Al Jazeera English: America's own Taliban
This is a great article outing the Christian extremist right, particularly in light of the recent events in Norway (fueled by a Christian extremist). With the exception of the Westboro Baptist Church, the American media (left or right) does not do much (or any) criticizing of Christian movements or religious institutions in the country. Granted, a majority of the country is Christian in some form or another, there are so many different forms that when they're broken down, all the views come out drastically different. However, it is that idea of Christianity being the status quo that I believe shields it from a lot of necessary criticism.
Bill O'Reilly recently made even more headlines by criticizing the media for calling Anders Behring-Breivik, the admitted killer, a Christian. O'Reilly claims that because he is a Christian and he believes that no Christian could do this, therefore Breivik cannot be a Christian. However, this is the same man that equates all Muslims as terrorists, although a vast majority of them could say the same things (and in cases, have) about Osama bin Laden and other extremist Islamic terrorists. What really gets me is O'Reilly's claim that '"No one believing in Jesus commits mass murder,"' apparently having completely forgotten the Crusades and other so-called 'holy wars' committed in the name of God, the domestic Christian terrorist Timothy McVeigh (of the Oklahoma City bombings), or the massacre in Srebrenica, committed by Orthodox Serbs (who are Christian).
Al Jazeera's article goes beyond all of this, and does an interesting comparison of the American Christian extremists to the Taliban. The article is well-worth the read, making the main point that like the Taliban, these Christian groups are also highly intolerant of anyone except themselves. More importantly, it draws our attention to the involvement of many high-name Republican politicians in these groups, and the extent to which their intolerance goes.
The western media tends to ignore much of the well-known politicians' religious idiosyncrasies, except of course when they deviate from the WASP mainstream (i.e., freaking out over JFK's Catholicism, freaking out over thinking that Obama is Muslim, freaking out over Mitt Romney's Mormonism). Despite what Bill O'Reilly says, Christian extremists exist and can also commit terrorist acts of mass murder. We must be attentive to sympathetic views in those that seek to lead our country, and curb terrorism in all forms without discrimination.
This is a great article outing the Christian extremist right, particularly in light of the recent events in Norway (fueled by a Christian extremist). With the exception of the Westboro Baptist Church, the American media (left or right) does not do much (or any) criticizing of Christian movements or religious institutions in the country. Granted, a majority of the country is Christian in some form or another, there are so many different forms that when they're broken down, all the views come out drastically different. However, it is that idea of Christianity being the status quo that I believe shields it from a lot of necessary criticism.
Bill O'Reilly recently made even more headlines by criticizing the media for calling Anders Behring-Breivik, the admitted killer, a Christian. O'Reilly claims that because he is a Christian and he believes that no Christian could do this, therefore Breivik cannot be a Christian. However, this is the same man that equates all Muslims as terrorists, although a vast majority of them could say the same things (and in cases, have) about Osama bin Laden and other extremist Islamic terrorists. What really gets me is O'Reilly's claim that '"No one believing in Jesus commits mass murder,"' apparently having completely forgotten the Crusades and other so-called 'holy wars' committed in the name of God, the domestic Christian terrorist Timothy McVeigh (of the Oklahoma City bombings), or the massacre in Srebrenica, committed by Orthodox Serbs (who are Christian).
Al Jazeera's article goes beyond all of this, and does an interesting comparison of the American Christian extremists to the Taliban. The article is well-worth the read, making the main point that like the Taliban, these Christian groups are also highly intolerant of anyone except themselves. More importantly, it draws our attention to the involvement of many high-name Republican politicians in these groups, and the extent to which their intolerance goes.
The western media tends to ignore much of the well-known politicians' religious idiosyncrasies, except of course when they deviate from the WASP mainstream (i.e., freaking out over JFK's Catholicism, freaking out over thinking that Obama is Muslim, freaking out over Mitt Romney's Mormonism). Despite what Bill O'Reilly says, Christian extremists exist and can also commit terrorist acts of mass murder. We must be attentive to sympathetic views in those that seek to lead our country, and curb terrorism in all forms without discrimination.
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