all, “But, you know
what? You don’t deserve that compliment.” I agree. These men want to keep women ignorant,
because they are afraid of them. #BringBackOurGirls
