As various Western countries continue to deliberate about how to respond to the Islamic group Boko Haram's brazen kidnapping of over two hundred teenage girls from a school in Nigeria, most of the rest of us wonder how this group can view its actions as the right thing to do.  Yes, we know that from the vantage point of its particular religious perspective, those in the group view their actions as the only thing to do.  They see it as Allah's call to them.  Yet given that countless mainstream Muslim groups have uniformly condemned Boko Haram's action, averring that it is inconsistent with Islamic teaching and should be rejected by all peoples of the world, we wonder why the group continues to insist that it is in the right.
     Sadly, every religious group, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and many others, has its share of extremists.  Muslims are not alone in this regard.  Why, we then ask, does religion seem to breed extremism?  The easy answer is to point to the dogmatic character of most religions, that most belief systems assert that theirs is the only right one.  Such dichotomous perspective inevitably leads to conflict.  More often than not, however, the deeper answer is that religious extremists have, for various cultural and political reasons, abandoned the original foundations and principles of their faith.  As the psalmist observed, "When the foundations are destroyed, the people are lost" (Psalm 11).  When people ignore their starting points, they invite moral disarray.  Not that every starting point is accurate, worthwhile, or true, just that most religions begin with every good intention for the world.  Unless these good intentions are preserved and retained, however, the most beautiful religion will soon look like a moral cesspool.
     As we continue to pray for the safe release of these girls, we continue to pray as well that the members of Boko Haram will realize that they have indeed forgotten their foundations, that they have rejected the starting points which affirm the compassion that, according to the Qur'an, marks the essence of Allah.  We pray that all of us will remember that transcendent foundations must undergird our view of reality.