#CrusaderWager Is A Sucker’s Bet
So Atlanta’s newer overpaid talking head has a challenge for people who
don’t follow in lock-step with the conservative/neo-conservative script about
Islam and violence.
Michael Graham is supposedly “sick and tired” about hearing people say
that extremism itself is wrong and that it’s not just limited to Islamic
extremism. He doesn’t want to hear that
retort anymore. He doesn’t want to hear
the truth. He only wants to regurgitate
the same fascistic script about how “only Islam” has a problem with violence
and how “only Islam” has radical extremists that want to do harm to
America. Never mind the Christian
extremists that have done harm in the recent past. Never mind the Coptic Christians in Egypt
that give as good as they get in terms of extremist outrage. Never mind the conflicts between Hindus and
Muslims in the border areas between Pakistan and India. Never mind any of that… it’s “only Islam”
that matters in his mind. “Only Islam”.
Of course, Mister Graham is slick.
He’s quick to quantify his “only Islam” assertion to events after 9/11. “Only Islam” in the Twenty-first
Century. “Only Islam” in recent
years. “Only Islam” in 2015. Never mind anything that happened before 9/11
that would stain any other religious beliefs, especially Christianity. “Only Islam” matters in his mind, and “only
Islam” is what he pompously believes should be the only thing up for
discussion. “Only Islam”.
Or as the late-great George Orwell would put it “We’ve always been at
war with Middle Eastasia.”
So Mister Graham has this challenge called “#CrusaderWager”. Yes, it’s a “hashtag”… because, you know,
propaganda has to be hip and current for it to be effective. It’s not just about regurgitation. Why do you think it’s called “TWIT-ter”?
Here’s the deal, should you agree to the mission: you agree to put
aside $1 for every instance of Islamic violence in 2015. Meanwhile, Mister Graham would put aside $100
for every instance of violence carried out by any other religion in 2015. The “winner” is the person who has to set
aside less money in 2015. If you win,
Mister Graham donates his pot to the charity of your choice. If he wins, you have to give your pot to the
Salvation Army. (After all,
where do you think the “Crusader” part of the “wager” comes from?)
Mister Graham thinks that this will shut his critics up. And, believe me, there is a part of me that
would love to take him up on that challenge simply on the thought that if I
would win, he’d have to give his hundreds to the Freedom from Religion
Foundation.
There’s just one problem with this “masterpiece” of a “wager”.
There’s no chance in hell that you could ever prevail.
And it’s not because he’s “right”.
It’s because he knows something that the vast majority doesn’t.
Have you ever heard the media describe someone as a “Christian
Terrorist”?
Go ahead and think about it. Go
back to all of the acts of terror in the 90’s here in the US done by
non-Muslims. All of the shootings and
bombings, including the Olympic Park bombing of 1996. Have any of those been declared acts of
“Christian terrorism”?
Think about the Anthrax threats of 2001 committed by people like
Clayton Lee Waggoner. Even though
President George W. Bush himself said that “anyone who sends Anthrax
is a terrorist, and anyone who sends an Anthrax threat in the mail is a
terrorist”, has anyone in the media or the federal government
consider Waggoner to be a “Christian Terrorist”? No, of course not!
Shoot up a women’s clinic, and you’re considered an “Anti-Abortion
Protestor” or a “Pro-Life Extremist”, not a “Christian Terrorist”. Even if you got your “marching orders” from a
self-appointed Christian minister with a degree from “Ordained-dot-God” and
said “Praise Jesus” as you pulled the trigger and then quoted scripture as you
left, the media will never, ever, ever, ever declare you to be a “Christian
Terrorist”.
Consider this: two men walk into two separate workplaces and commit the
same horrific acts. One man says “Praise
Jesus” as he does his bloody deeds, while the other says “Allah Akbar”. Would these both count as acts of terrorism?
No, they wouldn’t. Because while
the “Allah Akbar” murderer would be instantly branded a terrorist, the “Praise Jesus”
murderer would be written off as a “lone nut-case”.
How about the parent that quotes Scripture to justify killing their
child versus one that quotes the Quran?
Again, the Quran-quoting “honor killing” parent would count as part of
that religious violence, while the Bible-quoting parent would again be declared
a “lone nut-case”.
That doesn’t really help out in the “wager”, does it?
And that, I believe, is the point.
Let’s get brutally honest here… I firmly believe that the so-called “#CrusaderWager”
is a sucker’s bet. Despite having a
seemingly huge radio of 100-to-1 in your favor, there is no real way that you
can prevail against Mister Graham’s assertion simply because there is this
ongoing double-standard that negates violence committed by Christians and other
religions and highlights those committed by Muslims.
Imagine what would happen if one of the TV stations – never mind a
network news program or cable news channel – dared called acts of Christian
terrorism for what they are like they do for acts of Muslim terrorism. That station would be besieged by angry phone
calls and letters from every church group out there, from every old lady with a
crucifix and rosary clutched in their hands, from every C-Street office and
political action committee from the Catholic League to the American Family
Association, and from every politician owned by C-Street. They would be told in no uncertain terms that
the acts of Christian terrorists are “not those of true Christians”, and that “no
true Christian would ever support or condone actions of violence”… even when
there are biblical passages from both the Old and New Testament that say
otherwise. They would be badgered into supporting
the lie that “no true Christian” can do what Muslim extremists have done.
This ongoing double-standard is what fuels the continual diatribe by
people like Mister Graham in their fallacious assertion that “only Islam” has a
problem with violence. It not only
conceals the past sins of those of other faiths, it also encourages even more
Islamic extremism. We come off as
pompous and hypocritical, which only inflame those that know our actual
history. “Do as we say, not as we have
done,” is the message we give. To borrow
from the New Testament, we try to remove the plank from the eyes of our neighbors,
while ignoring the whole woodshed that has been long nestled in our own eyes.
Oh there is a chance that Mister Graham could lose, but it’s extremely slight. If the Coptic Christians in Egypt are riled
up enough, or if the tift between India and Pakistan heats up again, or if some
religious group here in America decides to go nuclear over the film release of “Fifty
Shades of Grey”, maybe then they will do enough damage to make Mister Graham
lose. But it would take a lot. And it would also take the media identifying these
incidents for what they are, which I doubt would happen.
Of course if there are no takers in Mister Graham’s “wager” – and I do
hope that is the case – he will use that as his assertion that he is somehow “right”,
and his associates and myrmidons will follow suit. “Take the challenge,” they will demand. “Prove him wrong. Put up or shut up.”
They can go to hell and take their rigged games with them. Their terms are not acceptable and they will
not prevail in shutting people up who will remind them of the actual truth and
of reality. They will only result in
having two separate enemies against them instead of “only Islam”.
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