The word terrorism brings to mind certain images. The Twin Towers, car bombs, Anthrax in the post etc. Right now the majority of the world’s terrorism has its roots in the Middle East and Islamic extremism. The East is a breeding ground for radicalised young Muslims hell bent on forcing the world to believe as they do. They oppose everything about the western way of life and will go to any lengths to make the entire planet as restrictive and appalling to live in as the Middle East. These young Muslims are a new breed who have found ways to manipulate their holy book to justify just about anything.
It is vital we do everything in our power to maintain the freedom of western life and to oppose the spread of the oppression that Islam brings. As a side note; when I talk about oppression I am not limiting this to the ‘radicalised’ Muslims. I accept that most Muslims want to live a peaceful life and do not condone the use of violence advanced by the extremists and I applaud them for their stance. However, many of these ‘peaceful’ Muslims are still sympathetic to the aspects of their religion which force women to be second class citizens in society. I live in a country free from the rule of the Taliban but witness on a daily basis the lack of freedom women in Islam have. I have known of numerous cases of women being told they can’t decide their own path in life, forced to hide under a veil, shipped out to the Middle East to marry whoever their father wanted them to marry, regardless of their own wishes. Women’s rights are just one of many examples I could cite. It is vital for the health of humanity, and to maintain the freedom we have, that we oppose these ludicrous customs fervently.
But we must not forget that the eastern religions are not the only risk to our freedom. In the USA out-dated, backwards, hateful and discriminatory feelings are stronger than ever before. These feelings are fuelled by the intense ignorance which is prevalent in American society and culture. In what is ironically called the ‘land of the free’, conservative Christianity, and it’s message of precisely the opposite of freedom, still has a stronghold on the nation.
It is a stronghold I fear could only become stronger. It is more than obvious that Islam is making a lot of noise and is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth. This growth seems to scare the Christians, who similarly want us to forget the thousands of years of social evolution we’ve experienced and pretend we live 2,000 years earlier than we actually do. Right now something scary is happening in America. Christian extremists are becoming more vocal and more confrontational than ever before, determined to make more noise than Muslims about their deluded view of how the world should work. The lengths they are prepared to go to in order to spread their message of hatred are increasing.
The Army Of God is a group opposed to abortion. They see the world in a narrow minded, black and white way where every person who aborts a pregnancy is a baby murderer. Their tactics are confrontational; their website contains a plethora of images of aborted babies interspersed with Bible verses which they twist to fit their agenda. They support the murder of abortion doctors and use inflammatory statements like “American Hero Scott Roeder”, glorifying the abhorrent actions of Scott Roeder the mentally deranged man who shot dead a father for performing abortions. ‘Pro-life’ terrorists like Scott Roeder have been responsible for burning and bombing medical centres, I dread to think what else they may be capable of. While stopping short of actually advising people to murder, the Army Of God’s web site is riddled with the sentiment that such murders are ok. Slightly hypocritical that the Army Of God clearly believe two wrongs make a right. These people are no different from the terrorists of the east. They are prepared to use and/or support violence in order to bring fruition to their own agenda.
Repent Amarillo are a group of equally narrow-minded, intolerant bigots who have elevated their religious mission into the realm of terror. They are on a self-imposed war against what they see as the evils of Amarillo and have vamped up their activity in 2010. They use military language, wear military clothing, call themselves ‘soldiers’ and create the impression they like all things violent. It’s difficult to discern what their aim is from their web site as it’s full of rambling non-sensical bullshit. They claim they “cannot stand by and watch [their] neighbours walking through the gates of hell”, which would suggest their mission is to ‘save’ people and bring them into Christianity. Their actions suggest the exact opposite, however, as to date they’ve involved themselves in standing outside strip clubs and hurling abuse at the patrons; finding the contact details of those who visit the ‘evil’ places they despise and intimidating them; picketing outside people’s houses who they disagree with; trying to ruin ordinary people’s lives by informing their employers of their sexual preferences. Not really the actions of a group wanting to save people is it?
Repent Amarillo share a number of similarities with the terrorist groups of the east. For example they exist centred around a small number of people’s personal interpretation of an ancient text which has long been shown to be total bollocks. At the centre of this group is David Grisham, a religious nut who worryingly is an armed guard at a nuclear facility. They are, in many ways, a cult built on the personal delusions of one man and his band of followers. In addition to this most of David’s recruits are young men in their teens or twenties who have found a perfect environment to vent their hatred. These young men have been radicalised in the exact same way the young Taliban and Al’Queda recruits have been.
The worst case scenario is that these new breed of Christian terrorists will ‘up their game’ in the face of this new breed of radicalism we’re seeing. These people are just as dangerous, in my opinion, as the terrorists who carry out bombings against the innocent. These people care not about the rules of decency and kindness, they have no regard for the law (apart from the parts of it which allow them to spout their rubbish) and believe the end justifies the means. I fear we are in for a rough future where these nuts will continue to carry out atrocious acts all in the name of religion.
The Mind Of An Atheist 