Boston Marathon Explosions

[kaziglu bey]

Boston Marathon Explosions Apparently at least two explosive devices were detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Many injured, probably at least 3 dead. At the risk of appearing insensitive, I am going to postulate two things: 1: This horrible act of terrorism was NOT perpetrated by an atheist, and 2: This WAS perpetrated by a religious person. It seems incredibly likely that I will be correct on both counts, yet atheists will still continue to be demonized by religious people.

I can only hope that the victims are taken to science based medical facilities so they can receive proper treatment, and I hope they have a speedy recovery. As for the dead, I hope that their families can manage to cope with such a senseless act of violence and cruelty. When are we, as a species, going to say "Enough is enough" when it comes to providing respect for people who blow other human beings up for their religion?

EDIT: I decided to make a few more predictions regarding this event. The right will blame this on Obama, and there will be at least one preacher and one GOP member who will say that this is God's punishment for Massachusetts allowing gay marriage. If I turn out to be right, I will officially be better at actually predicting things than Wayne "Edgar Cayce Nostradamus" Harropson.

[Jag]

.....wow.

Just, wow. I can't .... wow.

What a horrible thing to happen. And what inadequate words those are.

What the fuck is wrong with people? Who would do such a fucking senseless thing?

[Tero]

Likely some leads will appear soon. You don't transport that quantity of explosives unnoticed.

[kaziglu bey]

What the fuck is wrong with people? Who would do such a fucking senseless thing?

Religious people, that is who. Of course it will be up to medical science to put the people damaged by religion back together.

[Jag]

I guess a better way to ask that question would have been - what the fuck is broken inside of someone that they could do such a thing? Religion alone isn't enough, the person(s) themselves are broken, and religion just feeds and further corrupts that broken thing.

I'm not being all that rational about this am I? I get so <I don't know what word I'm looking for here> about this kind of pointless destruction, I just can't be reasonable until I get my first horrified emotional response out.

[kaziglu bey]

I guess a better way to ask that question would have been - what the fuck is broken inside of someone that they could do such a thing? Religion alone isn't enough

When a religion says to kill other people that don't believe in said religion, it is in fact enough. Sad but true.

the person(s) themselves are broken, and religion just feeds and further corrupts that broken thing.

Disagree. The 9/11 suicide pilots were well educated people with no discernible history of being "broken" in any way.

I'm not being all that rational about this am I? I get so <I don't know what word I'm looking for here> about this kind of pointless destruction, I just can't be reasonable until I get my first horrified emotional response out.

It is indeed horrifying. It's just a shame that this kind of thing happens again and again.

[Jag]

Semantics and emotions. Sorry.

As far as I'm concerned (and I do realize that this verges on hysterics) anyone who is capable of indiscriminate slaughter is "broken". Some mechanism that the majority of us posses that would stop us from actually committing these acts is missing in these people. They're sociopathic. And I promise to rein in the <still looking for that word> of my responses. Soon.

I think I should go read something else for a while until I can get a grip on myself....

[Quesi]

Tax day?  Boston?  Way too early to say, but I would guess Teabaggers over Al Qaeda, and I think it is pretty safe to say it is not North Korea. 

Of course, it could be an individual or group targeting someone very specific who was either attending or participating in the marathon. 

I embrace kaziglu bey's sentiments, and I hope that the injured are indeed transported and treated in science based medical facilities.  It appears that many people have lost limbs, and I hope that they benefit from the extensive research into prosthetics. 

I imagine in the years to come, survivors of today's horrible attack will run in future marathons, using prosthetics, and that we will hail them as heroes, and be inspired by their resilience and strength.

And like Jag, I'm just baffled.  I do agree that something inside of the perpetrators was "broken."  Broken by indoctrination (political, religious or other) or by mental illness or trauma due to life events. 

Whether the attack targeted an individual or group, or whether it was a symbolic act, or simply an attention grabbing stunt by a sick individual or group, I am shocked and saddened and shaken.

[LoriPinkAngel]

Are there a lot of medical facilities that have no basis in science in the Boston area?  Just because a healthcare organization receives funding from a religious organization does not necessarily mean they use no science in the treatment in their patients.  I doubt that just because a place is called Saint Whomever's that all they do is light candles and pray when an ambulance comes through the door.

[Nick]

As long as we continue to try to police the world we will remain a target.  I heard many people had to have legs amputated due to the bomb coming up from below.  Those above who made predictions are prob right on.  I suspect FOX will at some point try to say this would not have happened under a Romney presidency.

I'm going to go with it was domestic.

[Backspace]

What I can't figure out is why some felt it was more important to video the distruction rather than lend a hand.  There were several videos played over and over on the news of a group of people struggling to clear debris to gain access to the injured, and the person just sat there recording it.

No doubt the NRA will claim if every runner and every spectator had been armed, the bombing would have never happened.

[ParkingPlaces]

If asked to guess, I would say that this may well be the work of some homegrown whackos, not religious zealots from overseas. Attacking runners feels like something that a right wing loonie would do more than a religious nutbag. Of course all of us are just guessing right now, including me. But crap what a tragedy.

Hopefully we'll know more about the perps soon. In the meantime, the next day or two will be spent sorting out the real from the rumors. Wish us all luck.

[LoriPinkAngel]

What I can't figure out is why some felt it was more important to video the distruction rather than lend a hand.  There were several videos played over and over on the news of a group of people struggling to clear debris to gain access to the injured, and the person just sat there recording it.

No doubt the NRA will claim if every runner and every spectator had been armed, the bombing would have never happened.

If you have no medical skills you may as well stand out of the way filming.  Sometimes reviewing videos of events helps investigators catch those responsible or figure out more efficient ways to respond in the future.

[Nam]

It seems the OP has made up his mind: religious people are the ones who did it (based on the OP and his second comment). Opinions mean shit. Stating them as fact(s) makes them worse.

No matter who did it: it's a tragedy, and should, somehow, be prevented in the future.

-Nam

[kaziglu bey]

It seems the OP has made up his mind: religious people are the ones who did it (based on the OP and his second comment).

It seems to be the most likely outcome. When was the last time there was an atheist terrorist attack? I can't think of a single one. Could I be wrong? Sure, I could be wrong. The likelihood of that in this case seems very, very small. An instruction book that says to kill people who don't believe the same as you, plus a belief that no matter what you do, as long as you accept Jesus (or Allah, or Yahweh) as your savior you gain eternal salvation, has led to extraordinary amounts of violence.

Opinions mean shit.

Except that some opinions have the advantage of being correct, or at least are reasonable hypotheses based on an extensive history of violence for religious reasons. If someone were to say "This must have been the result of atheists!" they would have no historical precedent which to point to as evidence. 

Stating them as fact(s) makes them worse.

The words "postulate"  and "prediction" are hardly statements of fact. I wonder, if/when it does come out that this terrorist attack was perpetrated by a religion person, will you gracefully accept that I was right? Time will tell.

No matter who did it: it's a tragedy, and should, somehow, be prevented in the future.

I can agree with that. It is horrible that people feel entitled to behave in this fashion. My point, in case you missed it, is that EVERY TIME something like this happens, it is a religious person who is responsible. Atheists don't fly planes into buildings, or set off car bombs, or blow up abortion clinics, or shoot girls in the head for trying to get an education, or participate in honor killings, or gun people down in churches. Sure, it's not a known fact yet that a religious person was responsible. But to act like that is not the most likely explanation (by far) is really grasping at straws. Is it bold of me to assume that religion played a role in this? Maybe, but I would be pleasantly surprised if I were wrong. Here is a list of terrorist attacks committed by Muslims. Here is a list of terrorist attacks by Christians. Here is a list of terrorist attacks committed by Jews. I'd post a list of terrorist attacks committed by atheists, but I couldn't even find one. Imagine that.

Ask yourself an honest question: If, when more is known about what happened, and culpability is established, will you be surprised, for even a fraction of a second, if the person responsible is religious? If that is the case, as almost all terrorist attacks are, can we then have a grown up discussion about how religion encourages such violence? Or will the religious be allowed to sweep it under the carpet by labeling the person "Not a true Christian" or by saying that it was done "For political/social/territorial reasons", or by saying that the person must have been insane? Or will we finally be able to admit that religious people are the largest producers of indiscriminate explosions in public places, and start addressing this ghastly problem?

[kaziglu bey]

And Nam, your negative karma description is a bit silly. If an opinion is supported by facts, it ceases to be an opinion, and is rather a description of reality. Are the facts in yet to support my opinion? No. But I have made the case that the most likely reason for this, by a long shot, is some religious nut case. Historically speaking, there is plenty of evidence to suggest such a hypothesis. In the coming days, this hypothesis will be put to the test. If my hypothesis is demonstrated to be correct, I will patiently await your apology.

[Mrjason]

Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) is an anti-religious terrorist organisation, they've been active since the 60's.

The only thing all terrorists have in common is, as jag says, they have something broken inside them.

[plethora]

I am leaning towards domestic myself... and probably not for religious reasons either, but rather politically motivated.

By politically motivated, I mean it was likely the actions of an individual or group of individuals who wanted to stick it to US society and/or the US government for being 'wronged' somehow or in retaliation for government policies or past/current actions.

The next likely candidate would be a religious extremist group, of which the islamic groups are at the top of the list .... although it could very well be extremist christians and in both cases they can be domestic or foreign.

It's not North Korea. That's ridiculous. North Korean people and/or their government have no presence in the US or even Canada. There has been no evidence of them harbouring terrorists, funding them or even selling arms to them (at least not for the past 30 years or so).

[shnozzola]

No matter our beliefs, the thing about humanity is, when something this horrifying happens, we hold our 8 yr olds closer, we go out of the way to treat the people we see every day with that much more kindness, we get up in the morning vowing to be better.  The evolving human species is really quite amazing, no matter how bad we may feel at times, how depressing things can seem.  We are very strong.  A very large percentage of humanity, the sleeping giant masses, are alright, are good people. 



           

Russia responded to the Boston explosions by bringing flowers to the U.S. Embassy to support the American citizens

[Azdgari]

It seems to be the most likely outcome. When was the last time there was an atheist terrorist attack? ...

How are those the only options?  Motivated by religious beliefs, or somehow motivated by atheism?

These things can happen for secular political reasons, too.  Look at Timothy McVeigh.

[Chronos]

Gay marriage = marathon explosions

[jynnan tonnix]

And already I have read accounts of people who felt some divine presence or intervention; a "miracle" which prevented them from being caught in the midst of the carnage. Tell that to the families of those who died or lost limbs.

[Jag]

I didn't see any indications of divine intervention, but Mr. Rogers (from a FB friend) has as good a perspective as any I can think of:

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You always find people who are helping.'"

Edit: Ahh, just noticed it came to him from George Takei, so it's going to get spread widely. Good. It helps a bit to keep it in mind.

[Jag]

Another FB friend said this:
So-I don't normally do this, but I am probably going to piss a few people off. People just need to shut the hell up. Stop making Boston about yourselves. Stop bending this tragedy to fit your little political fight, or your gun laws, or your belief that God is in the back seat. Stop trying to use this to feed your "I told you so" attitude about The Moral Compass Today. Just shut up-this isn't about how it is making YOU feel-you are alive today. Seriously-be grateful, hold your family, and just let the people grieve who need to.

^^^What she said. If only it worked that way.

[Fiji]

Actually, like Quesi, my first reaction was, Boston? Explosions? Teabaggers!

It'll be a while before we know for sure, I think, since, for an attack this big it was essentially botched. 'only' three dead[1] ... whoever did this will not come forward to claim 'only' three victims in the name of whatever cause they think justifies this.

1.	no one ever counts the maimed

[Chronos]

And already I have read accounts of people who felt some divine presence or intervention; a "miracle" which prevented them from being caught in the midst of the carnage. Tell that to the families of those who died or lost limbs.

Why did their god forsake them?

[Chronos]

Another FB friend said this:
So-I don't normally do this, but I am probably going to piss a few people off. People just need to shut the hell up. Stop making Boston about yourselves. Stop bending this tragedy to fit your little political fight, or your gun laws, or your belief that God is in the back seat. Stop trying to use this to feed your "I told you so" attitude about The Moral Compass Today. Just shut up-this isn't about how it is making YOU feel-you are alive today. Seriously-be grateful, hold your family, and just let the people grieve who need to.

^^^What she said. If only it worked that way.

Whenever something like the Boston bombs occurs, the best thing to do is to turn off the television completely. It is filled with idiotic speculation, blame, people blustering about emotions or other, disconnected events like September 11, or speaking of heroes (inappropriately in my opinion) ... all to fill the time on the air. It's like recycling unintellectual crap ... kinda like church.

[screwtape]

Mr. Rogers

I saw it here
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/16/1201936/-C-J-Tuesday

[Jag]

I haven't had the tv on since Sunday, so I've managed to avoid most of the "spin and speculate" around this. MPR (Mn Public Radio)and the BBC have kept the hysteria in check, so I'm checking their websites periodically.