[Vision2020] Why is the phrase "Christian Terrorist" Taboo?

[nickgier at roadrunner.com]

Good Morning Visionaries:

This is my radio commentary/column for this week.  The full version is attached.

The manual of the American Army of God--the key contact point for many Christian terrorists--has an upraised sword on its cover.  Jim Wilson's book on evangelizing military-style also has an upraised sword on its cover. I once asked him if that was not too provocative and/or misleadihng, but he just brushed off the issue.

And then the Buddha, Jesus, and Gandhi wept.

Nick

WHY IS THE PHRASE “CHRISTIAN TERRORISM” TABOO?

He’s a Christian and I'm a Christian and he dedicated his life to fighting abortion.
 
~Crystal Davis, supporter of Eric Rudolph, the Olympic Park Bomber

In the U.S. there is a double standard in reporting about terrorist attacks by Christians and Muslims.  Invariably, the Christian terrorists are labeled anti-government, anti-abortion, or anti-gay, but Muslim militants are always identified by their religion.  The implication is that there is nothing inherently violent in Christianity as opposed to Islam.

Contrasting the murderer of abortion doctor George Tiller to a Muslim army major’s shooting at Fort Hood, Dan Mattewson complains that the press “relegated Tiller’s killer Eric Roeder’s religious motivation to the margins, while it played up Nidal Malik Hasan’s connections to Islam.”

All major anti-abortion organizations condemned Tiller’s murder, but when Muslims groups do the same for Islamic terrorists, there are still complaints that they are not doing enough or that they are still harboring militants in their mosques. 

Why is it that the Christian religion of peace can call its extremists outliers, but all Muslims are suspected of being terrorists?

Many of the American Christian terrorists are affiliated in some way with the Army of God, whose manual was first published openly in 1996 by David Leach in his Prayer and Action News. Eric Roeder wrote an article for the journal just before he gunned down George Tiller. 

The Army of God first came to prominence in 1982 when three men kidnapped and then released unharmed an abortion doctor and his wife.  In 1985 the same men planted bombs at seven abortion clinics on the East Coast.

The Army of God also took responsibility for the actions of Eric Rudolph—most widely known as the Olympic Park Bomber—but also involved in killing two and injuring 150 others in anti-abortion anti-gay attacks across the Southeast.  

Christian political activist Gary Bauer claimed that Rudolph would not be  supported by “any branch of Christianity” and “no Christian neighborhoods burst into celebration at the news of the bombings. The contrast with radical Islamic teachings couldn't be more stark.”

Bauer is clearly misinformed.  Even the most conservative Saudi clerics condemned Al Qaeda and the Saudi government has arrested every militant it can find.  At the news of the 9/11 attacks an Iranian soccer game was stopped for a moment of silence (not cheer) for the victims.  Every Muslim majority government sent condolences, and a widely circulated video footage of Palestinians celebrating in the streets was not connected to 9/11 at all.

Bauer is also wrong about support for Rudolph, which actually was widespread in North Carolina.  One restaurant’s marquee read "Pray for Eric Rudolph," and a New York Times reporter wrote that he found the community “fiercely loyal” to Rudolph.

Unfortunately, there are far too many in Europe who would support the Norwegian Christian terrorist Anders Breivik, who committed the largest mass murder in modern history.  Sadly, Islamophobia has taken hold in a culture that is usually better at containing fear with good education and outstanding newspapers and journals. As far as European terrorist attacks are concerned, 85 percent of them have come from militant separatists such as the Basques, and only .4 percent came from Muslims.

Bill O’Reilly of Fox News, who called George Tiller “Tiller the Baby Killer” numerous times, declared that Breivik was no Christian: “No one believing in Jesus commits mass murder.” Catholic journalist Andrew Sullivan disagrees: “Do the countless criminals who have gone to church and believe in Jesus immediately not count as Christians the minute they commit a crime?  Of course not.”  

At the end of March 2010 federal authorities arrested nine people in Michigan who were members of Hutaree, which according to their website means “Christian warrior.”  Fox News reported that the Hutaree militants were “charged with conspiring to kill police officers and then attack a funeral in hopes of killing more law enforcement officials.”

Ironically, a representative of God’s Army—after instigating 30 years of anti-abortion and anti-gay violence and calling Eric Rudolph “an American hero”—declared that they reject the Hutaree because it is a terrorist organization and has taken up arms against the government.  

The “pastor” of the group—with “Jesus” on the front of his T-shirt and “God’s Army” on the back—explains that his group is always armed because they preach the Gospel in violent neighborhoods. 

And then the Buddha, Jesus, and Gandhi all wept, but they still continued—without a gun, sword, spear, or dagger—their ministry among the poor and oppressed in areas just as turbulent as modern ghettos.  

Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Read all of his columns on Islam at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/IslamPage.htm.



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