What? Where did that headline appear? As far as is known, such a claim did not appear in any newspaper. Even so, a poll taken among New Jersey residents last week revealed that most people there thought that Republicans were responsible for the massacre. Why? The perception is that Republicans want everyone to have firearms, which enables someone like Omar Mateen to commit mass murder.
First, Republicans may (on average) defend second amendment rights more than Democrats, but it is not a one-party issue. Anyone who doubts that should realize that from 2008 to 2010 the Democrats had the presidency and both houses of Congress, which means they could have passed any legislation they desired to put severe restrictions on gun control. That did not happen because many Democrats do not want overly strict controls, either.
Second, guns are not needed to commit mass murder. On July 13, 1966, Richard Speck broke into a townhouse serving as a dormitory and, armed only with a knife, killed 8 student nurses in Chicago. The Boston Marathon bombing, which occurred on April 15, 2013, killed 3 and injured 264 others. Obviously there are means other than guns (even airplanes) by which to kill people. In fact, bombs are usually far more deadly. It was only November 13 of 2015 that 137 were killed in Paris, 368 being injured.
Third, gun control laws seldom do any good. Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws anywhere, yet in 2015, almost 3,000 were killed there; so far this year 1,792 have been victims of shootings there, which would surpass the deaths recorded last year if the second half of the year is anything like the first half.
Fourth, if more citizens were carrying a weapon, fewer atrocities might occur. Notice that terrorists often select targets where no one is likely to be armed so that they can do as much damage as possible—a marathon, a school, a movie theater, etc. But if no one had any firearms whatsoever, who could prevent a terrorist from either detonating a bomb in a public place or serving as the weapon himself?
Another aspect of this matter is to consider who wants to fight Islamic terrorists and who will not even call them that? Who wants to suspend immigration until we have a vetting process that works? Who is crippling the FBI so that they cannot legally use information they receive and have access to? For people on the streets of New Jersey to blame Republicans for terrorist attacks is absurd. Republicans can be blamed for a lot of things, but that is not one of them. Omar Mateen was an Islamic terrorist and a registered Democrat, but it was not his politics that motivated him to murder; it was his religion. He claimed to be acting on behalf of ISIS.
Both Adam and Eve knew God’s law regarding the forbidden fruit. Satan, however, told Eve that she would not die—that God was just withholding from her and her husband the ability to be like Him. Departing from the facts that she had from a reliable source, she instead subscribed to the word on the street (so to speak). Only later did she figure out that she had been lied to. The same thing occurs today. The news media, the entertainment media, and “higher education” are among the worst at providing slanted views.
The following headlines and stories were presented on The O’Reilly Factor on June 16, 2016. These are not made up for a comedy skit. They are actual headlines and stories. The first is from ThinkProgress, which describes itself as “Hard-hitting progressive political news and analysis.” They put forth:
Avoid Responsibility for Perpetuating Anti-LGBT Violence
What? Conservative—and especially Christian conservatives have never called for violence against these people. Islam has (see the front page). No one is scapegoating Islam. Mateen declared that he was acting in concert with ISIS. Where has even one “Christian” or conservative (with any credibility) called for their murders? The headline is ridiculous, but the story continues in the same vein.
ISIS may sensationalize anti-gay violence— specifically to spark the anti-Islam sentiment that fuels it—but that doesn’t make radical Islam more violent against LGBT people than the conservative Christian sentiment that permeates the U.S.
This is so much blather. There may be some such lunatic or group somewhere, but they do not define conservative Christianity. Yes, we point out that the Bible calls homosexuality a sin, and we vigorously oppose homosexual marriage as a perversion of the institution God gave to man and woman when He created them. God explains and defines sin so that people can know right from wrong. Homosexuality is just one sin; people also commit many others (Rom. 1:21-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Rev. 21:8, et al.). All of these are wrong; every one of them needs to be repented of, and Christians are not bashful about declaring the truth of the matter.
But God’s instructions to us are to teach the gospel and show the way out of sin. Not one New Testament passage can be found that would command Christians to harm or kill anyone. The New Testament teaches us to love our neighbors—even the sinful ones. We have ourselves made a conscious decision to give up sin; we want others to do likewise. Violence is wrong.
Somebody named Zack Ford wrote those inane words, vainly attempting to prove that Christians are just as violent as Muslims against LGBTs. The problem is that some may think such irresponsible statements are true. The next one was written by Muna Mire for Teen Vogue:
That American Culture Fuels Homophobia
Seriously? Now America is going to be blamed? It is in Muslim nations that homosexuals are put to death with the approval of their Muslim governments. Precisely what laws are in force either in the United States as a whole (or in any one state of the union) that calls for killing these human beings? We live in a free nation that allows people the right even to make stupid statements. Below Mire wrote more gobbledegook:
Omar was the product of American culture. The rage he held in his heart for gay people, and perhaps for himself, is the same rage fueling street harassment of visibly queer and gender nonconforming people….
Perhaps a few people on the street are not fond of homosexuals; certainly that is possible. Some people on the street may be thieves, but that does not make them the product of American culture. People have been guilty of numerous sins from the beginning— some that they had never seen before.
Cain killed his brother Abel. This was not an act of imitation. He did not learn it from his father or mother; he did not succumb to killing his brother because he had seen too many murders on television and was unduly influenced by the violence of his society. Why did Richard Speck and John Gacy do what they did? What about Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed 17 young men and ate some of them? Was he “the product of American culture?” Allegations such as these simply have no merit.
A third story was written by Amanda Marotte for Salon. The headline reads:
It’s time to admit that toxic masculinity drives gun violence
What? Too much testosterone is now the problem? What does she have to say about the Muslim woman who blew others up along with herself? The reader has probably noticed that all of these people are desperately trying to find some other motive for the Pulse shootings other than the real reason. Marotte muses:
For obvious political reasons, conservatives are hustling as fast as they can to make this about “radical Islam,” which is to say they are trying to imply that there’s something inherent to Islam and not Christianity that causes such violence. This, of course, is hoary nonsense….
Why is it that when the facts of the case are reported that Marotte portrays conservatives as scrambling to throw the blame on someone else? What she is doing is politicizing the issue, which some people seem prone to do. No one scrambled to blame Islam; Mateen credited ISIS for what he was doing. Conservative Christians didn’t immediately call a conference when this event occurred and ask, “Is there any way we can blame Islam for this?” Mateen made the connection—not us.
Why do liberals make such baseless accusations? It might be because that is what they would do. Perhaps that is an unfair suggestion, but consider this? What kind of political hay would the news media have made over this shooting if Mateen had been at a Trump rally? What if he were a member of the Tea Party? Everyone knows that the news headlines would have been along these lines:
Neither would have been true, but look what the left is already accusing conservatives of when they are not even involved in the matter! What would it be like if one had been? It is reported that Mateen supported Hillary for president, but no headline will accuse her of causing this massacre. And it shouldn’t—because the idea is preposterous! Why don’t people think it’s equally absurd to suggest that a Republican is inspiring hatred? Instead, people in New Jersey think the Republicans are responsible. The only difference appears to be that “journalists” would support and foster such foolishness were a conservative involved. No wonder so many people have a low opinion of the news media. They still retain a measure of influence over some, unfortunately, which they do not deserve having.
Satan thrives on deception, lying, and spin. Those who use such tactics themselves apparently do not care that they have climbed in bed with the devil. Christians need to avoid at all cost methods such as these. Jesus denounced the devil as a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Truth is the only thing that will serve an individual or a society well. Lies are all too commonplace, and many do not care if something is true or not—so long as it is against the other guy. This attitude is shameful. Jesus said to judge righteous judgment (John 7:46). He also proclaimed that the way we judge others is the way in which we shall be judged (Matt. 7:1-5). We cannot have two different standards—one for “our” side and one for our opponents.
When news events occur, we ought to only be interested in what happened. Political opponents should not be blamed—either directly or indirectly. Conservative Christians should not be blamed for what they have not done. Jesus never taught anyone to hate those who violate the will of God. He died to save them from their sins. True Christianity preaches love and calls all people to repentance. It is not unfair to notice that the Muslim religion does not do the same.