THE VIEW FROM HERE-(Ed Note: Foreign correspondent Reese Erlich occasionally writes satire that gets him in trouble—and appears to be doing so again with this article. His latest book, definitely not satire, is “Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect” and includes a foreword by Noam Chomsky.)
When are liberals going to see the connection between terrorism and religion?
Many of the world’s terrorists carry out their slaughter of civilians in the name of one religion in particular. Yet liberals keep using euphemisms such as “extremism” to describe what is actually religious terrorism. That religion, which promotes terrorism, poses a danger to our national security at home and abroad.
I am, of course, referring to the obvious link between terrorism and Christianity. Until we understand how the evil, warlike ideology of Christianity gives rise to terrorism, we won’t be able to end the scourge.
We don’t need to go back to the Crusades for examples of bloodthirsty tactics. Let the modern record speak for itself.
— In recent years, Christians have murdered seven abortion providers, attempted to murder 17 more and engaged in 6,800 acts of violence against abortion facilities. The murderers identify themselves as upholding Christian values and defending the rights of the unborn, a key ideological position advocated by terrorists.
— Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols murdered 168 people and injured 680 others when they blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. McVeigh was a self-proclaimed Christian.
— The Lord’s Resistance Army, originally known as the Uganda Christian Army, kidnaps young teenage girls in that country to use as sex slaves, among its other human rights abuses. Its members regularly slaughter civilians as part of their goal to rule Uganda according to the Ten Commandments.
This brings me to another obvious point. While claiming to be a religion of peace, in practice Christianity has always fostered war. Under the first government to adopt Christianity, the Romans engaged in horrific murder and torture of their non-Christian enemies.
Later, Portuguese and Spanish colonialists enslaved South American and African populations in the name of Christianity and openly used the Catholic Church to expand their empires.
Every major war of the 20th century—World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam—was fought with the blessings of Catholic and Protestant leaders. The instigators always found passages in the Bible to justify war and proclaimed that God was on their side.
And it gets worse: Christians don’t slaughter just those of other religions—they mostly kill each other.
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Protestants and Catholics hate each other and have been enemies for centuries. French Catholics slaughtered Protestant Huguenots in no fewer than eight religious wars from 1562 to 1598. The Protestant Ku Klux Klan vilified Catholic immigrants in the United States in the 1920s. And, of course, we all know the history of Protestants and Catholics in northern Ireland.
When will liberals learn that these Catholic versus Protestant battles will never end and can only be resolved by outside military intervention?
So let’s stop pussyfooting around and join together to fight this global scourge. Christian terrorism is the No. 1 enemy in the world today. Let’s support efforts in the U.S. Congress to allow the president to fight terrorism anywhere in the world.
Remember: That peaceful-looking Christian next door may be part of a terrorist sleeper cell that received training at the Vatican or in Salt Lake City.
Now, perhaps you think I’m being unfair to the hundreds of millions of Christians around the world who aren’t terrorists and, indeed, condemn terrorism. Perhaps you think I’ve selectively chosen extremist incidents that don’t represent the Christian faith. Perhaps you even think Christians can live in peace amongst themselves and with those of other religions.
If you believe all that, then the next time you hear the term “Islamic terrorist,” remember the atrocities mentioned above and see if you would call the perpetrators “Christian terrorists.”
(Reese Erlich is a freelance print and broadcast journalist who reports regularly for National Public Radio, Marketplace Radio, Latino USA, Radio and is a contributor to Truthdig.com … where this think piece was originally posted.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 25
Pub: Mar 24, 2015
