Blog

by Steve Risner

After a short hiatus from writing, I’m back with a look at more alleged “Christian” terror groups. We have previously discussed the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, and Western treatment of natives. We looked at why much of these things have either been grossly exaggerated to make Christianity look bad or had nothing to do with Christianity at all. You can see those posts here and here. This week the focus will be on modern groups that claim a Christian foundation who have been accused of “Christian” terrorism. We are referencing claims made by Qasim Rashid in this article posted online in recent months.

So we get into the Lord's Resistance Army. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is a farce and has little or nothing at all to do with Christianity. They are a cult and commonly referred to as a heterodoxy. Their goals are to create a multi party democracy, rule the land under the 10 commandments (gasp! Sort of like the US, I suppose), as well as a few other things. The actual number of those killed by the group is in the range of the tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands, again bringing this clearly deceptive person's claims into doubt. That is, of course, too many lives lost and tragic, but no one (except an attorney in DC) believes this is a Christian group. If you research the group, you'll find it difficult to get real numbers on them and the death toll they've brought to Africa. But this person has inflated the numbers because it fits his agenda so he could “school” a white supremacist. But when you look further at the statements he makes, he claims that the “up to 100,000” victims of the LRA in 15 years is “far more destructive than ISIS.” This is strange. In under 2 years, ISIS is given responsibility for nearly 20,000 deaths in Iraq alone. This is far more serious than the LRA in concentration. And ISIS is waging a war, essentially, on the whole non-Muslim world (and even some Muslims that aren't Muslim enough). There is, in my opinion, not much of a comparison here.

Mr. Rashid moves on to the Central African Republic (CAR). CAR has been under a great deal of stress for decades. There has been violence there for a long time. Muslim insurgents calling themselves the Seleka have been causing trouble in CAR for everyone and especially Christians in the area. They have caused a severe deterioration of security in CAR and increased a great deal of ethnic tensions. In 2013, Seleka took control of the capitol city of CAR. In response to the brutality of the Seleka forces, “anti-balaka” coalitions of Christian fighters formed to carry out violence in response to Seleka fighters, unfortunately adding a religious element to the violence that had previously been absent. In truth, I feel it needs to be made clear that defending yourself and your family or nation is not at odds with Christianity. However, carrying out violence, and especially some of the terrible things that have been reported coming from CAR, is not in line with the teachings of Christ. This is another case of Christians responding to years of Muslim aggression and hostility. But, in the heat of fighting back, it's likely that some of these Christians have strayed from the teachings of Christianity. But the bottom line here is “Christian” attacks are the response of those who have been brutally attacked for years. I, and probably you, have no idea what sort of turmoil that would create on the hearts of those involved. The Muslim groups responsible for the attacks on Christians (first) are also the groups that have decimated the nation's stability and security.

Mr. Rashid furthers his point that white supremacists are Christians (which is nonsense) and tries to explain why racist groups are more dangerous than Islamic groups. There are some things to note here. 1) White supremacists cannot be Christians as their ideology is opposed to the teachings of Christ. Saying you're a Christian doesn't mean anything if you actively pursue actions and beliefs that are anti-Christian. This cannot be said for Islamic terrorist groups who are doing as their founder did 1500 years ago and as Islam has done since then. 2) ISIS isn't just a national security threat from within. ISIS is killing tens of thousands of people all over the world with the hope of creating a military Islamic state and, eventually, dominating the world. 3) The 382 police groups cited are looking at everyday stuff happening in cities and towns across the country. Most have no thought to Islamic terror, I would guess. I would believe that New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington DC are fairly concerned with Islamic terrorist groups more so than white supremacists. This really isn't something I feel I need to push because, frankly, my first point above means any further discussion is not necessary. They're not Christians.

He goes on to say that President Bush attacked Iraq because he was a Christian and God essentially told him to attack Muslims. This is a gross misrepresentation of the story. Bush felt led to go liberate the Iraqi people (mostly Muslims) from the dictatorial reign of an insane person who had not only committed mass murders and genocide but also had long targeted American allies in military operations. Again, Bush's goal was to free Muslims from tyranny. Some estimates, Rashid says, claim 1 million people died in Iraq because of the war. Other estimates that seem more credible put the death toll at half of that. I feel that any civilian casualties is too many, but bad things happen in wars. It's tragic and my heart breaks for the lives lost. However, many lives were lost in WWII and the result is we don't live under a German totalitarian government. Many died in the American Revolution, but because of this war, the greatest nation the earth has ever known was established as a sovereign nation. I don't want to get into whether the US should have gotten involved or if there were weapons of mass destruction (there were tons of them, btw). My intent here is to explain why the Iraq war was not a terrorist attack but a liberation of millions from an insane tyrant. And I don't believe it was due to Christianity at all. However, if it was, this would make me proud to be a Christian. Coming to a the rescue of a people in need and helping the helpless is what Christ was about.

Then this article takes a strange turn. He lists a few organizations or movements that have nothing, literally, to do with Christ. “The KKK still exists.” Yes. And it's a disgraceful group of misguided, bitter people. It has nothing to do with Christianity. Its members cannot be Christians, period. The KKK was started by Democrats who were angry about the Civil War. Their stated intent was to terrorize blacks, Jews, Republicans, and anyone who sided with the North. The KKK has actually been revitalized a few times, so it's really not accurate to say it “still” exists. Its existence has come and basically gone a couple of times. “Nazis still exist.” “Aryan nations still exist.” What does this man not understand? Nazis were not Christians. They were, if anything, atheists and Darwinists to the core. Atheists will try to separate themselves from Nazism, but that's a lie and nothing more. Hitler was not a Christian. He was an atheist or possibly a pagan, and he tried to take over the world through murder, genocide, and lies. Not a Christian. Racist groups, fascist groups, whatever hate group you want to tell me about cannot be a Christian group because they do not follow the basic tenets of Christianity. This is just the way it is. Christ taught love. His Gospel is a message of peace.

A Christian terror group is an oxymoron. There cannot be such a thing. A hate group whose primary foundation is love would be internally contradictory, would it not? However, Islam has aggressively sought to dominate the globe since Muhammad’s attacks on the Arabian Peninsula. History doesn't lie. God does not tell us to hate unbelievers. In fact, He loves them as much as anyone who has surrendered to Him. This person, Mr. Rashid, seems a bit misguided and has distorted the facts, either knowingly or unknowingly. Perhaps his misunderstanding of Christianity is in his “schooling.” I encourage him to keep digging and searching for the truth and to really find out what Christianity is about. Perhaps you can too.

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