http://www.faithnews.cc/2009/04/09/christian-bashing-is-alive-and-well/The tragic church shooting and death of Rev. Fred Winters, pastor of First Baptist Church, Maryville Ill., has once again raised one of the most under-reported issues within the media today: violence directed at Christians and churches.
While the recent church shooting in Illinois this past March did receive some coverage, the full extent of violence against the church has not been adequately discussed. If this kind of event had happened at a Mosque or Synagogue there would have been non-stop media coverage and a cry for “hate crime” prosecution. Because it only happened to a Christian there is little outcry.
Your use of the words "violence against the church" indicate that the following examples are of violence against Christians because they are Christians.
The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has compiled a partial list of recent church shootings:
- Feb. 18, 2009: A man committed suicide in front of a cross at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif.
The man killed himself. How is this to be considered violence against Christians? The man was later shown to be mentally ill
(here).
- August 12, 2007: A lone gunman opened fire in a Missouri Micronesian church, killing a pastor and two other churchgoers.
This was a
dispute between the gunman and some individuals in the congregation There are no indications that it was motivated by their being Christians.
- May 20, 2007: A standoff between police and a suspect at a Moscow, Idaho church ended with three dead, including one police officer.
The man was in the church
shooting at the Moscow courthouse. Doesn't look like violence against the church to me. Maybe you could show me how it is?
- Oct. 2, 2006: A man in Lancaster County, Pa., killed five girls and then himself at an Amish school.
The gunman targeted the girls
because they were girls not because they were Christians.
- May 20, 2006: Four were killed by a man at Jesus Christ Church in Louisiana.
This was an
estranged husband who killed his wife's relatives and abducted her from the church where her mother was the pastor. Not a hate crime against Christians.
- Feb. 26, 2006: Two people were killed at Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Michigan by a man who later killed himself.
Another
Domestic dispute, not a hate crime against Christians.
- April 9, 2005: A 27-year-old died after being shot at a church in College Park, Ga.
Couldn't find anything on the internet about this one except repeats of this same line. Do you have a reference with details about this case?
- March 12, 2005: A man walked into the Living Church of God in Milwaukee and opened fire, killing seven people.
The man was a
member of the church who had many problems and may have been set off by a sermon he didn't like. How is this a hate crime against Christians?
- Oct. 5, 2003: A woman opened fire in Turner Monumental A.M.E. church in Kirkwood, Ga., killing the pastor, her mother, and herself.
The woman killed her mother. Although I couldn't find any details regarding this, I am not inclined to call this a hate crime against Christians because of the relationship between the victim and the killer. Maybe you could point me to some detailed reference that shows it to be different than what it appears.
- March 12, 2002: During Sunday Mass, Peter J. Troy fatally shot the Rev. Lawrence M. Penzes and parishioner Eileen Tosner.
This one is a maybe. Peter Troy had been treated for mental illness before this but
refused to use insanity plea, supposedly. His lawyer is the only witness to that refusal. No substantive motive has been provided by the killer. This one could be labeled as an anti-Christian hate crime.
- Sept. 16, 1999: Seven young people were killed when a man opened fire during a prayer service for teenagers at the Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
Although the man was
a troubled, unemployed individual, he did attack for unknown reasons and apparently shouted something bad about Baptists. This is probably a hate crime.
Anti-Christian hostility is reaching a new, more violent level.
2 maybe 3 anti-Christian killings in 10 years does not seem like a major increase unless there were none in the 10 years before that.
Maybe you should actually investigate what you copy from the internet.
You mock "evolutionists" and a great number of Christians on the internet and in print do the same. Should "evolutionists" consider themselves "persecuted"?
