Terrorist Attacks in Baghdad, Beirut and Paris - When Peace Eludes Us - 037

In a 24 hour period there were terrorist attacks in Baghdad, Beirut and Paris by suicide bombers and shooters in what are being attributed to the work of ISIS terrorists. The world is reeling. Countries are debating closing their borders to refugees, communities are dealing with the strains of fear, and we are all left with hard questions. What is going on? What are we going to do about it? What do we do when peace eludes us? And in this episode, listeners weigh in with questions of their own.

LISTENER QUESTIONS FROM FACEBOOK

 

Well, i do have a couple questions in regards to the paris tragedy.

First... would you condone the waterboarding of 5 people if it were to prevent a terrorist attack like Paris?

Second, If someone was caught for a terrorist attack on a scale of this size, does the death penalty get enacted?

Third,,, With the refugees from Syria being a pipeline for terrorists to move into locations, do you stop the syrian refugees from coming in to places, or do you develop another solution. Perhaps set up a temporary refugee camp in an isolated area? Perhaps greenland?

Is it fair to jeopardize our own country by exposing ourselves to a known terrorist threat?

Sorry if these questions seem harsh, but i know that people are going to be responding to these events in a variety of ways.

-Tommy

What do you feel is the best way to discourage the xenophobia that results from terrorist attacks like these?

Also, the go-to response seems to be retaliation. As followers of Christ, do you feel this is an acceptable response?

-Ross

What are the costs of non violent response?

How do we react in ways that both engage the pain and suffering of the victims while acknowledging the imago dei, even in those branded our "enemies?"

-Adam

What are your thoughts on the French cartoonist asking people to stop praying for Paris? In situations like these are some forms of compassion or empathy inferior to others?

-Mia

RELEVANT LINKS

Beirut, Baghdad and Paris: how 24 hours of Isis terror unfolded around the world (article)

How to Break a Terrorist (book)

Bush Directly Authorized Use Of Waterboarding, Still Rejects 'Torture' Classification In New Book (article)

Believe Me, It’s Torture (article about voluntary waterboarding of reporter)

Kafka Comes to America (book)

Shunning refugees is no answer to terror (article)

Why Syrian refugee passport found at Paris attack scene must be treated with caution (article)On Paris (Culturemakers article)

Xenophobia – Nothing to Fear but Everyone – 030 (irenicast episode)

Muslims Against Terrorism (website)

Words matter in ‘ISIS’ war, so use ‘Daesh’ (article)

Beyond Jihad (excerpt)

Paris: You Don’t Want to Read This (Peter Van Buren article)

Why ISIS Attacked Paris (article)

Ethics (Bonhoeffer book)

Paris & Peace (Storied Theology article)

What I Discovered From Interviewing Imprisoned ISIS Fighters (article)

Charlie Hebdo cartoonist doesn’t want you to pray for Paris (article)

Letter From Birmingham City Jail (excerpts)

Beirut, Baghdad, Paris and selective grief (article)

Dunbar’s Number (wikipedia article)

Russell Brand Has The Solution To Terrorism. Everyone Needs To Hear This. (youtube video)

Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (book)

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music.  Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast!  Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show.  If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

 

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

 

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at podcast@irenicast.com

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

Love Us