Catholic Church Christmas Bombing 2011: Boko Haram Means “Western Learning is Sinful”

The Islamist group that calls itself “Boko Haram”—northern Hausa language, meaning “Western learning is sinful”—and that blew up Catholics at a Christmas service yesterday, is described in the following manner by Reuters:

The shadowy group from Nigeria’s Muslim north, blamed for dozens of bombings and shootings in recent years, said it was responsible for a string of blasts, three of them in churches, including one that killed at least 27 people at a packed Christmas service on the outskirts of the capital Abuja. […]

The militant movement, whose name means “Western learning is sinful” in the northern Hausa language, is concentrated in Nigeria’s more remote northern states. It became active in 2003, with an avowed aim to introduce sharia law across Nigeria.

Given that Islam is a “religion of peace,” I eagerly await news of global Muslim outrage, including imam condemnation from mosque pulpits, of Boko Haram’s actions.

About Santi Tafarella

I teach writing and literature at Antelope Valley College in California.
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1 Response to Catholic Church Christmas Bombing 2011: Boko Haram Means “Western Learning is Sinful”

  1. “Western learning is sinful” !? Monty Python couldn’t have come up with a better one. So obviously the thing to do is murder innocent people. (Oh by the way, I wonder how much western learning went into creating those bombs?)

    Anyway, there have been Muslim condemnations so far… http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/455135-world-muslims-condemn-nigeria-attacks.html

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