The dark side of faith in Africa

The town of Yelwa sits squarely in the "middle belt" of Nigeria, an area where the Christian majority south and the Muslim majority north grind away at each other in spasms of religious violence that would make an inquisitor blush. An article in the current Atlantic Monthly "God's Country" by Eliza Griswold, recounts one of these episodes of religious violence.

There were bullet-ridden bodies strewn around. A church was set on fire by an arsonist's hand. Then the school and the nursery were set ablaze. Members of the congregation were shot by armed gunman. In all, 78 Christians were killed and placed in a mass grave. Fortunately, the pastor of the destroyed church survived but lost seven members of his family that day. This was the result of a coordinated attack on a Christian church by Muslims in the Nigerian town of Yelwa. A week later, Yelwa was surrounded by hundreds of armed men, some sporting tags identifying them as members of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

Read more at news source.