With approximately 300 Christians killed and 500 more wounded in Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama struggled to find the right word to describe the victims.
Some of the victims were surely non-Christian but the targets were Catholic churches and hotels that cater to western tourists. So, yes, mostly Christians.
It was one of the most severe mass casualty terrorist attack series since 9/11.
At least twenty four people were arrested following the bombings. What flavor of terrorists brought these horrors? Mum’s the word by many media outlets.
Labeling the perpetrators is tricky business in an ultra-sensitive news environment where accusations against the “marginalized” are unwelcome. Only a few media references about the Sri Lanka bombing reports use the word Muslim. NBC News used the word Islamists.
.@billneelynbc reports from Colombo, Sri Lanka, where another bomb went off about 30 minutes ago.
He also says an eyewitness described the bombings on Easter Sunday saying, “On the ground it was a river of blood. In the air, ash falling like snow.” pic.twitter.com/qW0Kvk618c
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 22, 2019
Police in Sri Lanka are identifying the bombers as Thowheeth Jama’ath, a small sect of Muslims who officials suspect were assisted by a global terrorist network. Thowheeth Jama’ath (unity of God) has been known to terrorize Buddhists as well as Christians.
But media outlets will quickly tell readers how tough it is for all religions in Asia.
Now what’s that word that Hill and Barack couldn’t muster up?
Christians, Barack! Christians, Hillary! Christians were killed by Muslims.
American media has no filter in describing terrorism created by white males. The headlines and story content spotlight race when terrorists are white males.
Making note of race and ethnicity is absolutely necessary in telling the complete story. CNN’s Don Lemon noted that America’s terrorists are mostly “white men” and that “there is no white guy ban so what do we do about that?”
Lemon is a commentator and his opinion on this matter is spot on. How do we thwart white males (and all other people) in America from inflicting terrorism on others?
News reporting demands factual accounting of details, even if political correctness must be pushed aside. America’s two Muslim members of Congress responded to the Sri Lanka tragedy in completely different ways. Both women frequently comment on matters related to their claims of mistreatment of Muslims both domestically and globally.
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar remained silent about Muslims killing Christians at Easter services, an ironic twist after re-tweeting about Christian hypocrisy just one day before the bombings.
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib tweeted multiple times after the Sri Lanka bombings, damning hatred for heightening human distrust.
Civility is paramount. Facts are necessary to fully comprehend the challenges that separate humans of different spiritual callings.
Rep. Tlaib gets it. Barack, Hillary, and Rep. Omar seem to think that feelings supersede facts.
As for CNN, the killing and/or injuries to nearly a thousand people created another chance to deride Trump.
Re: Trump's tweet about "138 million people" being killed in Sri Lanka, which stayed up for 20 minutes today: When someone can't get the little stuff right, it makes you worry about the big stuff. pic.twitter.com/YwC4bDFq30
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 21, 2019
Petty politics and skewed news aside, high quality human beings rise above it all with an eye toward the betterment of humanity.
