In its Action Update today, the Family Research Council (FRC) partially cast blame for the tragic shooting at a megachurch in Colorado yesterday on “the secular media.” In the e-mail, which was sent under the name of FRC Action President Tony Perkins, the group says it’s “hard not to draw a line between” the shooting and “hostility” by “some in the secular media toward Christians”:
It is hard not to draw a line between the hostility that is being fomented in our culture from some in the secular media toward Christians and evangelicals in particular and the acts of violence that took place in Colorado yesterday. But I will say no more for now other than that our friends at New Life Church and YWAM are in our thoughts and prayers.
When Perkins can’t explain why this sick young man turned against his church and why God spared some people, but allowed others to be slaughtered, he sloughs it off on “evil secularists.” Tony, do you think that the fact this kid was kicked out of the missionary school he shot up had anything to do with it? Isn’t it possible that this rejection may have driven him to seek revenge? The secular media didn’t reject this young man, nor did it give him access to the gun. Mr. Perkins, you might want to look at the real root causes of this tragedy rather than blaming secularists.
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Of course, that would require some introspection on the part of Mr. Perkins. Sadly, that is just not going to happen. It’s much easier to blame something that doesn’t exist. Perhaps he should be addressing the plank in his own eye before examining the speck in his neighbor’s eye. Being the good Christian that he is, I’m sure he knows exactly where to find that particular passage.
Whaaaa??????????yeah…it was the liburul medias fault…no wait…BILL CLINTONS Fault.
Far be it for me, the secular atheist to defend Mr. Perkins, but just judging from what you’ve quoted here–I don’t necessarily think he was saying that as vociferously as you think. People like myself, (just a few months ago my girlfriend punched me in the gut, for saying “nutcases” outside a Jehovah’s witness branch in NYC, are certainly to be blamed for that attitude. It isn’t pretty. Religious tolerance ought to be extended to as many branches as possible. Certainly, evangelicals. The problem has always been, that evangelicals have no tolerance for any one not an evangelical.
Hello to everyone here,
I am a Born Again Christian too, just as Mr. Perkins claims to be. This young man who did the shootings is the one who should be blamed. His parents or his closest friends possibly might have intervened. I want the rest of the world to know these talking heads of Christianity speak for themselves, not for me, not for you, not for God.
My prayers are for all of the family members involved. To those who were affected, everyone in my family feels terrible for what you’ve gone through. It would be nice if I could offer more at this time, but it is not feasable. God Bless all of you.
LGBN
Jeffko
frist!
Peanut butter & jelly, bread & butter, hand in glove, religion & violence.
His alternative and what he probably really believes but just does not say in public is that it was Satanic forces aligned against the church. Because, of course, it was not being raised in a strict fundie Christian household. It can’t possibly be that.
Thank God! It was the evil secularists! I was so worried it was the meth snorting gay prostitute loving church leaders.
Maybe we should pass a law requiring churches to post the Ten Commandments and pray.
I thought this would be Satan’s fault?
Seems like I have heard something like this before…
ChristO-fascist Jerry Falwell blaming America for 911:
“JERRY FALWELL: And, I know that I’ll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen’.”
Tony Perkins and Jerrry Falwell, Christian Taliban of a feather.
Also by Perkin’s argument I guess we can blame the Christians for the deaths of Matthew Sheppard and other gay bashings since their extreme rhetoric leads to gay killings….not to mention lyinchings of blacks in the 1950’s.
Christian extremist thugs promote murder!
Well if Tony Perkins is going to go ahead and politicize this tragedy, then let me be the first to hypothesize that the shootings were God’s revenge on the New Life Church for giving the world Ted Haggard. Right-wing, Xian zealot hypocrits, I’d suggest you take heed. ‘Nuff Sed.
“Guns don’t kill people, the ’secular media’ kills people”
~Reich-wing talking point 124,951,554
According to perkins and his ilk, god controls each and every little thing in the entire universe. This includes controlling ALL that happens, because ALL that happens is “god’s will”.
Why then did god kill the people who this maniac shot? And why does god want Muslims in Iraq, Iran and other places dead? And why did god kill JFK, MLK, etc., etc., etc…………? See how ridiculous their beliefs are?
I’m surprised he wasn’t able to squeeze the Clenis somewhere into this conspiracy…
Wasn’t Tony Perkins the star of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho?
HammClov @ 3:
Yeah, you se, that’s the problem. Guess how much ‘religious tolerance’ I have for the God Hates Fags crew.
The other problem is, I’ve read the Bible. I know what it says. And it’s basically the exact polar opposite of what right wing spoiled rotten air conditioned fat lazy American ‘Christians’ are doing.
So no. I say, live by the sword,die by the sword.
well maybe just maybe if he cared about the real reasons people kill - mental illness, hunger, fear, poverty, etc.. that would make a difference, but then again caring is a christian thing which he is not too familiar with ….
Meanwhile, the BBC, (yeah, I know trolls, another secular “liberal media” roll eyes) is reporting that suicides rise during periods of conservative governments…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2263690.stm
In our gun-totin’ society, what makes Dear Tony think that these people aren’t ticked off enough to take a few people with them?
hostility?..hmmmm I wonder why?Could it be because of the way they treated the Clintons or maybe it’s because they stole an election but then again…Starting an illegal war will piss some people off.And when churches stick their noses into politics some people will resent that one too.Patriot Act,FISA,Torture,Detroying evidence,Outing a Covert CIA officer……where do I stop.These are just a few reasons why I’m pissed off.
Send Perkins to Tehran!
fucking religionists
When the Bushies go to the Hague, send this self-serving, immoral, blithering idiot along with them!
Of course, blame it on the secularists… No doubt they will never accept responsibilty for encroaching on others private worship, the fact they lock up, abuse or abandon many of their own offspring, their ideas of forgiveness and goodwill end at the door of their own homes and houses of worship, their idea of charity is raising money not for the poor, but more tax-free property, a coffee shop or health club inside their churches, and their missionary work is often an attempt to usurp existing religions or parental authority of other faiths.
They cannot see what they are doing to others, it doesn’t fit into their plan of global dominion. Christ does not need their money, Christ sees right through them. And the whole thing on modern prophets, like Hagee, God says he’s an idiot.
This is not a knee-jerk reactionary statement by Perkins - this is part of the ongoing attack against the secular world/atheists.
It’s always interesting to hear how “God” wanted someone to do something heroic like the security guard who shot and killed the gunman, yet at the same time “God” allowed the gunman to kill however many people. Apparently those people deserved to die.
LOTS more on this at my blog…
Hey Tony … Perhaps, just perhaps … it was do to the FACT that this kid had to grow up in an OPPRESSIVE devout Christian home. Read the paper.
It is easy for these assholes to blame someone else instead of looking at the mirror and seeing who the idiots are. God is never wrong. Religion is never wrong. This is what the problem is with any religion. And then we wonder why we have wars and all type of problems in the world. Anyone with a little knowledge of history knows how dengerous extreme religion can be. Unfortunately, people are too stupid to realize it.
The NRA is part of the Secular Media?
I say another part is selling religion as a panacea for all problems, and when it can’t solve all problems becomes a target of those with problems.
Problematically speaking of course.
Wasn’t this kid supposedly home schooled and came from “Christian household”?
No hostility towards Christians, just Christo-fascists like you, Tony. Your organization is aggressive and has a warlike stance, so it is not surprising when one of yours turns on you, it would be in a violent way.
VietVet67 @ 27:
Yes and Yes
That is an open declaration of war. They’ll all be packing heat and if they see anything out of line with their concept of reality, dead meet.
Weaseldog @ 9:
No, it’s Dana Carvey’s
It’s only a matter of time before Perkins gets busted molesting little boys while high on meth and bilking his followers from millions.
Perkins’ comments are designed to further the attack on the secular world and atheists. This is not merely a reactionary comment. There will be no room in America for non-Christians in the near future.
The gunman was part of the church he shot people in. We all know this, yet the lies will continue, the distortions will continue, and secularists/atheists will be the scapegoats. We will be the Jews of the 21st century in Amerika.
LOTS more on this at my blog…
Slinky the Wonder Ferret @ 15:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdrDpELNbks
Right the secular media, I’m sure the fact churches such as NLC who commonly attract people who need help with life (including the unstable) seeking answers has nothing to do with it. Maybe the lesson here is you be saved and still not be fixed, sometimes therapy does what Jesus can’t.
Actually, he’s right. I live in the bible belt (Oklahoma). Every day I see train after train of good, religious people shipped off to camps by the secularists. These camps are closed to the public; but I hear that they are death camps. These good, loving, christian people are forced to wear crosses stitched on their meager garments. They also are forced to have Keith Olbermann tattoos on their forearms to further identify them. Even the good christians who haven’t been so unfortunate to be shipped off are brutalized every day by the majority secularists. Their businesses have been all but destroyed. They live in fear for simply having faith in their God and Savior.
Friends, it is hell to be a christian in America–especially a white christian. They have no representation in government. Think about it! When is the last time you saw a politician who was a religious person? They have no voice in the media. They can barely even find places to worship in private. When is the last time you saw a church? Thank God for people like Tony Perkins and Bill O’Reilley for having the courage to speak out on this genocide. History will remember them as heroes.
If you really believe that the evil secularists haven’t fomented evil upon these meager christian people, then you just aren’t paying attention. That makes you part of the problem. History will remember you as evil secularists.
Why can’t Richard Dawkins get 1/1000th the airtime as these mouth-breathers?
crazytown @ 5:
There is much truth in this statement, and yet–are there no exceptions? Maybe Buddhists? Or the Jain? I’ve never heard of any member of these groups going off on a violent rampage.
Same thing with any school shooting. Push the blame onto every other thing outside of the school instead of acknowledging the social problems inherent within the organization to begin with.
And to that crackpot guard that shot the guy. The victims had god with them, too. You had a gun. Wishing really hard to an invisible sky genie did not cause god to strike him down through you.
This is nothing unusual for Perkins or for that matter anyone in the right wing theocratic movement. Just as with Republicans, who blame even cloudy days on Bill Clinton, the theocrats see the demon of secularism everywhere. They allege hostility in the media towards them. They allege that there is a conspiracy to persecute them for their “beliefs”.
In truth, they no longer get the same deference from the media and others that they once enjoyed. They don’t like to be questioned or challenged when they make outlandish claims. They don’t like the fact that they look foolish when they go on television and claim that the Earth is only 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs and human beings lived alongside one another. They don’t like the fact that science trumps their “holy” book. They think that saying “Happy Holidays” is an intentional act of hostility towards them, even though there are several winter celebrations that take place during December - and the fact that “Christmas” is really based on pagan holidays celebrating the Winter Solstice and the birth of “pagan” gods.
They want to be supreme, unchallenged, unhindered and above all powerful. They look with envy at the Muslim world, where clerics wield much more influence than they themselves can in the post-Reformation and post-Enlightenment West. They lust for the power of authoritarian regimes, so that they can force their view of religion, of Christianity and of morality on everyone.
In short, they’re crybabies who can see the end of their influence and purpose and are desperately trying to hold on to every shred of power that they can. I can only hope that one day their backwards, reactionary and medieval views are but an unpleasant memory of the past.
I swear to God, I’m going to cry. The stupidity is just getting to be too much, somebody tell me it’s going to get better soon!! They can’t have anything happen to them that they can’t figure out a way to blame us. Just please somebody tell me the nonsense is going to stop soon, my brain really, really, really hurts right now.
“The Main Stream Media is a naughty little girl Norman”
“No mommy… NO!!!”
mega church self righteous pussy coward
Didn’t the shooter have some history with this organization?
He went home, watched a secular show on tv and got a gun?
That must be why the guy who went on a spree was religious, too.
It is hard not to draw a line between the hostility that is being fomented in our culture from some in the secular media toward Christians and evangelicals in particular and the acts of violence that took place in Colorado yesterday. But I will say no more for now other than that our friends at New Life Church and YWAM are in our thoughts and prayers.
***************************************
Looks to me like Perkins, if he’s half the ethical man he claims to be, should be prepared to dig into a generous serving of crow (cooked any way he likes) since the latest news reports indicate that the shooter was himself a self-proclaimed Christian and not a violent godless heathen as Perkins would apparently like people to think.
All right, everybody — a show of hands. How many people here think that Perkins will actually practice his faith and do the right thing by acknowledging that he was wrong?
Anyone…?
Anyone at all…?
{*crickets*}
I rest my case.
gonzalez @ 25:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d1QD83Hf24
On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, “Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me.” Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, “Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me.” These will ask Him, “When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?” And Jesus will answer them, “Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!”
Bizby @ 38:
You’ll never hear of violence in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Monsterists are all exceptional people.
We could take a page from Mann Coulter’s book and suggest that we kill all of the leaders of the other religions and convert them to Monsterism.