After the New Zealand mosque shootings, the media was fine with Islamist activists accusing Chelsea Clinton of complicity in the massacre because she had opposed anti-Semitism. But when hundreds of Christians are murdered, the Washington Post goes on the offensive.
First, the Post tries to make it appear as if the idea that Muslim terrorists are targeting chuches is a controversial conspiracy theory.
“To some, it was further proof that Christians in many parts of the world are under attack. Several churches were targeted in Sunday’s bombing attacks, along with hotels and a banquet hall. At one Catholic church in Negombo, more than 100 people were killed. The attack took place on Easter, one of the most important dates on the Christian calendar,” the Post writes.
“To some”.
However to the Post, there was no reason to think that church bombings occuring on Easter Sunday might have a religious motive. Unless they’re black churches in America. In which case the motive becomes quite apparent and obvious.
The larger theme however is ‘far-right anger’.
“Christianity under attack? Sri Lanka church bombings stoke far-right anger in the West,” the Post headline declares.
The Post’s definition of “far-right” includes Marine Le Pen, Frank Gaffney and unknown people on Reddit. Also this is the definition of ‘anger’.
American far-right activists offered their own responses. “Followers of Jesus worldwide are being killed and otherwise terribly persecuted every day,” Frank Gaffney, a former Reagan administration aide now best known for his anti-Muslim rhetoric, said on his radio show. “All too often, their losses go unremarked.”
That seems very angry. If the Post tried to define a similar comment by a Muslim as an example of “anger” after the New Zealand shootings, there would have been a good deal of anger.
Then the Post goes back to questioning whether the attacks targeted Christians?
But no group has come forward to claim the attacks yet. In contrast, after the Christchurch attack, suspected perpetrator Brenton Tarrant was quickly caught alive; he left a lengthy manifesto explicitly outlining his far-right, anti-Muslim motives for the shootings, a document that circulated within hours of the attack.
Less than 8 percent of Sri Lankans are Christian, with the vast majority of them Roman Catholic; 12.6 percent are Hindu, and 9.7 percent are Muslim, while the remaining majority are Buddhist, according to the country’s 2012 census. The civil war that wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka for decades before finally ending in 2009 was based generally around nationalism and ethnic identity rather than religion.
What is the point of all this arm waving except a Trutheresque excercise in introducing doubt.
Is there a more morally abysmal paper in this country than the Washington Post?
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