Posted on 01/26/2005 2:01:23 AM PST by JohnHuang2
I want you to try to imagine how the major media might cover the following story.
A Muslim family of four, known for boldly proselytizing the Islamic faith in the shadow of where the World Trade Center stood before Sept. 11, 2001, is bound, gagged and murdered execution-style, throats slit, jewelry left behind.
I don't know about you, but I can almost envision the Page 1 New York Times coverage of this apparent "hate crime." I can almost hear the hand-wringing pundits fretting about this undeserved, unwarranted backlash against innocent Muslims. I am almost certain a week after such an attack there would be calls for new sensitivity in the way Muslims are portrayed in newscasts and entertainment programming. You can be certain the self-appointed Muslim-American and Arab-American spokesmen would be getting maximum face time brining international attention to America's intolerance toward Islam.
Tragically, an attack like this actually took place last week in Jersey City, N.J. – though it wasn't a Muslim family, it was a family of Egyptian Coptic Christians who fled persecution in their homeland for the safety and security and freedom of the USA.
Yet, the media's focus hasn't been the horror of this kind of centuries-old anti-Christian persecution apparently coming to America. Instead, there has been a concerted effort, it seems, to downplay this gruesome slaughter as some kind of anomaly, to search desperately for motives other than religious hatred – in effect, to ignore the kind of oppression that Christians and Jews in the Middle East have been experiencing since Islam became dominant in that part of the world more than 1,300 years ago.
I don't like it.
As an Arab-American, Christian journalist, it reminds me of the way law enforcement officials and the news media discarded any evidence that the Washington-area "Beltway snipers" had an Islamic terrorist motive. This mindset almost certainly resulted in more deaths as vital information – the kind of descriptions that ultimately led to the capture of John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo – was withheld from the public to avoid "hysteria," "panic" and, worst of all, "racial or ethnic profiling."
Hossam Armanious, 47, his wife, Amal Garas, 37, and their two daughters, Sylvia, 18, and Monica, 15, were found stabbed dead in their home earlier this month. Their friends and many members of their Coptic Orthodox Christian community are all but certain they know why.
"The Armanious family members are modern-day martyrs in Islamic fundamentalists' war on Christianity," explained Michael Meunier, president of the U.S. Copts Association
The Armaniouses loved to witness their faith – especially to their Muslim acquaintances. They never missed an opportunity to do so – whether it was in an Internet chat room or in their home.
Since there were no signs of forced entry into the Armanious home, some suspect the murderers were let in – just like dozens of other "inquisitive" Muslims before them – pretending to be curious about Christianity and possibly conversion.
Since the Armaniouses were not wealthy people, and the fact that jewelry was left behind by the perpetrators makes robbery an unlikely motive.
Since the jihad has already come home to America in real terms with the destruction of the World Trade Center building and the murder of 3,000 people just a few miles from the Armanious home, why is there such seeming resistance to making the logical assumption about this crime?
Rush to judgment? No.
But good detective work requires that we don't allow political correctness to lead an investigation. And so should good media work.
Ping
Someone recently told me that Christians should quit whining about being victims, so I'm supposed to shut up about things like this. Maybe I should shut up about the Crucifiction while I'm at it? I think we need more 'God-drenched' speeches. I think we need to see the 10 Commandments in EVERY public building. FReegards....
I don't know that the media have ignored the Muslim hypothesis. The media seem to be actually doing their job on this one and reporting the facts, not making insinuations (after all, if the media hadn't reported these facts, how would Farah know them?) Instead, the media have to stop their anti-Christian bias in other stories.
The prosecutor claims there's little to indicate it was religiously motivated, but as Farah points out, that might not be true. OTOH, two things bother me about that hypothesis: why weren't Christian items in the house desecrated, and why isn't this being trumpeted by the perpetrators as being directed against the victims because of their "apostasy"? Isn't the usual M.O. to make these things public so others are cowed into not straying from the "true faith"?
FAMILY OF 4 SLAUGHTERED-'ISLAMIC HATE' EYED IN SLAYS
various FR links & stories | 01-17-05 | the heavy equipment guy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1322287/posts
G'morning to ya, good buddy.
Well, that is a good point. Modern Christians sure aren't facing things (including physical danger and possible death) in a "Christ-like" manner, or with the courage of early Christians. Christ certainly didn't take the position of "those Romans are killing us so we need to kill them off!" or "Don't mingle with those sinners out there."
Thanks for pointing that out. I think many (if they claim to be Christians) need to ask WWJD--since it's not what we see lots advocating here!
Top 'O the Morning to you, JohnH2.
THANK YOU backhoe for putting that together.
I agree with you Arthur.
Good morning!
To clarify... I should have said "Many modern Christians..." and by "here" (in my last sentence), I meant on FR in general, not anyone in particular on this thread.
I need coffee.
Consider this a HUGE virtual hug!
Thank you!
Thank you for the ping!
John Huang helping to keep the story alive and spread the word, PING!
I can't imagine requiring martyrhood to get to heaven, because except for a few saints,no one would ever get there....we are not God, we are simple humans with human nature.....
Me too. I'll join you in a cup right now!
think we need to see the 10 Commandments in EVERY public building.
______________________________________________
Especially the mosques. A little attention to God's Thou Shalt Not Kill must be paid.
Luke 22:36
Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Imagine the conundrum the police chief is in. The practicioners of evil whose god is seen in the bloody quran
commit genocide-to send an undeniable message consistant with the teaching of the Quran and Hadith (these were Christians out of Egypt that were sacraficed to Allah) YET
our American President for whatever purpose has repeatedly professed Islam is a Religion of Peace.And as the terrorists amongst us are for the most part Muslims who
see themselves as slaves to Allah present in growing numbers (I hear) the unknown factor in that community
equation if the law pursues what the known evidence presents it could lead to more tension -or it could save
lives of others Christians -and the nation.Politicians and police chiefs are not known for taking risks.
Christ did teach that those who took His name were "called out" that they were not to do /nor take pleasure in what the "sinners" did. So Christ did indeed teach a separation from the world. A mingling not unlike oil on water.
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