Terrorism, Radical Islam, Radical Christianity, and Political Correctness

I don't know why people have such a problem with the phrase, "radical Islam." When I hear someone say, “radical Islam,” I don’t hear, “every Muslim on the face of the earth.” Instead, I hear, “groups like Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, Hamas, and Hezbollah.”

George Stephanopoulos recently asked Hillary Clinton, “You have been reluctant to say we’re fighting radical Islam, isn’t it a mistake to not say it plain? That the violence is being pushed by radical elements in that faith.”

She responded, “Well, that’s a different thing, radical elements who use a dangerous and distorted view of Islam to promote their jihadist ambitions, I’m fine with that. I go after it all the time. I go after Islamists all the time. The problem is that sounds like we’re declaring a war against religion. And that to me is number one, wrong.”

Saying “radical Islam” shouldn’t bother Muslims any more than “radical Christianity” should bother Christians. Sometimes Christians will call themselves radicals, but only insomuch as they see themselves as peaceful forces of change with ideals out of the mainstream. I have heard people like Francis Chan and John Piper use the term radical to describe what Christians should be, but their definition of radical does not include violence. Most Christians feel that being a radical involves being a peaceful force for change, not being violent.

When government officials say “radical [fill in the blank]” they don’t mean people committed to peaceful change, they mean people who use or support terror as a means to promote their ideology. That being said, there are radical Christians out there who do use terror to promote their ideology.

·         The Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony calls itself Christian. They are involved in terror, murder, abduction, mutilation, child-sex slavery, and forcing children to participate in hostilities. The current membership is estimated to be between 300 and 400.

·         The Army of God is an American terrorist organization that endorses the use of violence to end the practice of abortion. I couldn’t find any data on their estimated membership.

·         Ku Klux Klan is another American terrorist organization that uses violence to promote their racist ideologies. They also claim to be Christians. They have about 5,000 to 8,000 members

·         The Christian Identity Movement is another racist group. It isn’t a single organization, but rather several splinter organizations often differing in minor theological stances, but agreeing on the basic principle that the original Jewish people (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) were white and the lost tribes became the Scandinavian nations. Most of them don’t espouse terror, but a Christian Identity organization in South Africa was responsible for the Soweto bombings in 2002.

There are many more Christian based organizations and ideologies that use terror to promote their ideologies. Even though Islamic terrorism has caused more than 90% of the terror related deaths in the United States, the majority of terror attacks in the United States in the past 35 years have been committed by radical Christian terrorist groups or individuals. So, if the government were to say, “We’re going to fight against radical Christianity,” I wouldn’t feel like they were declaring war on me or most Christians at all.

While I have political ideologies that may seem extreme to my friends on the left, they all know well enough that I do not approve of violence to promote my ideologies. The vast majority of Christians in the United States would agree that while things need to change, terrorism is not the way to get it done, if for no other reason than Christ’s command was to be a witness (Acts 1:8), teach (Matthew 28:19), preach (Mark 16:15), baptize (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16), and when struck, to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39).

If the government began waging a war against “radical Christian terrorism,” I wouldn’t be offended by that term. I am more offended by the fact that such groups and individuals exist. I am more offended by the religious leaders who do not speak out against such extremism. By the way, every pastor of every church I have been a member of has spoken out against violent Christian extremism.

If the government were to use the term “radical Christianity,” there will be some Christians who get offended. That’s just the culture we live in. Everybody gets offended by something. You can’t say, “Boo,” without somebody getting offended. Even though nobody gets offended by “boo” somebody will probably write an Op-Ed saying that the word “boo” is insensitive to ghosts and someone else will write an op-ed saying that ghosts are white and the word “boo” is used to scare, so the word “boo” promotes white privilege and white supremacist terrorism. That may sound crazy, but in a world where PETA is suing for the intellectual property rights of monkeys and a college counselor shredded the United States Constitution because a student claimed it was a trigger, it doesn’t sound very far-fetched.

Many words and phrases have entered our cultural vernacular and are not meant to be insensitive or offensive. Many words and phrases didn’t even become politically incorrect until somebody, somewhere got offended and had their feelings hurt. Sometimes, offense is manufactured. Consider Melissa Harris Perry’s assertion that the term “Hard Worker” is somehow racist when Martin Luther King, Jr. himself used the term in speeches and sermons. Maybe Melissa Harris Perry was asserting that “Hard Worker” was a racist term used by African-Americans? Yeah, I know it’s a stretch.

I don’t see the benefit of wasting time developing carefully nuanced terms and phrases for use by the masses because no matter what term or phrase we use, we are going to offend somebody. The truth isn’t always politically correct, but the truth is always correct. Telling the truth is going to upset somebody, but a careful reading of the Declaration of Independence will reveal that in America, we have the right to life and liberty, but we do not have the right to happiness, only its pursuit. That means we do not have the right to not be offended.

This world is not fair. You will not always be happy. You will never be able to make everyone happy. So quit with the political correctness and just be correct. I work at a community college and watching people try to be politically correct is frustrating because they look like they have a speech disorder. It's almost impossible for them to clearly communicate. For those who want to be offended and triggered by everything under the sun, grow up. The real world isn’t politically correct and not everyone is trying to intentionally offend you.

When you grow up, life gets easier. Trust me. I used to be part of the association of the perpetually offended. "Watch your language," "Don't say that," "Don't wear that," "Don't do that." What I found by being part of the culture of the offended was that everyone constantly walked on egg shells around me, I was isolated and avoided. Now days, I make no secret that I am a Christian and people will automatically try to watch themselves around me. When someone apologizes for dropping an F-bomb, I tell them, "Hey, I appreciate that, but I was in the Navy for 20 years. You'll have to do a whole lot worse than that to offend me."

People will still apologize, but they know I'm approachable and they can communicate with me when they need to without watching their language. Some people don't know how to communicate without using language that would be considered offensive in "decent society." When you're frustrated or need help, it's hard to communicate if you can't be completely open. Let it roll off you, man. Grow up!

Some people are going to get offended. People may get mad at you and shout you down. Politicians may lose votes. The Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will utilize their first amendment rights to hold a press conference to let people know they’re offended when the terms “radical Islam” or “Islamic terrorism” are used. The Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Center for Law and Justice may do the same thing if the terms “radical Christianity” or “Christian terrorism” are used.

The fact is that if a person, because of their Christian ideology bombs an abortion provider’s car, that person is a “radical Christian terrorist.” Similarly, if a couple because of their Muslim ideology illegally converts their rifles into assault weapons, build more than a dozen improvised explosive devices, then kill 14 people and injure 23 more, those people are “radical Islamic terrorists.”

If that offends you, too bad.