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Isis-linked militants take priest and churchgoers hostage in Philippines

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A Catholic priest and churchgoers have been taken hostage by Isis-linked militants attempting to seize control of a city in the Philippines.

Gunmen forced their way into a cathedral in Marawi city and seized the Reverend Chito Suganob alongside more than a dozen members of his congregation and staff as fighting continued to rage with government troops. 

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said the gunmen have threatened to kill the hostages “if government forces unleashed against them are not recalled.” 

He asked Filipinos to pray for the captives and for the government to make their safety a primary concern. 

Isis militants have previously beheaded Christians in gory propaganda videos filmed in Libya and elsewhere, and a Catholic church was previously targeted by supporters in France.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the south because of the militants' siege on the city on Tuesday and abandoned a trip to Russia to deal with the crisis. 

Mr Duterte vowed to place southern Mindanao island, where Marawi is situated, and its 22 million residents under military rule for up to a year if necessary.

“To my countrymen who have experienced martial law, it would not be any different from what President Marcos did. I'd be harsh,” he said in a video recorded on his return flight, referring to the 1970s rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

“If it would take a year to do it then we'll do it. If it's over with a month, then I'd be happy. To my countrymen, do not be too scared. I'm going home. I will deal with the problem once I arrive.”

Troops are battling to contain dozens of militants from the Maute group, which pledged allegiance to Isis in 2015, after they escaped a botched security raid on a hideout and overran streets, bridges and buildings.

Two soldiers and a police officer are among those killed and at least 12 people have been wounded in the violence, seeing Maute fighters set fire to a school, a church and a prison.

Authorities insisted the situation was under control but residents who fled Marawi said it was in the hands of the extremists, who had allowed civilians to leave.

“The city is still under the control of the armed group,” student Rabani Mautum told Reuters in nearby Pantar town, where some residents were leaving in overloaded trucks.

“They are all over the main roads and two bridges leading to Marawi.

“I was in school when we heard gunfire …when we came out there were blood stains in the building but we did not see dead or wounded."

A photograph from one resident showed the black flag used as a symbol by Isis flying in Marawi.

Alongside another Islamist group known as Abu Sayyaf, the Maute group is one of two major militias in the Philippines linked to Isis, which is attempting to intensify its presence in Asia.

Critics and human rights groups have raised concern over Mr Duterte’s declaration of martial law on the entire island which is roughly the size of South Korea, to contain rebels in one city.

It will last an initial 60 days and the President has until Thursday night to explain his decision to congress under the Philippines’ constitution.

Tuesday's failed raid was aimed at capturing Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group notorious for piracy, banditry and for kidnapping and beheading Westerners.

Mr Duterte has warned repeatedly that Mindanao, an impoverished region beset by decades of unrest by separatist and Marxist guerrillas, was at risk of ”contamination“ by Isis fighters driven out of Iraq and Syria.

Armed forces spokesman Edgard Arevalo played down the prospect of a larger scale conflict and claimed rebels were “merely courting the acclamation of Isis”

 

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1 hour ago, Hermione said:

Classy and enlightened as ever, I see! Ain't you tired, Ms. Hilly? carla1

Ideologies found in ignorance deserve to be mocked, especially the ones that condone atrocities.

You want something more articulate?

Well I'm not in the mood to spark pointless discussion where SJWs defend Islam and try to disassociate ISIS from it. The interpretations argument will come up, which is an excuse not to acknowledge all of the horrible stuff in whatever religion that is discussed. 

 

I'm not talking about this here. If anyone is feeling butt-hurt, they can PM me.

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18 minutes ago, Rosé. said:

The interpretations argument will come up, which is an excuse not to acknowledge all of the horrible stuff in whatever religion that is discussed. 

Okay but what other way is there to interpret:

"whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind."

?

That's pretty straightforward to me. The Qu'ran straight up speaks against what Isis are doing - killing people for no reason.

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1 minute ago, Anna-wa said:

Okay but what other way is there to interpret:

"whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind."

?

That's pretty straightforward to me. The Qu'ran straight up speaks against what Isis are doing - killing people for no reason.

 

9 hours ago, Rosé. said:

Once again. Religion is stupid.

 

The problem doesn't lies in the religion per se. It's the misuse of it. People use it as an instrument like they often do with certain ideology. Vatican State with Catholicism, Radical Settlers with Judaism and even Soviet Union with Communism.

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Just now, Justin Bieber said:

 

The problem doesn't lies in the religion per se. It's the misuse of it. People use it as an instrument like they often do with certain ideology. Vatican State with Catholicism, Radical Settlers with Judaism and even Soviet Union with Communism.

Communism isn't a religion. Hahaha.

But yeah that's the point I was trying to make: Religion isn't the problem. Extremists who misuse it are.

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2 minutes ago, Anna-wa said:

Communism isn't a religion. Hahaha.

But yeah that's the point I was trying to make: Religion isn't the problem. Extremists who misuse it are.

That's why I included ideology. Communism is a political ideology after all which got misused by the Soviet Union. 

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30 minutes ago, Rosé. said:

Ideologies found in ignorance deserve to be mocked, especially the ones that condone atrocities.

You want something more articulate?

Well I'm not in the mood to spark pointless discussion where SJWs defend Islam and try to disassociate ISIS from it. The interpretations argument will come up, which is an excuse not to acknowledge all of the horrible stuff in whatever religion that is discussed. 

 

I'm not talking about this here. If anyone is feeling butt-hurt, they can PM me.

The vast majority of Muslims don't condone terrorist groups like ISIS, and it's a preposterous notion to suggest that over a billion people all around the world should be forced to take responsibility for the actions of one small extremist sect. In fact, the Pew Research Center conducted polls in nations with significant Muslim populations, which showed that they are unanimously against Islamic State. Lumping all Muslims together with ISIS only serves to increase violent hate crimes against them, which causes even more of the atrocities you speak of.

I'm not sure what "SJWs" have to do with anything, or why you keep bringing them up whenever people take issue with your posts. They have nothing to do with the subject at hand, and just because someone disagrees with you or is offended by you doesn't make them an SJW. orangu1

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31 minutes ago, Rosé. said:

Ideologies found in ignorance deserve to be mocked, especially the ones that condone atrocities.

You want something more articulate?

Well I'm not in the mood to spark pointless discussion where SJWs defend Islam and try to disassociate ISIS from it. The interpretations argument will come up, which is an excuse not to acknowledge all of the horrible stuff in whatever religion that is discussed. 

 

I'm not talking about this here. If anyone is feeling butt-hurt, they can PM me.

You're so dumb at this point it's hilarious. rip3 

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There are a lot of crazy fucks in every religion, and though I'm not at all fond of religion in general, in fact I would go as far as to say that I quite detest it, generalizing an entire religion by the actions of some is wrong.

jj4

 

 

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1 hour ago, Mom said:

There are a lot of crazy fucks in every religion, and though I'm not at all fond of religion in general, in fact I would go as far as to say that I quite detest it, generalizing an entire religion by the actions of some is wrong.

jj4

 

 

Personally, I don't group everyone of a particular religion together. I prefer to focus on the actual religion and those who actually follow the scripture and don't have tendencies to pick and choose what they practice and what they don't. I don't think the fact the most participants in the Islamic faith are moderates shouldn't take away from the fact that there is a large, self proclaim "Islamic State" that is proving to be very powerful and deadly. Their objective is to spread their branch of Islam globally and kill anyone who does not integrate or meet the standards of their religion, which to my understanding correlates with the Islamic faith. Basically, the people who practice their religion for what it actually is should be the ones being seen as core representatives of their religion as the moderates in my opinion aren't actually representing the religion for what it is. ISIS represents Islam more to me than the moderate followers.

 

I've discussed with many moderates in real life and seen many debates of educated individuals too. I can't take moderates seriously. I think that religious denominations should be split into moderates and whole hearted followers, as most people who practice religion don't fully commit to all it's teachings, especially in the first world.

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Once again. Religion is stupid.  

The problem doesn't lies in the religion per se. It's the misuse of it. People use it as an instrument like they often do with certain ideology. Vatican State with Catholicism, Radical Settlers with J

The vast majority of Muslims don't condone terrorist groups like ISIS, and it's a preposterous notion to suggest that over a billion people all around the world should be forced to take responsibility


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