Demagogue

You'd think that the term "religious violence" should be a classic oxymoron, but, if so, you'd be wrong. Nigeria is perhaps the worst example at the moment. In the predominantly Muslim north, Nigerians protested the Danish cartoons last week, and these protests led to acts of violence against minority Christians.

In recent days, Christians (who are in the majority in Nigeria's south) have responded with brutal violence of their own. The Washington Post reports:

Christian mobs stopped their killing and looting in this Nigerian city Thursday and turned to disposing of the evidence in the crudest of ways. Men burned the remains of their Muslim victims in smoldering bonfires on downtown streets, leaving behind charred legs, skulls and shoulders that minibus taxi drivers swerved to avoid.

As thousands of Muslims struggled to find a way to reach the northern part of the country or huddled for protection at police stations, Christian residents in this southeastern city expressed little remorse for their role in five days of religious violence ...

It never ceases to boggle my mind that someone could identify himself as a "Christian" and then make a statement like this:

"We have to retaliate," said Justin Ifeanyi, 24. "It is a shame to us if we don't kill them."