Is Terrorism Tied to Xian Sect? The religion of Eric Rudolph

[Modem Butterfly]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A1196-2003Jun1¬Found=true

"We declare and will wage total war on the ungodly communist regime in New York and your legaslative bureaucratic lackey's in Washington. It is you who are responsible and preside over the murder of children and issue the policy of ungodly preversion thats destroying our people," one of the letters said, in childish penmanship riddled with errors.

"Based on what we know of Rudolph so far, and admittedly it's fragmentary, there seems to be a fairly high likelihood that he can legitimately be called a Christian terrorist," said Michael Barkun, a professor of political science at Syracuse University who has been a consultant to the FBI on Christian extremist groups.

[Initech]

1. Why hasnt the lazy media called this guy out as a terrorist yet?

He fits the very definition. But then again, he's a Republican.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Because in perfect little America, we don't breed terrorists

[Initech]

14. He's also a fundie nutjob too.

I dont think the lib, er, lazy media says anything bad about fundie nutjobs, do they?

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. No, they just bring them in to talk about pertinent issues because their

opinions matter. :puke:

[hexola]

2. Its abortion that ties him to the right - not religion...

I just dont think religion is the main connection...

Abortion ties him to the right sufficiently IMO...no need to bring religion into this...thats fogging the connection...

[Modem Butterfly]

3. Actually, Rudolph bombed the Olympics and a lesbian bar in Atlanta

His letters after the bombings indicated that they were done to advance his religious beliefs that abortion and homosexuality were sins.

[hexola]

9. I know that...

"...religious beliefs that abortion and homosexuality were sins..."

Got that - I just think the Abortion issue ties him to the right more than any crazy Christian sect...

By virtue of his abortion beliefs - we get the religious point as a freebie...IMO.

[bonzotex]

12. you have it reversed....

Abortion is murder because their version of religion tells them it is murder. Take away the religious aspect and abortion becomes just a distasteful practice, not something you have to kill people to stop.

[RPM]

5. good - if they attack again we can bomb the Vatican!!!

Right?

:eyes:

[Modem Butterfly]

7. As any fundy will tell you, Catholics aren't Xian

To truly teach the fundie terrorists a lesson, we have to bomb their sacred city: Branford, MO.

[ArkDem]

20. There is an election this year where the voters will try to change the

name of Branson, Missouri to Branford but it can't happen until november!

[paparush]

6. He and Bush* are both members in the "Culture of Life"

Both are crazy, American terrorists, bent on destroying life to preserve it.....(????????)

[Kraklen]

8. It's as much to do with Xianity as bin Laden has to do with Islam.

Regardless of what the bigots have to say about it.

[bonzotex]

11. true to you and me, but not to them.

You and I can see that. We know Christianity and Islam shouldn't spawn murderers and terrorists. But it does and these murderers and terrorists are absolutely convinced they are doing God's work. Don't be afraid to look at the religious mantle they cloak around their actions.

[bonzotex]

10. No shit ...and the media won't touch that angle

Of course Eric Rudolph is a psycho and a terrorist. But a lot of Americans have similar perverted Xtian beliefs. Perverted sects of Christianity feed and nurture nutbags like Rudolph.

People are too scared to take a critical look at fundie religious beliefs. They don't want "their" version of Christianity tarred with the same brush.
That's tough shit folks.
We have homegrown Christian terrorists right here in the U.S. of A. It will just get worse if we are afraid to call bullshit on the fundamentalist Christians that believe any means are OK if it brings about "God's will".

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. I read on another thread the other day that he had ties with

Christian Identity.

Anyone know if there is any truth to that?

[bonzotex]

16. yes,,,,

http://www.adl.org/extremism/rudolph_backgrounder.asp

Excerpt:
"By the time he was in his 30s, Eric Robert Rudolph was fully immersed in the anti-Semitic and extreme sentiments of the Christian Identity and extremist groups whose rhetoric he followed, but whose ranks he never joined.

Rudolph was not known to be a regular at extremist protests and rallies, nor did he create Web pages to espouse his views. Like a few select others-such as Timothy McVeigh on the far right and Theodore Kaczynski on the far left-Rudolph appears to have opted instead for violent action"

Search "Eric Rudolph Christian Identity" You''l find p[lenty opf references including fundie groups complaining that the Lib Media is smearing Christians by focusing on Rudolph's nutbag Christian beliefs.

[bonzotex]

18. Christianity Today explains....

A typical Mainstream Christian Mag's denial that Rudolph was any body's idea of a Christian. Still, read this and read other articles. There were plenty of "good Christians" cheering him on while he was on the loose.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/122/22.0.html

excerpts:

"Syracuse University political science professor Michael Barkun, who has consulted the FBI on "Christian extremist groups," is willing to use the phrase. "Based on what we know of Rudolph so far, and admittedly it's fragmentary, there seems to be a fairly high likelihood that he can legitimately be called a Christian terrorist," he said.

But Idaho State University sociologist James A. Aho disagrees. "I would prefer to say that Rudolph is a religiously inspired terrorist, because most mainstream Christians consider Christian Identity to be a heresy," he said. The phrase "Christian terrorist," Aho says, is "sort of an oxymoron." But maybe now that the phrase is being used, says Aho, Christians will be more hesitant to use the phrase "Islamic terrorism."

<snip>

While Christian groups say that the "evil and wicked religion" that Rudolph was associated with—the Church of Israel—isn't one of ours, the Church of Israel says Rudolph isn't one of their own, either.

"We very clearly and emphatically teach that all Christians have a duty and an obligation to respect all law enforcement authorities. If Eric Rudolph had listened to his lessons here, he would have learned that acts of violence were absolutely and completely out of order and something this church would never have condoned," Dan Gayman said.

Syracuse's Barkun seems to give some credence to this, noting that the issues of abortion and homosexuality "are a rather subordinate theme" in Christian Identity—and that "anti-Olympic sentiment is not a motif in Christian Identity, and it still strikes me as an odd target."

In other words, even if Christian Identity was a kind of Christian version of Wahabbism (which it isn't), Rudolph wouldn't even have acted consistently with it.

blah blah blah.....
I won't post a link but do some searches on the "Church of Israel" if you have the stomach for some really twisted bible interpretation.

To this day there are plenty of Xtians who may disassociate themselves publicly from Rudolph, but don't think what he did was so bad.

[ArkDem]

15. It could be tied to this years elections.

[MattSWin]

17. I've seen no evidence that Rudolph....

Was driven by Christianity. He never said he committed these acts because abortion was a sin against God.

Why do people always want to blame religion for acts driven by political agenda?

[bonzotex]

19. you haven't seen it because you don't want to look...

Spend a few minutes on the Net. Political or Religious in nature, it doesn't matter, but there's no doubt Rudolph was exposed to extreme religious beliefs, even if he was cynical about religion. We'll probably never know what drove him.

In his own words, go read his statement, quoting scripture and Militia style gobbldygook.

http://www.covenantnews.com/newswire/archives/011417.html

I blame Eric Rudolph, not religion. He used religion, however, to justify his acts and elicit sympathy from people that helped him.