Terrorists
They use religion to justify their actions. One cannot divorce Isis from the beliefs that underpin those actions.
In the wake of the Paris atrocities, many people on social media were using the hashtag #terrorhasnoreligon, arguing that religion, and specifically Islam, had no bearing on the the actions of the terrorists. I don't agree.
I am not suggesting that all Muslim are terrorists. I am saying that all the terrorists, those that have attacked London, Madrid, Mumbai, Paris and Lebanon, are Muslim.
Isis and their adherents may not represent the mainstream Islamic world, but they proselytise a barbaric, medieval interpretation of Islam, which they use to justify the murder and beheading of non-believers, the rape of women, the selling of young girls into slavery, the throwing of gay men from roof tops and the destruction of pre-Muhammaden culture.
They use religion to justify their actions. One cannot divorce Isis from the beliefs that underpin those actions. Unless we acknowledge the nature of the beast we cannot possibly formulate a suitable response to the threat they pose.
14th November 2015