Abortion Clinic Bombers: The Misapplied Christian Link to Terror
Ever since then, whenever someone brings up a terrorist attack carried out by Islamic fundamentalists, you are expected to practice the Fairness Doctrine and give appropriate lip service to the "Christian" attacks on abortion clinics in order to demonstrate that neither side is beyond reproach. Of course, there is something to be said about the fact that when "Christians" attack, they are not supported by a body of religious figures that can be recognized as a legitimate authority, are wholly condemned by the Christian community both far and wide, and are doing so not for religious reasons but because in their minds these abortion clinics are clinics of death where babies are daily being killed and thus their existence means the continued death of another child. Somehow it's hard to generate the same feelings against someone who wants to preserve life as it is to generate against someone who uses planes as torpedoes. But I digress.
Perhaps the most telling thing about how absurd this argument is are the simple numbers. A simple glance indicates that, across America, there have only been 168 attacks against abortion clinics since 1982, the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Bureau reports. These attacks come with surprisingly little casualties, and most attacks are rather measured in property damage, rather than human lives lost. Therefore to run it on average, every year there will be six or seven abortion related attacks across America, with a marginal increase in these numbers in Canada and Australia (one in Australia's history, for example).
And this is where the confusion comes in: where does 168 attacks in 25 years in any way compare to 9301 terrorist attacks in 6 years? This week alone, Islamic terrorists have carried out half the number of attacks that Abortion related terrorism has carried out in the past 25 years - and this is what the hard numbers point out without even considering the number of political, moral, and societal differences that effect Islamic terrorism. For example, I've never heard of a recognized congregation supporting these kinds of attacks - instead they are widely decried as foul and terrorist by the entirety of the Christian community, the secular community, and any other communities that hear of these crimes.
On the inverse, entire accepted religious authorities, ranging from the fringe like Osama bin-Laden to the legitimate like Grand Ayatollah Khameini, constantly praise rocket and terror attacks that result in civilian murders, Imams across the Middle East support beheadings, "moderate" Muslims across Europe flocked in unity of violence and terror because of the legal and acceptable Danish Muhammed cartoons.
So at what point will the unofficial Fairness Doctrine stop making the absurd comparison of 6 attacks per year, to 1550 attacks per year, where property damage is the least of the reporters' worries?
Published by Chadd De Las Casas
I was born in Valencia, California in 1987. It's ironic that I turned out to be a writer, since my first exposure to it was an essay about why I hate writing. I am also the owner of the Content Producers Wiki. View profile
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- There are roughly 1550 Islamic Terrorist attacks per year.
- There are roughly 6 Abortion Related Attacks per year.
- Christian Extremists are considered as dangerous as Islamic Extremists by many people.
65 Comments
Post a CommentHilarious that last paragraph on page 1! What an exorcise in minimizing the problem of Christian extremism and violence. You manage to pooh pooh every other month attacks that " come with surprisingly little casualties ". You're so glad surprisingly few people are killed in these on-the-even-months attacks?!?! Let's also figure in religious bigotry based gay bashing and murder, yes it still happens folks! Al Qaeda did 9/11, not Islam. Get your facts straight!
You may think that Deez - but they don't. Muslim moderates absolutely do not denounce the 9000+ terror attacks since 9/11 with the same veracity.
One equating factor is the legality issue (getting their way through law). Neither the Christian terrorists nor the Islamic terrorists can get their way through legal means (legislation in the U.S. against abortion or in the case of Islamic militants, the International Communities Law). I think that both the Muslims and Christian moderates denounce these illegal and immoral acts with the same veracity. Good article otherwise.
I will do so until someone can present actual evidence as to why I should believe otherwise.
Whatever, believe what you want to believe.
No, people have a right to isolate themselves and hide themselves away from public. They have a right to be weird cultists, they have a right to do bizarre things you don't agree with. And if they commit a crime? They have a right to see a search warrant before any officers try to enter their homes. It doesn't matter if a search warrant was in their possession - they failed to show it to the Davidians. Were they acrobatic police officers? Did they expect to show it to them from the second story window? Is this some Waco custom I've never heard of? Furthermore, what could more likely cause the fire - a group of people trying to fight off the police, or the armored car that drove into the house and likely struck a gas line? Nope, it doesn't matter WHAT you BELIEVE they're doing - you uphold the law, or you're wrong.
Well excuse me, but I was under the impression that they did indeed carry a search warrant (http://www.jaedworks.com/shoebox/waco.html) and were fired upon. I firmly believe though that the whole disaster cannot be blamed on one party. In my opinion, the warrant contains many flaws and violations of search and seizure law from the early 90's. The Davidians however did not willingly comply with any requests from law enforcement; I would think that everyone can agree that if you shut yourself in a compound and not comply with police, they're going to assume you're up to no good, and they'll try and get you out. More so if they have reason to believe you have guns, explosives, and possibly endangering children in the process. I agree that the situation could definitely have been better handled, but then again, there is strong evidence that the Davidians commited suicides and lit the fire of their own demise.
There was no idea of a hostage situation - one day, ATF commandos stormed his house without presenting a warrant, and were fought out, which is, by the way, their right to do. When government officials storm your house without proper authority, you have every right to force them back out.
No, but resist arrest and create the appearance of a hostage situation and force will be used. That's what the whole of law enforcement in America is built on.
So call someone a "cultist" and you can bulldoze their home and torch them and scores of their followers?