The mainstream media, especially organs like Salon that are even more Leftist than the others, are always avid to exonerate Islam and establish the claim that Christianity is just as likely to incite its adherents to violence as Islam is. No group has a monopoly on evil, and certainly Christians have in history committed terrible atrocities in the name of their religion. The difference is that the Christian perpetrators of these atrocities did not and could not justify them by pointing to exhortations to such violence in Christian texts and teachings, while Islamic jihadis can and do justify their actions and make recruits among peaceful Muslims by pointing to Islamic texts and teachings exhorting the believers to be violent.
Salon, nonetheless, is determined to obscure that fact and prop up some “Christian terrorist groups” that it likens to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. None of these groups enjoy anything like the broad support among Christians that the Islamic State or al-Qaeda have among Muslims — have 25,000 Christians traveled from all over the world to join the Army of God? Nor does any sect of Christianity teach that Christians have a duty to wage war against and subjugate unbelievers. What’s more, almost all of the violence listed here as having been committed by these Christian groups took place many years ago, suggesting that these groups are more or less moribund today — which, unfortunately, cannot be said of the Islamic State or al-Qaeda. And even if all these violent acts had actually been committed recently by Bible-quoting Christians with the full approval of numerous Christian clerics and churches (which is not even close to being true), they still don’t add up to anything remotely comparable to the 25,000+ acts of jihad violence that Muslims have committed since 9/11.
“6 modern-day Christian terrorist groups our media conveniently ignores,” by Alex Henderson, Alternet via Salon, April 7, 2015:
…In the minds of far-right Republicans, Obama committed the ultimate sin by daring to mention that Christianity has a dark side and citing the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition as two examples from the distant past. Obama wasn’t attacking Christianity on the whole but rather, was making the point that just as not all Christians can be held responsible for the horrors of the Inquisition, not all Muslims can be blamed for the violent extremism of ISIS (the Islamic State, Iraq and Syria), the Taliban, al-Qaeda or Boko Haram. But Obama certainly didn’t need to look 800 or 900 years in the past to find examples of extreme Christianists committing atrocities. Violent Christianists are a reality in different parts of the world—including the United States—and the fact that the mainstream media don’t give them as much coverage as ISIS or Boko Haram doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.
Below are six extreme Christianist groups that have shown their capacity for violence and fanaticism.
1. The Army of God
A network of violent Christianists that has been active since the early 1980s, the Army of God openly promotes killing abortion providers—and the long list of terrorists who have been active in that organization has included Paul Jennings Hill (who was executed by lethal injection in 2003 for the 1994 killings of abortion doctor John Britton and his bodyguard James Barrett), John C. Salvi (who killed two receptionists when he attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1994) and Eric Rudolph, who is serving life in prison for his role in the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta in 1996 and other terrorist acts. Rudolph, in fact, has often been exalted as a Christian hero on the Army of God’s website, as have fellow Army of God members such as Scott Roeder (who is serving life without parole for murdering Wichita, Kansas-based abortion doctor George Tiller in 2009), Shelley Shannon (who attempted to kill Tiller in 2003) and Michael Frederick Griffin (who is serving a life sentence for the 1993 killing of Dr. David Gunn, an OB-GYN, in Pensacola, Florida).
Although primarily an anti-abortion organization, the Army of God also has a history of promoting violence against gays. And one of the terrorist acts that Rudolph confessed to was bombing a lesbian bar in Atlanta in 1997.
No Christian sect teaches that it is right to kill abortionists or gays. And the Army of God has apparently not killed any since 2009 — it seems to have been effectively neutralized, after a handful of killings which have often been invoked as the equivalent of those 25,000 jihad attacks.
2. Eastern Lightning, a.k.a. the Church of the Almighty God
Founded in Henan Province, China in 1990, Eastern Lightning (also known as the Church of the Almighty God or the Church of the Gospel’s Kingdom) is a Christianist cult with an end-time/apocalypse focus: Eastern Lightning believes that the world is coming to an end, and in the meantime, its duty is to slay as many demons as possible. While most Christianists have an extremely patriarchal viewpoint (much like their Islamist counterparts) and consider women inferior to men, Eastern Lightning believe that Jesus Christ will return to Earth in the form of a Chinese woman. But they are quite capable of violence against women: in May 2014, for example, members of the cult beat a 37-year-old woman named Wu Shuoyan to death in a McDonalds in Zhaoyuan, China when she refused to give them her phone number. Eastern Lightning members Zhang Lidong and his daughter, Zhang Fan, were convicted of murder for the crime and executed in February. In a 2014 interview in prison, Lidong expressed no remorse when he said of Shuoyan, “I beat her with all my might and stamped on her too. She was a demon. We had to destroy her.”
Eastern Lightning’s other acts of violence have ranged from the killing of a grammar school student in 2010 (in retaliation, police believe, for one of the child’s relatives wanting to leave the cult) to cult member Min Yongjun using a knife to attack an elderly woman and a group of schoolchildren in Chenpeng in 2012. Christian groups are not exempt from Eastern Lightning’s fanaticism: in 2002, cult members kidnapped 34 members of a Christian group called the China Gospel Fellowship and held them captive for two months in the hope of forcing them to join their cult. Although mainly active in the communist People’s Republic of China, Eastern Lighting has been trying to expand its membership in Hong Kong.
I never heard of this group before, and it sounds very strange: with its Jesus-is-coming-back-as-a-Chinese-woman thing, it is hardly anything close to mainstream Christianity, Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant. Also, Jesus never says anything in the Gospels about beating women to death if they refuse to hand over their phone numbers. Does Salon really seriously think that this gang of psychopathic thugs is equivalent to an organized international network of dedicated jihadis such as al-Qaeda?
3. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
The mainstream media have had much to say about the Islamist brutality of Boko Haram, but one terrorist group they haven’t paid nearly as much attention to is the Lord’s Resistance Army—which was founded by Joseph Kony (a radical Christianist) in Uganda in 1987 and has called for the establishment of a severe Christian fundamentalist government in that country. The LRA, according to Human Rights Watch, has committed thousands of killings and kidnappings—and along the way, its terrorism spread from Uganda to parts of the Congo, the Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan. The word “jihadist” is seldom used in connection with the LRA, but in fact, the LRA’s tactics are not unlike those of ISIS or Boko Haram. And the governments Kony hopes to establish in Sub-Saharan Africa would implement a Christianist equivalent of Islamic Sharia law.
In reality, the Lord’s Resistance Army is funded by Sudanese jihadis, and reflects a Christian theology that is held by no Christian sect anywhere — in stark contrast to the undeniable fact that all the mainstream sects of Islam and schools of Islamic jurisprudence teach warfare against and subjugation of unbelievers.
4. TheNational [sic] Liberation Front of Tripura
India is not only a country of Hindus and Sikhs, but also, of Muslims, Buddhists, Catholics and Protestants. Most of India’s Christians are peaceful, but a major exception is the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT). Active in the state of Tripura in Northeastern India since 1989, NLFT is a paramilitary Christianist movement that hopes to secede from India and establish a Christian fundamentalist government in Tripura. NLFT has zero tolerance for any religion other than Christianity, and the group has repeatedly shown a willingness to kill, kidnap or torture Hindus who refuse to be converted to its extreme brand of Protestant fundamentalism.
In 2000, NLFT vowed to kill anyone who participated in Durga Puja (an annual Hindu festival) And in May 2003, at least 30 Hindus were murdered during one of NLFT’s killing sprees.
Nothing since 2003? Another neutralized group.
5. The Phineas Priesthood
White supremacist groups don’t necessarily have a religious orientation: some of them welcome atheists as long as they believe in white superiority. But the Christian Identity movement specifically combines white supremacist ideology with Christianist terrorism, arguing that violence against non-WASPs is ordained by God and that white Anglo Saxon Protestants are God’s chosen people. The modern Christian Identity movement in the U.S. has been greatly influenced by the Ku Klux Klan—an organization that has committed numerous acts of terrorism over the years—and in the 1970s, new Christian Identity groups like the Aryan Nations and the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) emerged. Another Christian Identity group of recent decades has been the Phineas Priesthood, whose members have been involved in violent activities ranging from abortion clinic bombings to bank robberies (mainly in the Pacific Northwest). On November 28, 2014, Phineas Priesthood member Larry Steven McQuilliams went on a violent rampage in Austin, Texas—where he fired over 100 rounds at various targets (including a federal courthouse, the local Mexican Consulate building and a police station) before being shot and killed by police.
Here again, these are eccentric, marginal sects, with nothing remotely comparable to the following that the Islamic State and al-Qaeda have among Muslims. No sect of Christianity, Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, teaches the supremacy of any race. In fact, Christianity teaches that all people are made in God’s image and are equal in dignity before God. Islam does not.
6. The Concerned Christians
One of the ironic things about some Christianists is the fact that although they believe that Jews must be converted to Christianity, they consider themselves staunch supporters of Israel. And some of them believe in violently forcing all Muslims out of Israel. The Concerned Christians, a Christianist doomsday cult that was founded by pastor Monte “Kim” Miller in Denver in the 1980s, alarmed Colorado residents when, in 1998, at least 60 of its members suddenly quit their jobs, abandoned their homes and went missing—and it turned out there was reason for concern. In 1999, Israeli officials arrested 14 members of the Concerned Christians in Jerusalem and deported them from Israel because they suspected them of plotting terrorist attacks against Muslims. One likely target, according to Israeli police, was Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque—the same mosque that was targeted in 1969 (when a Christianist from Australia named Denis Michael Rohan unsuccessfully tried to destroy it by arson) and, Israeli police suspect, was a likely target in 2014 (when Adam Everett Livix, a Christianist from Texas, was arrested by Israeli police on suspicion of plotting to blow up Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem).
In 2008, Denver’s KUSA-TV (an NBC affiliate) reported that members of the Concerned Citizens had gone into hiding and that Miller hadn’t been seen in ten years.
All 1980s and 1990s. This group also appears to have been neutralized long ago, with the one possible exception of this Livix fellow in 2014. But again, Christianity doesn’t teach that Christians should blow up the holy places of other religions. It doesn’t teach “slay the non-Christians wherever you find them” (cf. Qur’an 9:5) or fight them “until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Qur’an 9:29) It doesn’t teach that non-Christians are “the most vile of created beings” (Qur’an 98:6). Accordingly, there is no real equivalence. Probably even Salon knows that. But it continues to do all it can to try to ensure that you don’t.
Francis Merde says
I’m surprised they didn’t try to list the Branch Davidians.
ebonystone says
Or Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple in Guyana.
Connor Attard says
The Crusades must be getting rather trite. He would have made a much more convincing case for “violent Christianity” around them, despite being another redundant comparison.
Shane says
The Crusades are used as an example of Christian violence by Muslims and left wingers, but the Crusades against the Muslims were justified.
Why We Are Afraid, A 1,400 Year Secret http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Qpy0mXg8Y
The Crusades: A Defensive Response to Islamic Aggression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2OyapO4TNo&list=PL0190DA95A29367A7
Thomas Hennigan says
If you want to find out about the Crusades type “Real Cusades History” into Youtube and you will get some excellent videos on the Crusades. They are based on solid historical sources and very worthwhile.
sinantara says
Because you’re doing it too I am not doing it. I remember this logic used by me and my sibling when blaming each other for some thing or another, but mom never bought it. No, this was not 600 years ago but also not that recently.
Don McKellar says
Any intelligent, educated, non-politically enslaved atheist will say this:
Christianity has a lot to answer for historically. Contemporary context — not a whole lot. Sadly, there is a ravenous group of idiotic fundamentalists who do a lot of damage to young people in the “Bible Belt”. They drag the religion to the bottom of the barrel, blathering on about crap like a 6000 year old earth and whatnot. Anti-science. Anti-logic. Anti-truth. Anti-facts. Anything to preserve their fantasy texts — rather than just rolling with the punches like a reasonably rational person does, and accepting the Bible as what it is: a metaphorical text with good intentions and a positive message. As a result, they inadvertently grow a crop of angry leftists and haters. The worst, the most destructive, are the far-flung idiots like those in the story above. However, the vast majority of people who identify themselves as Christians are overwhelmingly “good people”. And, most importantly, in its core texts and beliefs, it is a positive and well-intended religious belief system.
The same cannot be said of Islam. It is evil at its core — by any definition of the term — in its texts and beliefs. Its majority are an apathetic, self-delusional group, who are quick to try and sweep the truth of their cult under the carpet and shut up those who speak the truth about it. It hurts their ears and forces them to confront reality in a way that makes them cringe. The perversity and deception in Islam is sick and twisted by any any advanced modern society’s standard. The only others that deny this are delusional fascist-leftists who have never even read or researched the texts, and are simply reactionary-style striking back at the Right, which they hate so much. A knee-jerk reaction. And fulfilling their racist fantasies about a racially challenged minority who must be “protected” at all costs.
The group in the story are a rare, almost impossible to find exception to the above truths.
Peggy says
Yes the “Bible Belt” are really an embarrassment to the rest of us but definitely nothing like Muslims. Nobodey is being beheaded for smoking, drinking, converting to another religion or children being married off.
No genital mutilations are being performed. Non Christians are not being killed and no mosques or temples are destroyed.
They are really insulting our intgelligence when they try to compare Islam to Christianity. The Spanish Inquisition was a long time ago and we have evolved since then so why bring it up all the time? Are they trying to get us to give them a few centuries to catch up? They’ve had a thousand years to show some indication of evolution but there has been none. We can’t afford to wait another year, let alone a few centuries because civilization will be destroyed and us either converted or killed.
Luke The Drifter says
Did you ever wonder what embarrasses Christians in the Bible Belt?
Enlightened elitists are such a hoot, don’t you think?
Peggy says
The statement that the Earth is only 6000 years old. The whole story of creation being true and dismissing evolution.
You don’t find that embarrassing?
Augustine Thomas says
The Spanish Inquisition was a much fairer justice system than that of the United States and other countries in the Secularist West.
Christians in the “Bible Belt” may be far from perfect, but they’re a heck of a lot better than the average secularist.
Joseph says
@ Don McKellar
Why on Earth are you bashing Christians. Do a little research on things like the “young Earth” There is science that supports this. Let me guess…you believe in evolution and billions of years.
Not one fact in the Bible has been DISPROVEN!!!!!!
The Bible is an anvil that has worn out many a hammer.
Christopher says
Fact is, Christianity operates the same faulty reasoning that Islam does. It just happens to have ethically sounder content.
The idea that an ancient book can reliably be thought of as being the word of the creator of the universe is not rational. You say there is evidence for a young earth. Well, there is certainly evidence for an older earth also. You cannot be certain. And the age of the earth pales into insignificance compared to the claim that you know that acceptance of Jesus is a requirement for passage into the positive half of an afterlife, which again, you claim to know with certainty exists. There are all sorts of unwarranted leaps of logic going on here.
But I certainly agree that Islam is by a long shot worse. A long, long, long shot. I could certainly tolerate Christianity. Although its get-saved-quick scheme is very irritating to me (if that truly is the criteria for entry to heaven then y’know what, I’m not really fussed what happens to my soul post-mortem. After 1000 years of non-stop torture I’m sure the entity which was once me has become something completely different, heck I’m not even the same person I was 10 years ago) but it isn’t horrifying to me, like Islam is.
Also, Islam has a concrete disproof included within the pages of the Quran because it sticks its neck out into scientific matters and states that the sun orbits the earth in the same manner as the moon. This is provably false. As if the idea of a character as horrific as Muhammad being God’s special envoy required a formal disproof anyway, but there it is.
I’m not even an atheist, I do believe in the possibility of God existing. I tend to lean towards atheism these days, but there’s no way I can rule out the possibility, and I would dearly love for us to exist in some way beyond death, for this life to be part of something greater.
But if it was between non-existence and the ludicrous stories of the major faiths, I think I’d rather there was nothing thanks.
(I know Robert is a Christian, but it is far easier to separate the faith and the works of a moderate Christian or Jew than a Muslim because the faiths don’t seek to dominate so totally their followers lives. Anyway, that’s my 2 cents worth.)
Christopher says
Anyway… I do consider Christians and Jews allies in the urgent battle against Islam, but once it is over and we have (hopefully) won, I would resume civilized debate on the topic. No point in wasting much time criticizing other religions (like Salon does in a very pathetic manner here) while Islam is busily stomping around and making everyone’s lives a misery.
Liam F says
yes, I agree Christopher. I am a lifelong atheist but I do see Jews and Christians as allies, or at least I hope they are, in the fight against jihad. Arguing with Christians over the truth of the bible seems a bit pointless at the moment and a Christian society is infinitely preferable to an Islamic one anyway.
vlparker says
Pretty much my sentiments. People who claim to have all the answers to God and the creation of the Universe are very annoying. It is beyond human comprehension. No one knows. To each his own path.
But annoying is one thing. Eternal mass murder is quite another. Islam is evil beyond belief, and what is even harder for me to comprehend is how many westerners defend it.
Champ says
Great comment, Joseph!
I especially like what you stated here …
“The Bible is an anvil that has worn out many a hammer.”
That’s awesome! 🙂
Joseph says
@ Champ
I took that from history.
I WISH I came up with it.
Matthew says
So true, thank you.
xxxChurch100 says
Dear Joseph, I love the scientific and Biblical facts that the earth is young ,very young … But when you say that in main stream , people think are some kind of nut . But , hey, facts are facts and the overwhelming evidence also adds there was a world wide catastrophic flood,….
The Bible uses in context , create , created , Creator and creation 65 times .
The Bible does not use evolve or evolution at all ….. Therefore my summation of the situation:
I am positive that if God would have wanted to convey a different idea on how the whole thing came about , he would have been quite capable of doing just that!
Regards
Joseph says
@ Champ, Matthew & xxxChurch100
THANK YOU I needed that.
vlparker says
Which scientific fact is that? Science puts the age of the earth at about 4 1/2 billion years old.
Joseph says
@ vlparker
You can start here. There are way too many facts to list that the secular “scientific” community does not want you to know about.
https://answersingenesis.org/
Mirren10 says
I’ve no wish to be captious or offensive, and you are, of course, entitled to your opinions about the age of the earth.
But how do you explain fossils, dinosaur bones etc, not to mention the fact that, according to carbon dating, some human remains are over **ten thousand** years old ?
Mirren10 says
” … some human remains are over **ten thousand** years old ?”
Sorry, that should be **300,000 years old”.
Joseph says
@ Mirren10
They use circular reasoning. They guess at how old the strata is so the fossil has to be that old, then they know how old the strata is because the fossil is there. Also if carbon dating is soooo accurate, why does the scientist have to submit a “guestamit” as to the age of the fossil. Sometimes they run the test three or four times till they get the answer they want.
There are other methods of dating that are much more accurate, but they do not use them.
Please look at https://answersingenesis.org/ to get better explanations, everything from the Earths magnetic field to sea sediments to the rate the moon is moving away from the Earth. The real interesting one is polonium halos in granite.
PLEASE LOOK.
Richie says
I have encountered leftists atheists who openly mock Christians, yet are very quick to defend islam
Shane says
The Crusades were justified, watch the video and comment on it – Why We Are Afraid,
The Crusades: A Defensive Response to Islamic Aggression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2OyapO4TNo&list=PL0190DA95A29367A7
Anti-Christian bigots compare conservative Christians who oppose abortion and gay marriage as equally bad as Muslims who rape, murder, torture, behead, and engage in the slave trade in the name of Allah. These hysterical bigots should be condemned and laughed at.
Western Canadian says
“Any intelligent, educated, non-politically enslaved atheist”….
Amazing how many members of the church of atheism, are not even slightly intelligent, are very shabbily educated (to the point that to refer to them as educated is almost painfully funny!), and are so blind to their own weak and bigoted politics…… You know, like Don… and Chris……
Islam_Macht_Frei says
What the heck is a “Christianist?” Is that the word one uses if unsure if the person in question is a “Catholicist,” “Protostantist,” “Southern Baptistist” etc?
Greyhound Fancier says
My guess is that a “christianist” would be someone who believes that Christianity should be the faith of the whole world.
The parallel would be with ISIS and other Islamist groups.
Nice try. Does anyone really think that the world would be worse off with more Christians?
Sergio says
It is incredible how self-delusional people can be when moral relativism is concerned. According to the adherents of moral relativism, all religions MUST be equal, no matter how often reality belies this deceitful assertion. Once again, great article, Mr. Spencer.
voegelinian says
But they’re not really relativists, they are absolutists — counter-absolutists: they don’t think “all religions are equal” or that “all cultures are equal” — they positively aver that white Western culture is the worst of all, and that non-Western cultures are better, with Islam apparently at the top. Similarly for religions, they think Christianity (and/or Judaism) are the worst, and that non-Western religions are better, with Islam apparently at the top, rubbing elbows with New-Age-friendly Eastern faiths like Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism.
Richie says
Its the leftist impulse- when confronted with the reality of violent islam, they deflect and attack Christianity
Scott in PA says
Eric Rudolph’s connection to Christian groups is way overdone. He is an intellectual (albeit violent) that has had tenuous connections to various groups. Writing to his mother from prison, he told her that the Christian folks have been nice to him, but that he would “hate to break it to them that I really prefer Nietzsche to the Bible.” (per Wikipedia entry).
John says
You think Henderson could have done some research for his article, especially on Eric Rudolph.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/…/2005-07-05-rudolph…
From this article: “Many good people continue to send me money and books,” Rudolph writes in an undated letter. “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.”
And here:
“The man who once led the hunt for Rudolph, former FBI agent Woody Enderson, says that “no one really knew him. … I really don’t know what led him to become the person he is.”
But in progressive journalism personal hatred of Christ and the seriousness of the charge is more important than the facts. It appears to me that Rudolph is a product of post-modern thought all jumbled up in an internally inconsistent worldview.
John says
Here is the full link for the article on Rudolph:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-05-rudolph-cover-partone_x.htm
Religion says
7:1 God commands the murder of babies
Num. 31;18. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones,
7:2 God himself murders every first-born of every Egyptian family
Exo. 12;29 ¶ At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.
7:3 Little boys that remain uncircumcised must be killed
Gen. 17;13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. …… Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, must be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
7:4 God sanctions the rape of little girls.
Num. 31;18. ……. and kill every woman that is not a virgin, but all the female children, that are still virgins keep alive for yourselves.
7:5 Forty-two children torn apart by bears for teasing Elisha a prophet of god.
2 Kings 2;23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some children came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” He turned round, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of Yahweh. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.
The above are extracts from the Bible….thoughts?
Western Canadian says
It is obvious that you have only read extracts, and maybe not even that much. If you had bothered to actually do a big of checking, you would find that you are an incredibly ignorant jerk, and common bigot. Who has an over-inflated ego, and a very weak mind and matching education.
….thoughts?
Mirren10 says
‘Religion’ says;
”The above are extracts from the Bible….thoughts?”
They are certainly extracts from the Old Testament.
How about you post some extracts from the **New** Testament ? Thoughts ?
Sabba AbuShy says
Salon’s base of mental operations is pretty limited. Unless you’re seeking to enter your (him/her/it) “hot-rod/hoe” into the tranny drag race of the homosexual gender/genital confusion movement—you know the one: between all the nympho/peeping-tom/pedophile/necrophile/beastiality loving prostitutes who make up the transgenital pansexual “bfdslgbtees” as they race for the chairs before the music stops. Wow unto the one caught in between operations (either the qutitofftamee or the addadiqtamee) and they get disqualified from even being at the starting line because of the self mutilated eunuch status they have inflicted upon themselves.
To read Salon is for the above. To get advice on the sexual perversion and pseudo intellectualism of these misfits who are like zombies in a Fellini movie: nothing above their shoulders because they hold their head between their hands on the platter. Their only “thought processes” are motivated by that which is between their legs (just below the navel). And as pointed out above, if they aren’t careful not even that is there… they have to make sure they don’t get caught before the paint drys!(;~)) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU0BebHh5LY
Another reason to read Salon might be for a ribald, macabre laugh. But one can get that reading Zap Comics. I wouldn’t suggest that at all. Nothing. Not Salon’s “history lesson on xtianity” or following their advice on how to alternate off the path of life and into the hellholes they love so much…(:~((
Bashy Quraishy says
Dear ROBERT SPENCER
Jihadwatch
In your article; “Salon scrapes the bottom of the barrel to find “Christian terrorists”
APRIL 8, 2015”, you conclude; “Christianity doesn’t teach that Christians should blow up the holy places of other religions. It doesn’t teach “slay the non-Christians wherever you find them” (cf. Qur’an 9:5) or fight them “until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Qur’an 9:29) It doesn’t teach that non-Christians are “the most vile of created beings” (Qur’an 98:6).”
I have two comments to that.
1. You accuse Salon of demonising Christianity but you are doing exactly the same with Islam. You only bring negative stories from 60 Muslim countries where 1.7 billion Muslims live. You know well or rightly said, should know that 99% Muslims around the world do not subscribe to extremism and no one follows the 7th century traditions,like Jizya, you keep on mentioning. The time, area and context, Holy Prophet lived and preached Islam is long gone.I have a vast network of NGOs and individuals who happen to be Muslim and none of them can recognise let alone practice, what you try to propagate against Islam.
Yes, there are braindead Mullahs, religious bigots and violent extremist in every country, religion, culture and area but these are mostly a result of USA hypocritical policies and interference in every religion of the world and has nothing to do with Islam, Judaism or Hinduism.
2. Islam does not teach its followers to kill, injure or terrorise minorities but there are few politically active groups that happen to be Muslim who commit these atrocities. It is a recent phenomena and can be traced to Taliban, Al-Qaeeda, Bako Haram, ISIS and other horrible terrorist organisations. We Muslims condemn these acts of violence and are suffering the most. In Iraq and Afghanistan alone, million plus people have dies and guess what, 95% of them are Muslim. So your argument is based on prejudice and Islamophobic attitudes if not extreme selected ignorance.
Kind regards
Bashy Quraishy
Secretary General
European Muslim Initiative for Social Cohesion
Christopher says
The Quran is approx 60% about the unworthiness of non-believers and what is to be done about them. By denying Islam has a problem Christianity doesn’t have, you expose yourself as a dishonest Islamist. Well done on failing as a human being.
Brian Hoff says
I donot notice the 60% of the Koran that is violation or fighting bisbeliever as it only apply over 1400 year ago but doesnot appy today. Many muslim today only read and follow the part of the Koran that tell us to be peaceful people.
Western Canadian says
Which begs the question, why are devout muslims so vicious and hate filled, and responsible for 280 million plus murders over 1400 years?? Oh, wait, Brain Off is just lying to us again….
RonW says
And, you must, being a good muslim agree that every word of the koran is the immutable word of ‘allah’, fixed for all time. Why are you ignoring 60% of it? Are you apostate?
Demsci says
//”Islam does not teach its followers to kill, injure or terrorise minorities but there are few politically active groups that happen to be Muslim who commit these atrocities. It is a recent phenomena and can be traced to Taliban, Al-Qaeeda, Bako Haram, ISIS and other horrible terrorist organisations.”//
Robert Spencer knows Quran-Hadiths-Sira very well. He knows very well what the terrorist organisations you mention themselves declare as the Islamic motivation of their many atrocious acts.
And there are many more Muslims in states (you also mention 60 Islamic states, and Iran is one of them) and organisations who perpetrate atrocious deeds and condone them, in the name of Islam. Mr. Spencer is always factual and he publishes articles from many sources. Including from MEMRI-TV, which monitors TV-broadcasts in Islamic countries and translates them from Arabic.
With these factual articles he WARNS, he is CONCERNED, and you must see why.
This danger is TO Democratic societies, human rights, minorities
FROM at least a very substantial part of the Muslims, who have proven supremacist, totalitarian and violent goals and activities.
And they clearly oppose total freedom of speech, and censorship is a VERY big danger to Western Democratic Citizens.
How do you suppose people to react to a perceived big danger and detrimental influence?
SOMEONE has to warn the unsuspecting potential victims!
You should first acknowledge this danger, this threat or comprehensively argue that it does not exist.
Meanwhile; you should also acknowledge or deny that Robert Spencer and Islam-Critics like him, in Western countries are only one group of people. Plenty others groups, including journalists, politicians, heads of state, NGO-members etc. speak positive or excusing about Islam. In the West both sides of the argument are shown and it may be that Islam-excusing-articles are more numerous than anti-Islam-articles.
For example; the very article referred to above was NOT an article to demonise Christians at all, but it was an article meant to “excuse Islam and Muslims” by pointing out “equivalent bad influences of Christianity on Christians”.
And as we now know from MEMRI-TV and multiple other sources, in the 56 Islamic countries, there is also a constant stream of anti-Western, “anti-Zionist” articles in those countries, that often are “demonising” in the extreme. It would be great if you showed Mr Spencer and his readers a letter like the one you wrote to him above, pointing out to “Islamic demonisers” your disagreements and complaints.
For now, it seems to me biased, prejudiced, hypocritical and unjust
that you want only to discourage the critical commenters on Islam and Muslims and the intentions declared by them.
While you do not acknowledge in your protest the Islam-excusing side of the Western media and the many “demonisers” among the Muslims in their media themselves.
Demsci says
//”I have a vast network of NGOs and individuals who happen to be Muslim and none of them can recognise let alone practice, what you try to propagate against Islam.”//
If you had written: none of them will ADMIT what Mr. Spencer “propagates”, that would be logical, them being Muslims and therefore prejudiced. And in defending/ excusing Islam you make some sweeping statements like the above, and there you paint “almost all Muslims with the same brush”.
But in reaction to Mr.Spencer’s exposing articles
about the Islamic motivation of terrorist Islamic governments and groups and individuals, from their own mouth,
you take great care to distinquish between a “bad” minority and a “good” majority.
And the distinction among Muslims does seem to be there, and it most probably comes from different interpretations of Quran-Hadiths-Sira.
And a sizable part of Muslims do have totalitarian, violent tenets, intentions, activities. And you should refrain from making sweeping statements about what Islam teaches, and how Muslims interpret Quran-Hadiths saying “the time of the prophet is long gone” in view of that almost indisputable fact.
So what IS the better, more valid interpretation of some controversial Islamic texts Mr. Spencer mentions. The most valid interpretation may not be that of Muslims like you, but by Muslims like those of the totalitarian, violent Islamic governments and organisations. And of course by Mr. Spencer, who takes them seriously.
And seeing how at least the possibility exists that more than 1 interpretation of Quran-Hadiths-passages is valid, or that Quran-Hadiths simply are very confusing,
you should be more humble and modest and ask Mr Spencer what it is well-intentioned Muslims can do to address the all too rational fears Islam-knowledgeable democratic citizens have.
Bashy Quraishy says
Demsci
So according to you, IS or other brain dead terrorists that are a small fraction of 1.7 billion Muslims interpret Islam correctly than the 99% Muslims who live peacefully and with any connection to extremism.
If that is your line of reasoning then, what can one say, except; I rest my case.
Western Canadian says
You made no case to rest, your pathetic post was an outright and total lie, and you know it just as well as the regular visitors to this board.
Take your pathetic lies somewhere else.
voegelinian says
Bashy Quraishy says
“You know well or rightly said, should know that 99% Muslims around the world do not subscribe to extremism…”
Let’s see… 99% of 1.3 billion = 1,287,000,000 Muslims. Apparently, Bashy can read the minds of all one billion, two hundred and eighty-seven million Muslims (for the act of “subscribing to” something is a mental act which we cannot know about another person; we can only infer it from superficial behavior; an inference requiring such a staggering mountain of data, Bashy couldn’t possibly have it to hand, even if it weren’t riddled with problems of interpretation, not to mention taqiyya…).
Such a feat of mind-reading outkreskins even the Amazing Kreskin! Bashy should take his magic act to Vegas, or on the itinerary of a traveling circus (he could open for the Mohammedan Sword-Swallower, following the Incredible Bearded Muslima)!
Bashy Quraishy says
Demsci
So according to you, IS or other brain dead terrorists that are a small fraction of 1.7 billion Muslims interpret Islam correctly than the 99% Muslims who live peacefully and with any connection to extremism.
If that is your line of reasoning then, what can one say, except; I rest my case.
Western Canadian says
Oh knock it off you lying jackass!!!
Since you ‘made your case’ by telling what even you know to be lies, don’t you think you should be silently leaving this board, head hanging low in shame, with your tail between your legs??
Demsci says
That Bashy began a small discussion with his letter to Robert Spencer was, well, positive. But now he all too soon “rests his case”. I thank Voegelinian and Western Canadian for their assistance.
And there you have it, Bashy, Voegelinian is right; you seem to make miraculous assumptions about what those 99 % of Muslims THINK and Want.
We, as democratic citizens,who have been warned by Mr. Spencer, “know” the side of the spectrum that you present; “Muslims who do not engage in terrorism etc.”
and ….. we know the side of the spectrum, represented by the mentioned terrorist groups, but ALSO by the governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia and many other Islamic states, groups, persons, factually shown by Mr. Spencer et al.
And the question is now what really is in between those 2 opposite ends of the ” Islamic spectrum”? And bear in mind, that this is of huge importance, due to those 56 states and 1.57 billion Muslims. I am sure you will forgive us that we see Islam as a formidable power,
and to take risks with something like that, through “assuming innocence until guilt is proven” and “at any cost avoiding hurting the feelings of Muslims” is not only highly dangerous but downright Criminally Negligent.
Demsci says
Bashy, Democratic Citizens do HAVE something to defend, against those that are intolerant and anti-Democratic. Or indeed, those who have a huge potential for this; Muslims. In case of danger, waiting until definitive proof of danger and guilt, is not wise.
And I believe that TRUST is of the essence. Muslims, or at least a big part of them, have given us, democratic citizens, in the past, in the whole world, big reasons for sensing danger to our political system, human rights.
As a consequence Trust in Muslims by Democratic Citizens gets very low now. And it is particularly because:
– Declarations and deeds, not only of terrorist groups, but also of governments, Islamic leaders, in short, what Mr Spencer et all show us.
– But also because Democratic Citizens, in ever larger numbers, get to know, better and better, Quran-Hadiths-Sira. And David Wood (Answering Muslims) did show the other day how CONTRADICTORY those Most IMportant Guiding Texts for Muslims really are.
we might add; Due to perceived Divine origin of at least Quran, that text is completely immutable, and I suppose Hadiths are immutable too. This of course has the consequence that such old texts are sooooo obsolete, incomplete, contradictory and Ambiguous.
And therefore we consider those texts “flawed”. But Muslims refuse to even consider and discuss this seriously. Like they could do by emphasizing that they clear up the peaceful nature of their particular INTERPRETATION of Quran-Hadiths and being accountable for that interpretation.
But to logical outsiders it seems to be that there is a huge problem of the flawed Islamic basic texts and the distinct possibility of more than one valid, correct, logical interpretation of controversial parts of those texts.
It is even possible that a big part of Muslims is just ignorant of much of Islam!!!
And so also of the possible valid interpretations of controversial parts of Islam that lead some Muslims towards Totalitarian, supremacist, violent intentions, policies, actions.
Demsci says
//”We Muslims condemn these acts of violence and are suffering the most. In Iraq and Afghanistan alone, million plus people have dies and guess what, 95% of them are Muslim”//
Muslims now use the fact that Muslim perpetrators kill more Muslims than that they do kill Non-Muslims.
But that also means that Muslim VICTIMS are more killed by Muslims than that they are killed by Non-Muslims.
And are protests done by Muslims reflecting that? Do Muslims protest in equal measure the killing of Muslims by other Muslims compared with protesting the killing of Muslims by Westerners? Of course not, the protests against Westerners (who kill less Muslims) are far higher among Muslims than the protests against Killer Muslims (who kill more Muslims) among Muslims.
Really, how are Western Democratic Citizens supposed to interpret that? Do Muslims see Muslims killed by Muslims as less worthwhile? Or do they perceive Muslim killers as more just, less deserving of protests than Western killers?
Do they only hold Westerners accountable, expecting them to be capable of change, while they do not hold killer Muslims accountable, considering them utterly incapable of change, like children or animals?
William says
Are you one of the 99% who neither subscribe to extremism nor follow the 7th century traditions? If so, what are you doing to correct those of your co-religionists who do?
Sam Hawkins says
Bingo!
Mirren10 says
Why do fools like Bashy persist in believing everyone else is equally as stupid ? Or does he just think, as per his co-religionists, that if he continually bangs the drum about the ‘peaceful religion of islam’, that it will somehow be true, or that intelligent people will believe him in the teeth of all evidence to the contrary ?
Bashy says;
”Yes, there are braindead Mullahs, religious bigots and violent extremist in every country, religion, culture and area but these are mostly a result of USA hypocritical policies and interference in every religion of the world and has nothing to do with Islam, Judaism or Hinduism”
Yep, it’s all the fault of the USA. What about ‘da Joooos’, Bashy ? Surely it must be their fault as well ?
History 1.1 Muhammad’s campaigns
1.2 Byzantine–Arab Wars: 634–750 1.2.1 Under the Rashidun
1.2.2 Under the Umayyads
1.2.3 Later conquests
1.3 Conquest of Persia and Mesopotamia: 633–651
1.4 Conquest of Transoxiana: 662–751
1.5 Conquest of Sindh: 664–712
1.6 Conquest of Hispania (711–718) and Septimania (719–720)
1.7 Attempts to Conquer the Caucasus: 711–750
1.8 End of the Umayyad conquests: 718–750 1.8.1 Spain
1.9 Conquest of Nubia: 700–1606
1.10 Incursions into southern Italy: 831–902
1.11 Conquest of Anatolia: 1060–1360
1.12 Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: 1299–1453
1.13 Further conquests: 1200–1800
1.14 Decline and collapse: 1800–1924
All of the above, with the exception of 1.13 and 1.14, took place before the US even existed. You’re going to have to fall back on those nefarious Joooos, Bashy.
Are you also going to deny the quotations from the koran that Robert has posted ? Are you going to deny your foul ‘prophet’ said ”I have been made victorious by terror” ?
Are you going to deny your foul ‘prophet’ married a six year old girl, and raped her when she was nine ?
Are you going to deny your foul religion is made up of the ravings, desires, and viciousness of mohammed, who made up the whole thing in order to sacralise every evil thing he wanted to do ?
You’re on the wrong site, Bashy old son. Most of us here know a tremendous amount about your foul cult. We’ve read your koran, your hadiths, your sira, the life of mohammed the paedophile murderer, rapist, torturer and thief.
You’re wasting your time if you think we can be fooled by your meretricious claptrap.
Trot over to Syria, the KSA, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc etc, and tell **them** how they’re getting islam all **wrong**. I won’t make any bets on how long you’ll last.
brian says
Never heard of any of them!!!
I bet I am not in the minority either
nathan says
George Bush has claimed he was on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a senior Palestinian politician in an interview to be broadcast by the BBC later this month.
Mr Bush revealed the extent of his religious fervour when he met a Palestinian delegation during the Israeli-Palestinian summit at the Egpytian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, four months after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: “President Bush said to all of us: ‘I am driven with a mission from God’. God would tell me, ‘George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan’. And I did. And then God would tell me ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’. And I did.”
Mr Bush went on: “And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, ‘Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East’. And, by God, I’m gonna do it.” Guardian 2005
Let’s get real here. Why not start a site called Black Watch to shed light that so much crime is committed by black people they must be the problem? Yes there are major issues to be dealt with, this narrow minded way of thinking does not help. How many hundreds of thousands of Muslims have dies in the past 25 years due to the US war for profit campaign? The problem is no so simple. There are corporate influences in state policy all over the world. These influences gain by perpetual war. War creates terrorists and more violence.
Sam Hawkins says
Your supposed verbatim quotes of then-president George W. Bush, by a Palestinian foreign minister, are hearsay and therefore unusable as evidence.
But even if the quotes are accurate, why is it so horrible if he said “Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East’. And, by God, I’m gonna do it.”
Does that display an anti-Arab or anti-Muslim animus? Obviously, no.
Are you objecting that Bush prayed for guidance and strength? It’s what religious people do, you know. What’s important is what kind of inspiration a religion gives to people. Christianity does not have much to be sorry for in this regard. Unlike another global religion with more than a billion of adherents …
Cunamarra says
Do correct me if I am mistaken, but were the Crusades not a response to the very same type of behavior that the modern Caliphate is engaged in right now in very nearly the same area?
Western Canadian says
Since you ‘made your case’ by telling what even you know to be lies, don’t you think you should be silently leaving this board, head hanging low in shame, with your tail between your legs??
Western Canadian says
Sorry, don’t know how this reply became attached to your post. And no, you need no correction, you have it just letter perfect.
torontino says
These 6 ”extremists” groups all together, how many people they slaughtered in the last 100 years?
That’s the number Isis alone can kill in one week
David, Thailand says
Unwitting, as the looney Left tends to be when doubling over to shoot themselves in the ass, Salon made the case both for Christian terrorism and against Islamic Jihad.
sheik yer'mami says
The Liberation Front of Tripura seems to be more of a Politico fantasy than a reality. Eastern Lightning, a.k.a. the Church of the Almighty God seems to be just as obscure. At best, these are eccentric, marginal crazies.
“Kony” has been done to death and back, irrelevant as the rest of this rubbish.
But what’s suspiciously missing is Obama’s “Christian church”, the perverted church of Jeremiah Wright, the “god-damn-America’ screamer who subscribes to a genocidal ideology called “Black Liberation Theology”. This cult, of which Obama has been a member for more than 20 years, has in its manifest the annihilation of the white race. It goes without saying, that the Obama church is closely aligned with Louis Farraklowns NOI and the Black Panthers.
That the earth is merely 6000 years old is not only a Christian belief, it comes from Judaism.