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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Hemingway Exposing Left-Wing Myths About 'Right-Wing, Extremist Christians'





We have recently discussed on this blog the rapid speed in which the MSM jumped on the "Right-Wing Christian Extremist" bandwagon while the shots were still echoing in Norway following the horrific killing spree of Anders Behring Breivik. Mark Hemingway over at The Weekly Standard is obliterating the worn out templates regularly used by Leftists who will not own up to their own kindred spirits being responsible for some of the most devastating attacks in recent memory. First, Hemingway delves into the mindset of convicted bomber Eric Rudolph (above) who stated, according to USA Today...



"Many good people continue to send me money and books," .. "Most of them have, of course, an agenda; mostly born-again Christians looking to save my soul. I suppose the assumption is made that because I'm in here I must be a 'sinner' in need of salvation, and they would be glad to sell me a ticket to heaven, hawking this salvation like peanuts at a ballgame. I do appreciate their charity, but I could really do without the condescension. They have been so nice I would hate to break it to them that I really prefer Nietzsche to the Bible."



I don't know about you, but I've yet to attend a church in which a reading from the Book of Zarathustra segues neatly into that week's sermon.


Next, Hemingway examines the case of (alleged) Anthrax killer, Bruce Ivins...



"As for alleged Anthrax mailer Bruce Ivins being supposedly motivated by his pro-life, Catholic views -- well, that's a pretty unfounded assertion based on a lot of tenuous and anonymous sources. Further, from what we know about his religious views -- to say nothing of considerable evidence that he was mentally ill -- he wanted the Catholic church to liberalize on the issue of female and married clergy. Not exactly what one thinks of when we discuss extremist religious views."




The article goes on to point out the Leftist leanings of Andrew Joseph Stack who flew his plane into IRS offices in 2010 and holocaust memorial shooter James von Brunn . Next time a tragic event unfolds and the finger is immediately pointed at the Right or Christians, just wait for all of the facts to come in. Bill O'Reilly (who I often disagree with) summed it up rather accurately as to why the Left-wing media so readily pounces on such gross mischaracterizations.




"Two reasons. First, some on the left want to make an equivalency argument between Muslim terrorism and other kinds of violent acts. The Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was often branded "a right-wing terrorist" in the media*. Terrorism is terrorism the analysis goes. It's not fair to constantly emphasize Muslim terrorism without acknowledging the others. Besides, bad men like George W. Bush hype the Muslim threat and use it to do evil things such as invade Iraq.

The second reason is purely political. The left well understands that Christian opposition to things like abortion, gay marriage and drug legalization makes those liberal causes more difficult to achieve. Thus, anything that diminishes Christianity is fair game to be promoted. Every newsworthy sin committed by a Christian is highlighted with a sneering reference to hypocrisy. Any whiff of Christian intolerance is celebrated in the press.

Breivik did not kill in the name of Jesus. He was not a member of a Christian-based al-Qaida-like group. He was not funded by Iran or enabled by Pakistan. It seems he is simply a murderer, a man devoid of any spiritual conscience, a direct descendant of Cain."




* (And positively, NEVER mentioning the fact that McVeigh would often state that "Science is my Religion")


EDIT: Reuters Labels Norway Terror Suspect as ‘Right-Wing’ 25 Times IN ONE ARTICLE














8 comments:

Hunter said...

Hi, JD.
Out of interest, in your opinion, what were the worst actions done by people or a person with right-wing views?

J Curtis said...

Thats a pretty open question Adam.

When you were examining the past actions of such diverse entities as Rush Limbaugh, The Old Right, The Family First Party, The Tea Party, Monarchists and Free Market Capitalists, what immediately jumped out at you?

I'm sure we could make a list of undesireable things if we put our heads to it.

GentleSkeptic said...

Right, as usual.

J Curtis said...

The thread deals with media depictions Roger.

Hunter said...

It's purposely a difficult question and I've been asking it of members of diverse groups. I don't want to prejudice your answer by giving examples but I'd be very interested in your answer.

J Curtis said...

I don't know if these are the WORST examples, but politically, Hoover's actions greatly exacerbated the Great Depression. I would only add that the actions he decided to take were primarily those supported by the Left at the time.

In so far as religion is concerned, I think that sometimes Christians are influenced by poor Sunday school theology and when they attempt to instruct others, it can have negative effects.

In a philosophy club meeting the other day, a couple of people complained that they were exposed to the idea of Hell when they were quite young and they developed an irrational fear of it as a result. Perhaps such instruction wasnt age appropriate at the time.

GentleSkeptic said...

they were exposed to the idea of Hell when they were quite young and they developed an irrational fear of it as a result.

Is there a rational fear of hell? How does it differ from an irrational fear of hell? If hell is real, how could any fear of it be irrational? And wouldn't having that fear sooner be better than risking not having it at all?

Perhaps all religious instruction/indoctrination is inappropriate for young children.

Hunter said...

Thanks for the reply, JD.