Christian terrorism

Washington Post | 06/02/03 | Gary Bauer

[Believer 1]

To: Friends

From: Gary L. Bauer President American Values

Date: Monday, June 2, 2003

Christian Terrorism?

It took the Washington Post less than 48 hours to link accused Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph with Christianity. This is the same Washington Post that downplays the growing evidence that the Washington, D.C. snipers were driven by their Islamic faith. An article on page 3 of the Post this morning, under the headline, "Is Terrorism Tied to Christian Sect?" heavily quotes Professor James Aho of Idaho State University. Professor Aho tells the Post that if Christians take umbrage at the juxtaposition of the words "Christian" and "terrorist," "that may give them some idea of how Muslims feel when they constantly hear the term 'Islamic terrorism.'" Professor Aho goes on to assure us that "every major world religion has people who have appropriated the label of their religion in order to legitimize their violence."

Is the professor really this ignorant? Assuming Eric Rudolph committed these crimes, he cannot find one word in the teachings of Christ to justify them. Nor will he find any theological leader of any branch of Christianity willing to defend his criminal conduct. No Christian neighborhoods burst into celebration at the news of the bombings. Nor are Christian children being taught that if Rudolph had died in his attacks he would be a "martyr" welcomed into heaven.

The contrast with radical Islamic teachings couldn't be more stark. Each terrorist act against Christians and Jews by those acting in the name of Islam is excused by countless Islamic leaders, theologians, imams, and philosophers. Schools are named after jihad bombers. And there are plenty of verses in the Koran cited to justify the murderous attacks of Islamic "warriors." Do you see the difference, Professor Aho?

[GSWarrior]

All generalizations are bad!

[CyberCowboy777]

I am glad you stand by your statements, your still wrong.

I am telling you that Rudolph is not a Christian by Christ own words.

I am also telling you that no major cleric, nor Koran passages (including Muhammad's words) contradicts what Atta claims to be, a Muslim.

If you don't believe these two statements then you must believe that either Christ or Muhammad lied.

You are actually trying to change the 'rules' to fit your worldview. Rules set by the respective founders and standard bearers of the religions.

[CyberCowboy777]

By Christ's definition of Christian he is not.

You must be superseding Christ's own words with yours or some other humans.

You can say it till your blue in the face, Christ set the standards and Rudolph does not meet them.

He who says he loves me and hates his neighbor is not saved

If you love me you will keep my commandments ~ Love the Lord your G_d with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself.

[Wallace T.]

Wrong. Please refer to my post 40. Eric Rudolph may also believe he is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, for all I know, but he is not. The term Christian has a specific definition, and he does not meet that definition.

[rattrap]

This has nothing to do with polical correctness, multi culturalism, moral relativity (all of which i am against, some more fervently than others) or any of that, so take down that shield.

facts and absolutes when dealing with religions is a murky subject at best, so that leaves us history.

i call to mind: crusades, witch trials, conversion of so-called "heathens", the dark/middle ages, inquisitions, the treatment of "heretics". these were all attrocities/periods of attrocity perpetrated by followers of christ and christianity.

you could say all you want that these were not christians who perpetrated these acts, they would tend to disagree.

[bereanway]

Your post #65 is exactly correct. You don't have Christian Schools scattered around the globe training children that Jews are pigs and monkeys and deserve nothing but death. You don't have Christrian Schools training children to be suicide bombers. You don't have Christians on a daily basis blowing up innocent women and children in discos and pizza joints and then being praised as martyrs by their clerics. You don't have Christians slaugherting 2 million in south Sudan or Indonesia or India or the Phillipines or shooting missionaries in hospitals and think they are doing their religious duty. YOu dont have some 21 odd Christian nations comprised of hundreds of millions surrounding a tiny nation of 5 million occupying .1% of the land mass of the 21 surrounding nations bent on the annihilation of the tiny country.

What we have are some isolated nut cases who follow none of the tenets of biblical Christianity or have a theology that even remotely resembles anything Christian but rather have used the name Christian. And somehow there is a moral equivalence between the so called Christian terrorists and Muslim terrorists.

[Believer 1]

I am firmly, solidly and happily on the side of Truth as a believer in Jesus as God. Christians must become more vocal and get off the fence if we are to retain our constitutional rights of freedom of religion. It is something I am passionate about. We must all stand openly for our rights, I believe. Some days I want to go to the public high school here in town and publicly pray at lunch right there in front of everybody. That ought to shock them!!

[Believer 1]

This was all I received. The rest has been posted...most interesting!! A note: we have to try for fairness regardless of our pro- or anti- positions on issues.

[Wallace T.]

Jesus taught that the scriptures of the Old Testament were the Word of God. the Old Testament teaches that all human beings are descendants of Adam. The Identity Movement, to which Rudolph belongs, does not. In Matthew 26:28, the Last Supper, Jesus took the cup and said. "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." The Identity Movement denies the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice for nonwhites. In Acts 1:8, Jesus stated, before His ascension into heaven, that the disciples were to be witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth. The Identity Movement denies the offer of the Gospel to nonwhite nations. Jesus taught two great commandments, one of which is to love your neighbor as yourself. The Identity Movement denies that nonwhites are their neighbors. The Apostle Paul, stated in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." The Identity Movement denies that the Kingdom of God includes nonwhite nations.

The doctrines of the Identity Movement preclude any of its adherents, including Eric Rudolph, from honestly "Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus." Hence, Identity Movement adherents, Rudolph included, are not Christians.

[CyberCowboy777]

you could say all you want that these were not Christians who perpetrated these acts, they would tend to disagree.

I do not care what they say, or claim.

I am basing my statements upon what Christ said. He is the founder and standard bearer of the faith. These people violated His words and thus are Anti-Christ.

Christ even went so far as to warn us of these type who claim Christ yet do not follow Him. He does not accept them, no matter how much they claim otherwise.

This is not murky, it is very clear.

You want to know if a person or action is Christian? - look to Christ.

You want to know if a person or action is Islamic? - look to Muhammad.

Everything else is a cult built on some small twisting of what each man stated.

[CyberCowboy777]

There is no sect of Christianity. There are Christians and cultist. By definition of Christ himself.

Satan professes a belief in Jesus as Christ, does that make him a Christian?

Muslim profess a belief in Jesus as Christ, does that make them a Christian?

You can only use the standard set by Christ, the founder, of which Rudolph did not comply.

[CyberCowboy777]

Muslim profess a belief in Jesus as Christ, does that make them a Christian?

This is not correct - they believe he was a prophet (a christ person) not The Christ. I forgot the 'as a christ' instead of "as Christ". The first question/statement is correct.

[Wallace T.]

The "Christ" of the Identity Movement is not a Savior for all mankind, but for "Israel," which they define as the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, whom they believe are, against all historical and genetic evidence, the Celtic and Germanic nations of northwest Europe. Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ was the long expected Savior and that He would draw people from all nations. Indeed, we read in Acts 8 of Philip witnessing to an Ethopian about Scripture.

Rudolph does not even meet your dictionary's minimalist defintion of Christian, profession of belief in Jesus as Christ. His "Jesus" is not the savior for people from every nation, but only for northwest Europeans and their descendants. His "Jesus" is therefore not the Christ, i.e., the Messiah. If words have meanings, Rudolph and his cohorts are not Christians. To say otherwise is to deny the efficacy of logic and objectivity and to share common ground with relativists and lingusitic deconstructionists.

[Wallace T.]

Additionally, both orthodox Protestants and Mormons would deny that Mormonism is a Protestant denomination. Even the liberal National Council of Churches has not admitted the LDS Church into their roster of member denominations. Again, there is a matter of perception. Most Mormons, being of British or Scandinavian descent, have the physical appearance of other northern Europeans. Because of their roots in 19th Century America, Mormon teachings and culture emphasize avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, and immodest clothing, as do many evangelical Christians.

When one gets beyond the superficial, there are important differences between Mormon and Reformation doctrines, such as Mormon denial of sola Scriptura, the Trinity, original sin, salvation by grace alone through faith alone, etc. These differences are of sufficient importance as to exclude the LDS church as a Protestant denomination.

[CyberCowboy777]

Would I be correct in your stance if I said my interpretation of your words was:

"He believes all Christians are haters and are capable of killing Jews and Abortion Doctors."

Of course NOT. That is absolute garbage and not even close to your stance.

So it is with Rudolph, he may use words and small snippets of the Bible but he is not even close to the stance of Christ.

I would be wrong to call you a Christian hater and it is wrong to call Rudolph a Christian. Neither is close to the facts or the truth.

[VOA]

(my comments are made on limited knowledge...mostly from the updates I heard
on The Michael Medved Show and CBS Evening new last night)
Do you think Rudolph is innocent?
I really don't know and am keeping an open mind.
But I guess there was an eye-witness who saw someone (purportedly Rudolph) get into
a truck registered to Rudolph just as the abortion clinic bombing happened...
and the authorities found the truck abandoned later the same day.

That, plus staying in the woods for five years (as a fugitive) do tend to
make me think he did it...or was involved.

I don't know I just do not like murder and christian connected. I think anti-christians
will use this story as propaganda against Christians.

Well, I don't like the thought either...but there are people who sit in the pew next
to us who've done, are doing, and will do bad things.
(I won't talk about myself right now, ya understand...)
And to say that people who self-describe or others would reasonably call Christians
always do awful things isn't being realistic either.

I've been suprised at the fairly objective and fair way even the majors (CBS) have
described any sort of "Christian" angle with Rudolph.
Maybe that juicy settlement that Richard Jewell got out of NBC has made even
the big dogs of media a bit more cautious.