I’m sorry if my characterization of the hostages seemed unduly harsh. I do think it is an abandonment of common sense that rises to the level of imbecilic stupidity to gad about a fundamentalist Islamic nation, one that is clearly a place of savage, religiously motivated butchery, on a mission of Christian evangelism in an unguarded bus, on a remote highway, in the dark. It is comparable to climbing into the shark tank, or cleaning a loaded gun, or other such acts of extreme unwisdom. Have you never seen someone do something that was utterly, mind-bogglingly ill-advised, and said to yourself “what an idiot”? This website is, after all, a forum for expressing my own opinions, and my opinion of such a foolhardy excursion is that it was, simply put, a grotesquely stupid thing to do.

Yes, there have been others who have been kidnapped by the Taliban. To the extent that these victims put themselves in such peril without making sensible precautions for their own safety, they were acting foolishly as well, of course. And yes, given my own low opinion of religion generally, I think that placing yourself at such risk with the underlying motive of converting fundamentalist Muslims into pious Christians simply compounds the folly. It’s all just so depressingly pointless and unneccessary, so futile and wasteful.

Please note, though, that while I chide the missionaries for their exceptional foolishness, I reserve all of my moral condemnation for the brutal thugs who have kidnapped and slaughtered them.

I do appreciate that you are, it seems to me, a good-hearted person, and that it pains you to see these poor people insulted for what must, to them, have seemed like a noble gesture. But what I see is young and deluded lives wasted on an pointless and misguided errand, and I’m old enough not to be unduly impressed by well-intentioned foolishness. Along with the Taliban themselves (who of course are the real criminals here), I blame, for their stupendous unwisdom and overweening religious zeal, the church leaders who indoctrinated these naive and malleable youngsters and led them into this mortal peril.

Above all, remember that all of this is just my own opinion. You are welcome to form your own.

again, i find it sad that you had the audacity to called these koreans imbeciles.
Were you informed that other people, some missionaries, most not, were also kidnapped before and after them? If so, why did you not respond with the same audacity on your website? Either you are ignorant, or you found the korean hostages to be a jumping board for your agenda. Does that sound like something a self-righteous person like yourself would do, do use suffering people to further your cause? If not, why did you not respond with the same audacity with regards to other hostages?

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28911292.htm
And yes, the remaining hostages are freed.

Thanks for reading, and for all the links.