“From Boston to Zanzibar, there’s a worldwide war on Christianity,” said Senator Rand Paul at the Values Voters Summit Friday.
Paul likened the anti-Christian attacks to the Middle Ages, perhaps forgetting that the Church ruled in those days, violently forcing nonbelievers to convert during the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition.
Paul blames the “war” on “a fanatical element of Islam,” although he notes that not all Muslims are violent opposers of Christianity. However, he does believe that nonviolent Muslims are responsible for keeping their aggressive counterparts in check.
“Some politicians say that this war on Christianity means that we must fight a large conventional war against all radical Islam. … This isn’t going to be fought with a conventional war, it’s going to require Islam to police Islam,” said Paul.
Paul delves further into the issue on his official website, going on to fault Obama for not properly addressing the issue.
“The President tries to gloss over who is attacking and killing Christians. The media describes the killings as “sectarian.” But the truth is the truth, there is a worldwide war on Christians by a fanatical element of Islam,” Paul’s statement reads.
Paul also cites the recent battle of Maalula, Syria, a Christian city. When rebel forces invaded in August, they reportedly forced at least one Christian to convert to Islam at gunpoint, and killed others for not converting.
He also mentions the shooting of a priest in Zanzibar, committed by two young Muslims. He did not, of course, mention any of the numerous incidents of anti-Muslim violence in America. Often, Christian bigots even attack Sikhs in turbans, not realizing that Islam is an entirely different religion.
While the actions of Muslim terrorists are indeed appalling, there is little evidence that anti-Christian sentiment is the common reason for most attacks. After all, a radical Muslim is as likely to despise a Jewish or atheist American as a Christian one.
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