Exploiting Children to the Extreme – Killing Them

Two events over the last week yet again showed the harsh and cruel place the world has become for children.  Before I go any further, I must admit that I am focused on a certain part of the world, and am driven by my strong convictions of (i) protecting children, and (ii) that people use religion for amoral purposes, thereby corrupting it and taking away all the inherent benefits that any religion brings to humanity.  In this case, it is the continuing thread of the distortion of Islam.  I must also admit that I am not a scholar of Islam by any stretch of the imagination. Spozhmai aged 10, in Afghanistan. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/07/opinion/bloom-horgan-afghanistan-girl/index.html?hpt=hp_c1 The first incident is about a 10 year old Afghan girl, named Spozhmai.  According to the news reports, her own brother, suspected to be a local Taliban commander, is the one who forced her to attempt suicide bombing.  The plan was for her to carry a suicide vest and an extra set of clothes, swim across a river at night, change clothes, and spend the night in an abandoned house.  In the morning, when police officers would arrive at the local station to start work, she was to wear the vest, enter the station and detonate the bomb, killing herself and as many of the police officers as she could. Now, the age difference between Spozhmai and her brother Zahir is not highly unusual.  But the fact that this so-called ‘leader’ was ready to kill his sister, who was literally like his daughter only incites rage within me.  Abhorrent as that is, what makes it even worse for me is that he did it in the name of religion.  What kind of a human being and man is he?  I have daughters, and I, much as any father, would die before allowing any harm to them.  What goes on in the minds of these Taliban? The fortunate turn of events was that when Spozhmai went into the river, the water was too cold, and caused her to scream.  The same police officers she was meant to destroy the next day heard her and fished her out of the river.  And what did the manly, courageous Taliban commander do upon seeing the police?  Why, he tucked his tail between his legs and ran in the other direction, of course. After Spozhmai told the whole story to the police, and it got around on social media, the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai got involved, and according to reports, ordered...