A Christian Madrasah

I mean no offense to my Christian friends here whatsoever, and certainly do not mean to suggest this is the norm.

I find this article telling. The short version, a student at Falwell's university makes his own bombs and plans to use them to defend Falwell's funeral from protesters. Notice that the word "terrorist" does not appear once in the linked article.

I bring this up not to point the finger at Christianity, but because we so often hear that the difference between Muslim fundamentalists and Christian fundamentalists is that Christian ones don't blow people up. One nutjob doesn't change that. Yet it's hard to imagine an article about a kid making bombs with the intent to blow people up without the word "terrorist" in it. Is he exempt because he's a Christian? Is this a case of the "liberal" media trying to draw an indelible line between "us" and "them?" Naturally, this kid was arrested and faces criminal charges, which of course means he gets representation and a trial. Why isn't he going to Gitmo?

There's a lot here to discuss. Have at it.

I blame Christian Heavy Metal and that Left Behind videogame. Those things are getting these Christian kids all worked up. Practically a training system for Christian terrorism!

article wrote:

Authorities found in Uhl's vehicle "what appeared to be about six explosive devices" that had detonation devices with them, Hutcherson said. The homemade devices were canisters with some kind of liquid inside.

...

"Anytime you have somebody with what appears to be explosive devices, you have to take that threat seriously," Hutcherson said.

There's a lot of "appeared to be" in there. I'll be interested to see if this story gets any more play, because I'd like to hear what these explosive devices were. From what they've described, he could have had 6 bottles of soda with alka seltzer and pop rocks packets in the trunk. (Not that I think that's it).

It sounds like the details are vague, and I'm pretty glad there's no mention of terrorism in the article, as that would be way over the top. His bombs sound small enough that they weren't designed to kill anyone, just disrupt protests.

Had this been a funeral for a muslim religious leader, I'm sure something else would have been dragged into it, but I think that's more discrimination against muslims than it is christians getting special treatment.

LobsterMobster wrote:

I mean no offense to my Christian friends here whatsoever, and certainly do not mean to suggest this is the norm.

I find this article telling. The short version, a student at Falwell's university makes his own bombs and plans to use them to defend Falwell's funeral from protesters. Notice that the word "terrorist" does not appear once in the linked article.

I bring this up not to point the finger at Christianity, but because we so often hear that the difference between Muslim fundamentalists and Christian fundamentalists is that Christian ones don't blow people up. One nutjob doesn't change that. Yet it's hard to imagine an article about a kid making bombs with the intent to blow people up without the word "terrorist" in it. Is he exempt because he's a Christian? Is this a case of the "liberal" media trying to draw an indelible line between "us" and "them?" Naturally, this kid was arrested and faces criminal charges, which of course means he gets representation and a trial. Why isn't he going to Gitmo?

There's a lot here to discuss. Have at it.

Is he working with a larger network with both religious and political motives? Is he using terror as a tool to achieve those motives?

Or is he a lone shark who is a nut case and should be locked away? I think you're really reaching trying to tie Christians to radical islamists.

Jolly Bill wrote:

His bombs sound small enough that they weren't designed to kill anyone, just disrupt protests.

You can't tell a lot from the size. A 1 gallon milk jug full of nitro glycerin is pretty powerful.

Ulairi wrote:

Is he working with a larger network with both religious and political motives? Is he using terror as a tool to achieve those motives?

We never ask these questions about car bombers before we call them terrorists.

LobsterMobster wrote:
Jolly Bill wrote:

His bombs sound small enough that they weren't designed to kill anyone, just disrupt protests.

You can't tell a lot from the size. A 1 gallon milk jug full of nitro glycerin is pretty powerful.

I was referring to their explosive potential, not the physical size of the bombs.

Wasn't Fred Phelps supposed to be picketing the funeral? Maybe he meant to blow that dude up. If so, Uhl must've been a piss-poor Liberty student not to know that good deeds don't get you into heaven.

If he had explosive devices and planned to use them in public, he's absolutely a terrorist. To compare him with al Qaeda may be a bit of a stretch, but he's a terrorist none the less...I'd certainly put him the same camp at Timothy McVey and Eric Rudolph.

I'm pretty sure we talked about this idea before here... the fact that videogames get blamed for youthful misbehavior because young, white, church-going Christian kids can't possibly end up going bad. Those damn videogames must be tempting our good boys into wickedness.

I so want one of these for my nephew.

Falwell was a crazy, anyhow. It twas problem him who messed that kid up.

And why can't they use the angel wings like that other church?

Fundamentalist extremism is always bad.

Wait, make that all extremism.

Kids not labeled a terrorist only because he's a nut case working for the Christian right. Now if he was nut case working for Islam attempting to stop protesters at an Islamic event, then yes he would be labeled a terrorist. Welcome to American the land of fear, dysfunction and hypocrisy.

So, when a muslim kid talks to an FBI agent about purchasing guns, he's a terrorist, but when a christian kid makes bombs in his basement to break up a godless demonstration of heathenism, he's just a disturbed kid?

I'm just waiting for the wingnuts to start in on how the attention to this case is evidence of a media persecution of christians.

What attention? This is the only article I've seen about it.

Hey, my thoroughly white kid just this week has been labeled a "terrorist", and the police were invoked, because:

1. he has alledgedly demonstrated one girl a throat-slitting gesture
2. two weeks ago during a dance social, he discussed a game of Gears of War with another kid
3. after the computer class, using mspaint.exe he drew a stick figure that had a "sword" in its hand
4. he had some goblins, crystals, and most importantly swords drawn in his agenda book
4. he ate a corn on the cob "in a scary way" in the school cafeteria

I kid you not, friends.

Corn is never scary! That's unamerican!

Sadly, since 9/11, "terrorist" has become the catch-all buzzword to label things you don't like or don't approve of.

Gorilla, that's appalling. You're one of the early people to see the fangs of the police state we have become....rigid conformity, enforced by the law.

We've gone insane as a culture, so terrified of essentially non-existent threats that we can't think straight.

I still prefer to call people communists.

LobsterMobster wrote:

I still prefer to call people communists.

...Catholics?

wordsmythe wrote:

Fundamentalist extremism is always bad.

Wait, make that all extremism.

I agree, all bad, X-Games, Mountain Dew Extreme, that song "More than Words"...

I just get nervous when I'm invited to my niece's shool's summer program (at a Christian School) and the kids come out and do a bit about being "Soldiers for God" and swinging around "Swords of the Spirit" and "Shields of Faith". Power to their beliefs, I'm just wondering how many of them will take it a bit too seriously, or "to the extreme" if you will.

Johnvanjim wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

Fundamentalist extremism is always bad.

Wait, make that all extremism.

I agree, all bad, X-Games, Mountain Dew Extreme, that song "More than Words"...

I just get nervous when I'm invited to my niece's shool's summer program (at a Christian School) and the kids come out and do a bit about being "Soldiers for God" and swinging around "Swords of the Spirit" and "Shields of Faith". Power to their beliefs, I'm just wondering how many of them will take it a bit too seriously, or "to the extreme" if you will.

I'm right with you on that one. Maybe you should make sure they're old enough to understand it before handing them that kind of thing. Feels to me like handing a lit welding torch to the kid and then crossing your fingers.