Yes, The Planned Parenthood Shooter Is A ‘Christian Terrorist’ BY JACK JENKINS <http://thinkprogress.org/?person=jjenkins> <https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=jackmjenkins> DEC 1, 2015 4:39 PM
As investigators scramble to make sense of last week’s tragic mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, new details have emerged about the possible motivations of the alleged gunman: namely, that his actions may have been inspired not only by politics, but also by his Christian faith. After the accused gunman Robert Lewis Dear was apprehended last Friday for allegedly killing three people and wounding nine others, Dear reportedly <http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/11/28/3726240/the-political-motivations-of-the-planned-parenthood-shooting-suspect-revealed/> used the phrase “no more baby parts” while explaining himself to law enforcement officials. The use of the phrase — a direct reference to the widely discredited claim <http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/07/15/3680714/planned-parenthood-controversy/> that Planned Parenthood profits from the sale of fetal tissue — triggered a national conversation about Dear’s political influences. Some argue his actions could be a byproduct of conservatives who use misleading videos <http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/07/14/attack-on-planned-parenthood-3-deceptive-edits/204419> and hyperbolic rhetoric to defame the national women’s health provider. But while some famous conservatives such Mike Huckabee were eventually willing to call the massacre a case of “domestic terrorism <http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/29/politics/mike-huckabee-planned-parenthood-domestic-terrorism/>,” many on social media demanded that right-wing politicians refer to Dear as a “Christian terrorist.” They noted that it is hypocritical for GOP presidential candidates such as Marco Rubio to mock President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton <http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/15/invoking-nazis-marco-rubio-hits-hillary-clinton-for-not-saying-u-s-at-war-with-radical-islam/> for not using the phrase “Islamic terrorism” when discussing militant groups such as ISIS, but avoid ascribing the same standard to terrorists who cite Christianity as their inspiration. There initially wasn’t enough information to gauge Dear’s connection to the Christian faith. But on Tuesday, new information came to light that appears to link Dear to well known right-wing extremist movements that claim to be Christian. The first came from the New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/us/robert-dear-planned-parenthood-shooting.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=1> : One person who spoke with [Dear] extensively about his religious views said Mr. Dear, who is 57, had praised people who attacked abortion providers, saying they were doing “God’s work.” In 2009, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concerns for the privacy of the family, *Mr. Dear described as “heroes” members of the Army of God, a loosely organized group of anti-abortion extremists that has claimed responsibility for a number of killings and bombings*. The Times reporter also interviewed a close relative of Dear’s Colorado girlfriend Stephanie Bragg, who said the couple were “very religious, read the Bible often and are always talking about scripture.” The two reportedly lived in a trailer marked with a small cross, and that Bragg couldn’t believe Dear was “capable of such things.” Nevertheless, Bragg told the relative she had a theory as to what drove her boyfriend to murder several people in cold blood: “He believed he was doing God’s will, and I’m sure he probably wanted to die in the process of carrying out what I’m sure he thought was right.” Another report from the Charleston Post and Courier <http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20151130/PC16/151139933> claimed that Dear was obsessed with an interpretation of the Christian apocalypse, and used dark, bizarre theology to justify disturbing acts of domestic violence against his ex wife <http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/11/28/3726209/planned-parenthood-suspect-history/> . Mr. Dear described as “heroes” members of the Army of God, a loosely organized group of anti-abortion extremists. “He claims to be a Christian and is extremely evangelistic, but does not follow the Bible in his actions,” Mescher, Dear’s ex-wife, reportedly stated in an affidavit when she filed for divorce. “He says that as long as he believes he will be saved, he can do whatever he pleases. He is obsessed with the world coming to an end.” If true, Dear would appear to share the ideological leanings of so-called “Christian terrorists <http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/04/3599271/austin-shooter-christian-extremism/>,” specifically participants in the “Christian identity movement” that have terrorized abortion providers for years. Dear’s supposed adoration for the Army of God, if true, is particularly telling: Members of the Army of God <http://www.start.umd.edu/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=28> have long used the Bible to justify bombings at abortion clinics, attacks on gay and lesbian nightclubs, and even the infamous explosion at the Olympic village during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Although conservative news outlets such as the National Review have already published articles <http://www.nationalreview.com/article/427780/american-christian-terrorism-threat-overhyped>dismissing the influence of such groups as “overhyped,” right-wing terrorist organizations — some of which claim to be Christian, some of which claim other affiliations such as Odinism <http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/11/13/3721890/white-supremacy-odinism/> or no religious identity — have killed more Americans <http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/11/23/3725109/dallas-mayor-syrian-refugees-white-supremacists/> since September 11, 2001 than groups who claim to be Islamic <http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/11/30/3725562/you-are-more-than-7-times-as-likely-to-be-killed-by-a-right-wing-extemist-than-by-muslim-terrorists/>. Hate-based organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, which use a burning cross as their symbol, remain active throughout the country <http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/07/16/3680538/kkk-afloat/>, and white supremacists continue to commit heinous acts: earlier this year, avowed white supremacist <http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/20/3672201/alleged-dylann-roof-racist-manifesto-revealed/> and Confederate flag waver <http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2015/06/19/3671684/charleston-shooting-confederate-flag/> Dylann Roof murdered 9 African American churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. In fact, exactly one year to the day before the shooting in Colorado Springs, a man believed to be affiliated with the “Phineas Priesthood” went on a shooting spree in Austin, Texas <http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/04/3599271/austin-shooter-christian-extremism/>, firing more than 100 rounds throughout the city and attempting to burn down the Mexican consulate before he was shot dead by police. Like the Army of God, the Phineas Priesthood is a white supremacist affiliation that cites Christianity as justification for violently opposing interracial intercourse, racial integration, homosexuality, and abortion. There is, of course, an argument to be made that the actions of Dear and other extremists who commit violence against abortion providers are not representative of Christianity. Just as Muslims all over the world constantly decry groups such as ISIS as unIslamic <http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/09/11/3566181/why-isis-is-in-fact-not-islamic/>, so too do many Christians rebuke those who claim Jesus as their justification for violence. Nevertheless, some Americans — especially conservative pundits and Republican presidential candidates — have repeatedly insisted that if a terrorist claims to be Muslim, they should be identified as such <http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/08/06/3688996/repeated-questions-in-gop-debate-on-islamic-terrorism-zero-on-white-supremacist-terrorism/>. By that (arguably problematic) standard, Dear would appear to be a clear example of a “Christian terrorist.” On Saturday, June 4, 2016 at 8:21:51 AM UTC-5, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > > http://conservativetribune.com/media-ucla-shooters-religion/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=PostUp&utm_campaign=ConservativeBrief&utm_content=2016-06-03 > > *Media EDITED UCLA Shooter’s Religion Before Publication… Trump Was Right* > > So there was a suspected mass shooting on the campus of UCLA on Wednesday, > which after swarms of SWAT officers scoured the campus for hours amid a > collective freakout by the media, was determined to be a fairly typical > impassioned murder/suicide. > > The perpetrator of the terrible crime was almost immediately known to law > enforcement and school officials, and if you are wondering why the media > didn’t immediately rush to plaster the name and face of the alleged “white > shooter” all over the news, it isn’t that hard to figure out why. > > It turned out that the “white male” the media intimated was responsible > for the murder was actually a decidedly non-white male of Indian or Bengali > descent named Mainak Sarkar, according to RedStateWatcher > <http://redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=22242>. > > > > Making matters worse for the deceptive media, they seem to have been > caught in the act of attempting to cover up both the race and religion of > Sarkar in an effort to make his crime fit with a political narrative by > editing his Everipedia profile before publicizing his name. > > Campus Reform correspondent and UCLA student Pardes Saleh noted that > Sarkar’s profile, which originally listed his religion as “Islam,” was > changed Wednesday morning to read “Hindu,” which Saleh rightly called out > on social media. > > Even still, the apparent attempted cover up continues, as the killer’s > profile <https://www.everipedia.com/mainak-sarkar/> now lists his > religion as “Muslim or Hindu (unconfirmed),” leaving just enough wiggle > room for politically correct liberals to continue to push their narrative > of Islam being a religion of peace > <http://conservativetribune.com/graham-islam-not-peaceful/> filled with > Muslims that would never hurt anybody. > > This blatant effort at covering up a rather salient piece of information > regarding the UCLA killer was nothing short of disgusting, as you and I > both know that the same sort of careful courtesy would not have been > extended to a shooter of another religion. > > In fact, if the shooter really had turned out to be a “white male” and a > “Christian,” we would have seen his face plastered on the news non-stop for > the past 24 hours, would already know where he lived as a child, what > church he went to, where his parents worked, where he bought the gun, what > kind of cereal he ate that morning, his favorite color, etc., etc. See the > Charleston > shooter <http://conservativetribune.com/charleston-shooter-idd/> as a > prime example. > > Instead, a crazy Islamic guy killed his white ex-girlfriend in Minnesota, > then traveled to UCLA immediately to kill a white professor he had a beef > with, then killed himself, with hardly any of that information being > reported by the liberal media, as it doesn’t fit their carefully > manufactured narrative that Muslims are peaceful and white guys suck. > > Please share this on Facebook and Twitter to help spread the word that > despite the media’s efforts to cover it up, it has been exposed that the > UCLA shooter was a Muslim. > > > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmbDRiaDA5BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0NjQ5ODU0MDM-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! Groups] > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNmkwb29oBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQ2NDk4NTQwMw--> > > • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • > Unsubscribe <javascript:> • Terms of Use > <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> > > __,_._,___ > > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
