Interesting (rather long) quote about the churches burned in Alabama in the last week:
The following is a quote from a website about the rather scattered news reports about (It says 9, but there's been one more since it was written.) 10 churches that have been torched in Alabama in the last week or so.
Please read it if you'd like and post any comments that you'd like to make. . .
Nine Baptist churches, with both black and white congregations, have been burned in a relatively small geographical area within a very narrow time-frame. Okay, the fact that they are all Baptist may not necessarily be significant since it’s the dominant denomination in that area. In other words, it would not require too great a statistical fluke to target nine churches in these counties and happen upon only Baptist ones. Although it should give one pause for thought.
However, to the best of my knowledge, even in the Bible Belt, churches constitute only a very small percentage of the buildings. I mean, I suspect that Alabamans have also built schools, stores of various kinds, municipal buildings, residences, offices, barns, warehouses, restaurants and lots of other types of structures. Thus, while I’m no mathematician, I think there are pretty long odds against randomly targeting nine buildings and happening upon only churches. . .
Only churches were set alight. And, save incense and decorative candles, you don’t burn things you like. This was a hateful act. . .
Next, could you imagine the reaction if nine synagogues or mosques had been thus burned? The monolithic mainstream media would elevate the story to prominence and exhaust themselves pontificating about how dreadful these hate-crimes were. And the posturing by public officials, oh, the posturing, it would be intense enough to induce backache.
As for this story, there’s nothing for the media to glom on to. If only black churches were in the crosshairs, there would be the white bigotry angle. The media can’t get enough of that. But the fact that they’re all Christian? Please! Such concerns aren’t in their programming . . . in either sense of the word.
While many officials only have the best of intentions when prosecuting hate-crimes, they are frailty-ridden creatures of their age like everyone else. And hate-crime laws add another subjective element to the assessment of criminality.
Put differently, people judge things based on their conditioning, and their biases come into play when assessing biases. If a group that has been assigned “hated victim” status is targeted, there’s usually an assumption that hate had to have been a motive. If a group that has been assigned “hater status” is targeted, however, the assumption is usually that it is not. And even most conscientious officials, pundits and newsmen always seem to be decades behind the times. While they see a white hood or swastika around every corner, the wave of antipathy toward Christianity seems to escape their notice.
This, despite the vigorous attacks on Christmas that secular fundamentalists have made an annual ritual. This, despite the palpable anti-Christian bias that pervades academia, Hollywood and the rest of the popular culture, and which prejudices millions against the faith. Why, with the way Christianity has been demonized, to not expect attacks upon Christian symbols and institutions is akin to not having expected attacks upon Jewish ones in 1933 Germany.
Please read it if you'd like and post any comments that you'd like to make. . .
Nine Baptist churches, with both black and white congregations, have been burned in a relatively small geographical area within a very narrow time-frame. Okay, the fact that they are all Baptist may not necessarily be significant since it’s the dominant denomination in that area. In other words, it would not require too great a statistical fluke to target nine churches in these counties and happen upon only Baptist ones. Although it should give one pause for thought.
However, to the best of my knowledge, even in the Bible Belt, churches constitute only a very small percentage of the buildings. I mean, I suspect that Alabamans have also built schools, stores of various kinds, municipal buildings, residences, offices, barns, warehouses, restaurants and lots of other types of structures. Thus, while I’m no mathematician, I think there are pretty long odds against randomly targeting nine buildings and happening upon only churches. . .
Only churches were set alight. And, save incense and decorative candles, you don’t burn things you like. This was a hateful act. . .
Next, could you imagine the reaction if nine synagogues or mosques had been thus burned? The monolithic mainstream media would elevate the story to prominence and exhaust themselves pontificating about how dreadful these hate-crimes were. And the posturing by public officials, oh, the posturing, it would be intense enough to induce backache.
As for this story, there’s nothing for the media to glom on to. If only black churches were in the crosshairs, there would be the white bigotry angle. The media can’t get enough of that. But the fact that they’re all Christian? Please! Such concerns aren’t in their programming . . . in either sense of the word.
While many officials only have the best of intentions when prosecuting hate-crimes, they are frailty-ridden creatures of their age like everyone else. And hate-crime laws add another subjective element to the assessment of criminality.
Put differently, people judge things based on their conditioning, and their biases come into play when assessing biases. If a group that has been assigned “hated victim” status is targeted, there’s usually an assumption that hate had to have been a motive. If a group that has been assigned “hater status” is targeted, however, the assumption is usually that it is not. And even most conscientious officials, pundits and newsmen always seem to be decades behind the times. While they see a white hood or swastika around every corner, the wave of antipathy toward Christianity seems to escape their notice.
This, despite the vigorous attacks on Christmas that secular fundamentalists have made an annual ritual. This, despite the palpable anti-Christian bias that pervades academia, Hollywood and the rest of the popular culture, and which prejudices millions against the faith. Why, with the way Christianity has been demonized, to not expect attacks upon Christian symbols and institutions is akin to not having expected attacks upon Jewish ones in 1933 Germany.