On Easter Sunday, bomb attacks hit churches and luxury hotels across Sri Lanka. Suicide bombers targeted crowded services at St. Antony's, St. Sebastian's, and the Zion Church. Around the same time, the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand, and the Kingsbury hotels were attacked. An additional bombing happened in front of a zoo. A total of 321 people were murdered, and 500 more people were wounded. ISIS has claimed responsibility for this horrific and evil attack. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tweeted, "Today as a nation we mourn the senseless loss of innocent lives this past Easter Sunday. It is imperative that we remain unified as Sri Lankans in the face of this unspeakable tragedy."
This was an attack against Christians carried out by radical Islamic terrorists. The terrorists targeted Christian churches on the religious holiday Easter. When we stop and think about it, we realize it has been a while since ISIS has perpetrated an attack of this magnitude. It is very discouraging to find out that a terrorist group we thought was defeated, is back on the rise.
While the majority of us recognize these horrific events as an attack against Christians. Others, for whatever reason, are not. Democratic politicians have used the term "Easter worshipper" instead of "Christian." Hillary Clinton tweeted, "On this holy weekend for many faiths, we must stand united against hatred and violence. I'm praying for everyone affected by today's horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka."
Barak Obama also had a more generalized and simplistic response to the attacks. He tweeted, "The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka."
2020 Democratic candidate Julián Castro also avoided calling Christians by their name. Castro tweeted, "On a day of redemption and hope, the evil of these attacks on Easter worshippers and tourists in Sri Lanka is deeply saddening. My prayers today are with the dead and injured, and their families. May we find grace."
From these tweets, it's clear that they are trying to steer away from saying what the attacks really were— radical Islamic attacks targeting Christians on their religious holiday. When contrasting Obama and Clinton's Sri Lankan responses with their New Zealand shooting responses, it becomes more evident that they are avoiding what the recent attacks were.
In the aftermath of the New Zealand Mosque shooting, Hillary Clinton tweeted, "My heart breaks for New Zealand & the global Muslim community. We must continue to fight the perpetuation and normalization of Islamophobia and racism in all its forms. White supremacist terrorists must be condemned by leaders everywhere. Their murderous hatred must be stopped."
Barack Obama tweeted, "Michelle and I send our condolences to the people of New Zealand. We grieve with you and the Muslim community. All of us must stand against hatred in all its forms."
In these statements, they both recognize who the victims are (Muslims), and in Clinton's tweet, she acknowledges who the attacker was (white supremacist). Not only is that correct, but it is also right to do so. The New Zealand shooting was an attack against Muslims carried out by a white supremacist.
So why didn't they correctly say what the Sri Lankan bombings were? Were they afraid of accidentally calling all Muslims terrorists? That shouldn't be the case, because most Muslims are peaceful and don't hold radical beliefs. Also, ISIS and radical Islamism is separate from everyday Muslims. If they said one of those two, they would be telling the truth and making sure peaceful Muslims aren't getting lumped in with the radicals.
They also never correctly said who the victims of the Sri Lanka bombings were. For the New Zealand shooting, they said the victims were Muslims, and rightly so. But for the recent bombings, they never mentioned the fact that the victims were Christians. Instead, they used a euphemism to avoid saying "Christian." The use of this awkward-sounding euphemism, "Easter-worshipper," shows that they made an effort not to use the word "Christian."
There is a double-standard when it comes to reactions towards certain terrorist attacks among many prominent Democrats. Christians being killed by radical Islamists does not fit their narrative, even though it is better to call an attack by what it really is. In fact, all attacks should be called by what they are, whether it is a white supremacist targeting Muslims, or radical Islamists targeting Christians.
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