On Easter Sunday, 2019, nine suicide bombers attacked churches in Sri Lanka, the devastating attacks which took some 310 lives, including many Christians celebrating Easter Sunday.
The National Catholic Reporter noted on April 22, 2019, “Sri Lankan Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene told Parliament: ‘The preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka (on Easter) was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch,’ New Zealand. On March 15, an Australian rifleman killed 50 people in New Zealand's worst-ever massacre.”
The attack on the mosque in New Zealand was horrific. It was met with universal condemnation. President Trump tweeted, “My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!”
Dennis Prager, in National Review, on April 23, 2019 notes how Hillary Clinton responded, “In a tweet after the massacre of Muslims in New Zealand, she (Clinton) wrote that her heart broke for “the global Muslim community.”
Prager also noted President Obama’s response to New Zealand. “that he was grieving with ‘the Muslim community’ over the ‘horrible massacre in the Mosques.’”
All three of those responses, and a multitude of others, are appropriate and reflect compassion and an honest assessment of what happened. A shooter hatefully attacked Muslims in a mosque in New Zealand.
That leads to the puzzling response of the Left to the Easter bombings of churches in Sri Lanka. Prager noted what both Clinton and Obama tweeted.
President Obama tweeted, “The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka.”
Hillary Clinton followed, tweeting, ““On this holy weekend for many faiths, we must stand united
against hatred and violence. I’m praying for everyone affected by today’s horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka.”
Leading Democrat presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) followed suit tweeting, “Our hearts go out to the victims and families of the horrific attacks in Sri Lanka. No person should have to fear for their life in their place of worship. We must work to bring this world together around our common humanity.”
Did you notice what’s missing? When the New Zealand shooting happened, everyone noted the
attack happened in a Mosque or to Muslims. Neither Obama, Clinton or Sanders care to mention that the bombings in Sri Lanka happened in churches or to Christians.
As for the Sri Lankan Defense Minister’s observation regarding the motive for the bombings, the Left has reacted as you would expect.
The Atlantic, in an April 22, 2019 article tried to paint the event in the context of a 30-year civil war in Sri Lanka and noted dismissively, “The government blamed the attack on a little-known Islamist militant group, National Thowheed Jamath.”
Tre Goins-Phillips of Faithwire noted on April 23, 2019, “On Monday night, one day after the deadly church bombings in Sri Lanka, CNN hosted five back-to-back, hour-long town halls with five different Democratic presidential candidates. Not one of them was asked about the anti-Christian terrorist attack that left nearly 300 people dead.”
It’s not hard to imagine how the CNN event would’ve gone had the New Zealand shooting occurred
the day before. Attacks on Muslims are big news for the Left. Attacks on Christians are not newsworthy. The Sri Lanka bombings are the latest in a series of under-reported or ignored stories.
CBN News reported on March 20, 2019 that since February 10, there have been at least 270 people
killed in Nigeria. It has been reported that at least 70 Nigerian Christians have been killed during a 10- week span at the beginning of 2019.
BBC News reported that in Egypt, on Palm Sunday 2017, Islamic State suicide bombers murdered 45
people in two Coptic churches.
Do you remember much news coverage of these tragedies?
Let’s be clear. Attacks on Muslims or a mosque are always wrong. They should be readily condemned. What’s puzzling, though, is why the Left can’t or won’t speak up for Christians.
Prager addresses that question in his National Review article. “The reason neither of them mentioned Christians or churches is that the Left has essentially forbidden mention of all the anti-Christian murders perpetrated by Muslims in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and of all the Muslim desecration of churches in Europe, Africa, and anywhere else.”
He continues, “This is part of the same phenomenon — that I and others have documented — of
British police and politicians covering up six years of rape of 1,400 of English girls by Muslim grooming gangs in Rotherham and elsewhere in England.”
The bottom line for the Left is nothing bad must ever be said about Muslims regardless of what they do. Prager ends his column with a thought-provoking observation. We’ve all heard the Democrat leaders denounce Islamophobia and “white supremacist terrorists.” Have we ever heard any of them denounce radical Islamic terrorism?
In a 2016 CNN Town Hall meeting, when asked why he doesn’t use the term “radical Islamic
terrorism,” President Obama said he wouldn’t use that term, calling it “sort of manufactured” issue. Maybe, but I’m not sure some Sri Lankan Christians would agree.
