Why do people cite the OKC bombing as an example of Christian terrorism?

[i4indyguy]

Because they need big-scale, memorable examples.

It was a good example of far-right terrorism, but not Christian terrorism.

It was obviously political terrorism (from a right leaning ideology), I have no idea what McVeighs religious views were, but it would only be 'Christian terrorism' if his religion was a causative factor in his violence. It isn't enough just to be a terrorist who happens to have Christian faith.

Edit: Its the reason we call Bin Laden an Islamic terrorist but not a 'left-handed terrorist'

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

...so I'm a Holocaust denier now? LOL

You are a denier that the majority of the people who fought and carried out orders on behalf of the Nazi regime were Christians.  Germany was a majority Christian country before WWII.  No one including you is denying that.  Germany is currently a majority Christian country.  No one including you is denying that.  Everyone except you also knows Germany was a majority Christian country between 1933-1945.  You are denying that.  What do you think happened?  As a part of the of the Marshall Plan the United States airdropped missionaries to reconvert Germans?  It's just so preposterous the ludicrous excuses people on this forum have for egregious behavior by Christians and yet when it comes to Muslims there is no shortage of unjustified broad condemnation.

If the very sons and daughters and grandchildren of these people are showing me photographic proof it happened why are you so hell bent on continuing to deny it?  What is your horse in this race?  You want me to call up my friends and tell them their family pictures are frauds because... what?  Some anonymous guy on the internet who has no first hand knowledge is sad?

More straw!

I never said Nazi Germany wasn't a majority Christian country. Point to me where I denied that. That does not make its actions done in the name of Christianity.

Iraq is a majority Muslim country. It was under Saddam Hussein too. That doesn't mean the atrocities of his secular regime were done in the name of Islam. But it makes as much sense to blame Islam for Saddam as Christianity for the Nazis.

Most of your attacks here would make more sense if directed at someone who actually made these sort of claims about Islam instead of me for the record. You seem to have mistaken me for a Trump supporter. Why not save your attacks for them?

[afleitch]

Anti-semitism had been bouncing around Europe since the middle ages. It had demonstrably Christian cultural/political origins. It didn't spawn Nazi rhetoric, but it gave them themes from which it could draw.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Nazism and the LRA both involved extremely heterodox interpretations of Christianity mixed with a hodge podge of other beliefs and an insane personality cult. Both are different in that way from the violence inspired by a Salafi interpretation of Islam that seeks to purge the religion of all syncretic influences.

Hitler supported a version of Christianity divested of its Jewish roots and turning Jesus from an example of sacrificial universal love to an Aryan ubermensch (from a 'loser' to a 'winner' to put it into contemporary parlance.)   If you are up for some odd reading today here is a description of the LRA's religious beliefs.

[Indy Texas]

The Lord's Resistance Army, as shua points out, is basically a Christian-inspired cult. The LRA is completely uninterested in attacking the non-Christian world outside of the immediate conflict in East Africa. They aren't sending terrorists to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia to kill Muslims. They aren't propagandizing to Christians in other parts of the world trying to get them to join their cause. It looks like the LRA is just part of what is essentially an ethnic conflict in East Africa where the tribal group in question just happens to be Christian.

There is really no equivalent to militant Islamism in other religions.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Does schadenfreuderealize that those "swastika" churches basically were Nazi propaganda centers where Hitler was viewed as the second coming and where the bible was totally rewritten to satisfy Nazi aims? Does he know at all about Dietrich Bonhoeffer? Or does he want to just keep up the strawman arguments because he doesn't want his fedora blowing off?

European anti-semitism absolutely had Christian roots, and I think Hitler was able to take advantage of them and stoke the anti-semitism in the common European - especially in conquered nations like Poland, which otherwise might have risen up - to carry out his monstrous plans. But to claim Hitler was motivated by Christianity is the height of ahistory. He, like many of the most deranged dictators in history, was motivated more by a twisted cult of personality.

As an aside, Hitler has more in common with Mao, Stalin, and the Kims than he does with your standard fascists like Mussolini, Franco, and Pinochet. He relied much more on populist rage and a God-complex cult of personality than he did on the military.

[RINO Tom]

Anti-semitism had been bouncing around Europe since the middle ages. It had demonstrably Christian cultural/political origins. It didn't spawn Nazi rhetoric, but it gave them themes from which it could draw.

I would never debate that, but it's a far cry from ag's claim that Christianity was behind Nazism.

[RINO Tom]

...so I'm a Holocaust denier now? LOL

You are a denier that the majority of the people who fought and carried out orders on behalf of the Nazi regime were Christians.  Germany was a majority Christian country before WWII.  No one including you is denying that.  Germany is currently a majority Christian country.  No one including you is denying that.  Everyone except you also knows Germany was a majority Christian country between 1933-1945.  You are denying that.  What do you think happened?  As a part of the of the Marshall Plan the United States airdropped missionaries to reconvert Germans?  It's just so preposterous the ludicrous excuses people on this forum have for egregious behavior by Christians and yet when it comes to Muslims there is no shortage of unjustified broad condemnation.

If the very sons and daughters and grandchildren of these people are showing me photographic proof it happened why are you so hell bent on continuing to deny it?  What is your horse in this race?  You want me to call up my friends and tell them their family pictures are frauds because... what?  Some anonymous guy on the internet who has no first hand knowledge is sad?

The point is how is it relevant that it was majority Christian?  It's at least as relevant that France, Britain, the US and many other majority Christian nations rose up to fight Nazism.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

So is Schadenfreude gonna respond to BRTD or is he just gonna slink away?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

So is Schadenfreude gonna respond to BRTD or is he just gonna slink away?

I'd also appreciate for anyone to cite a single instance where I denied that Nazi Germany was a majority Christian country (as he accused in this thread.)

[DC Al Fine]

...so I'm a Holocaust denier now? LOL

You are a denier that the majority of the people who fought and carried out orders on behalf of the Nazi regime were Christians.  Germany was a majority Christian country before WWII.  No one including you is denying that.  Germany is currently a majority Christian country.  No one including you is denying that.  Everyone except you also knows Germany was a majority Christian country between 1933-1945.  You are denying that.  What do you think happened?  As a part of the of the Marshall Plan the United States airdropped missionaries to reconvert Germans?  It's just so preposterous the ludicrous excuses people on this forum have for egregious behavior by Christians and yet when it comes to Muslims there is no shortage of unjustified broad condemnation.

If the very sons and daughters and grandchildren of these people are showing me photographic proof it happened why are you so hell bent on continuing to deny it?  What is your horse in this race?  You want me to call up my friends and tell them their family pictures are frauds because... what?  Some anonymous guy on the internet who has no first hand knowledge is sad?

The point is how is it relevant that it was majority Christian?  It's at least as relevant that France, Britain, the US and many other majority Christian nations rose up to fight Nazism.

It's almost as if religion wasn't a major cause of WWII

[nclib]

Abortion clinic bombers are good examples of Christian terrorism.

[Indy Texas]

Abortion clinic bombers are good examples of Christian terrorism.

Because that happens so often.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

...so I'm a Holocaust denier now? LOL

You are a denier that the majority of the people who fought and carried out orders on behalf of the Nazi regime were Christians.  Germany was a majority Christian country before WWII.  No one including you is denying that.  Germany is currently a majority Christian country.  No one including you is denying that.  Everyone except you also knows Germany was a majority Christian country between 1933-1945.  You are denying that.  What do you think happened?  As a part of the of the Marshall Plan the United States airdropped missionaries to reconvert Germans?  It's just so preposterous the ludicrous excuses people on this forum have for egregious behavior by Christians and yet when it comes to Muslims there is no shortage of unjustified broad condemnation.

If the very sons and daughters and grandchildren of these people are showing me photographic proof it happened why are you so hell bent on continuing to deny it?  What is your horse in this race?  You want me to call up my friends and tell them their family pictures are frauds because... what?  Some anonymous guy on the internet who has no first hand knowledge is sad?

The point is how is it relevant that it was majority Christian?  It's at least as relevant that France, Britain, the US and many other majority Christian nations rose up to fight Nazism.

It's almost as if religion wasn't major cause of WWII

I think that's exactly RINO Tom's point. You could just as easily make a case that Christianity is responsible for defeating Nazism as being responsible for it. Of course both cases would be very ver weak.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The Lord's Resistance Army, as shua points out, is basically a Christian-inspired cult. The LRA is completely uninterested in attacking the non-Christian world outside of the immediate conflict in East Africa. They aren't sending terrorists to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia to kill Muslims. They aren't propagandizing to Christians in other parts of the world trying to get them to join their cause. It looks like the LRA is just part of what is essentially an ethnic conflict in East Africa where the tribal group in question just happens to be Christian.

There is really no equivalent to militant Islamism in other religions.

That's because the Lord's Resistance Army is the successor group to one in the 80s founded by some crazy woman who claimed to be a psychic medium, could channel spirits of her ancestors and had the blessing of the Holy Spirit. But the previous dictator belonged to the same northern Uganda-based ethnic group as her and was very friendly to other tribal members. Once the rebels ousted his regime in 1986 they started seizing land from that group and they started a new rebellion and had crazy things preached by their leaders such as that they could bless rocks which would cause them to explode as grenades if thrown or that they could spread holy oil over their bodies to stop bullets. After they were defeated, smaller groups broke away, one that became the LRA.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Does schadenfreuderealize that those "swastika" churches basically were Nazi propaganda centers where Hitler was viewed as the second coming and where the bible was totally rewritten to satisfy Nazi aims? Does he know at all about Dietrich Bonhoeffer? Or does he want to just keep up the strawman arguments because he doesn't want his fedora blowing off?

European anti-semitism absolutely had Christian roots, and I think Hitler was able to take advantage of them and stoke the anti-semitism in the common European - especially in conquered nations like Poland, which otherwise might have risen up - to carry out his monstrous plans. But to claim Hitler was motivated by Christianity is the height of ahistory. He, like many of the most deranged dictators in history, was motivated more by a twisted cult of personality.

As an aside, Hitler has more in common with Mao, Stalin, and the Kims than he does with your standard fascists like Mussolini, Franco, and Pinochet. He relied much more on populist rage and a God-complex cult of personality than he did on the military.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Underground_State

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

For the record, Hitler despised Christianity and wanted to do away with it.

Hitler's religion is actually under dispute.

He certainly wasn't Christian though.