Of Muslims, Bishops, anti-Christian violence and barracudas

Much has been made about the indifference that the media and other outlets (like our government) seem to have regarding the murders and attacks against Christians across the Islamic world.  Apparently the US conference of Bishops is noticing as well. Why all the indifference?  Hard to say.  But a couple guesses on my part.  First, we’re scared crapless of Islam.  We just don’t know what to do with it.  There’s anywhere from 1.2 to 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, and we don’t have clue one how to handle the problems that seem common to the Muslim world.  Before 9/11 we might have been more forthright about calling down such violence.  But since 9/11, the only thing we’ve been consistent about regarding the Islamic world is our lack of courage in dealing with it.

Second, we’re an indifferent nation.  We don’t care.  We really don’t.  The latest IPhone app, the newest 4G device?  Now that’s something worth caring about.  Some of us might even care about a hobby or sport we like.  But such things as this?  Hardly.  We’re not going to ruffle our feathers over things that don’t affect us.  After all, a mark of an enlightened person has been to say ‘I don’t worry about it unless it affects me.’  That was what you said over the last few decades if you wanted to show just how tolerant and enlightened you were.  And since the death of Christians over there somewhere probably doesn’t affect too many people, there you go.

And, of course, you have the Super-Narrative of our time.  White European and American heterosexual Christian men are the incarnation of consummate evil and the singular cause of all human suffering in the world.  If this were Christians attacking Muslims, even Christians of a non-European variety, you can probably bet your bottom that we’d see more coverage, more outrage, and more condemnation than we see now.  After all, when Terry Jones (white American Christian male likely of heterosexual tendencies) threatened to burn a Koran, all hell broke loose.  The President, the military, the international community, and the media all came down on him like white on rice.  Story after story reminded us of America’s sad history of racism and bigotry.  We were reminded of slavery, of prejudice against Catholic immigrants, or the interment of Japanese citizens in WWII.  Jones was threatened, some called for legal action, companies pulled out from their relationships with him and his congregation. 

Because, once again, that fit the narrative.  The Super Narrative of our time.  The media, in addition to its own biases and agendas, is just as much a slave to such overarching narratives as anyone.  So is our president.  So is our government.  So are we.  Thus when Christians are murdered in America or butchered abroad, it just doesn’t have that same ‘umph.’  We may not like it, and some stories have reported on such violence.  President Obama did speak out against it, and some folks in the government  have condemned it.  But it doesn’t have that same, what do you call it, visceral response. 

As Mayor Vaughn pointed out in the film JAWS: “You yell ‘barracuda!’, everyone says ‘huh, what?’  You yell ‘shark!’, and you’ve got a panic on your hands on the fourth of July.”  Whenever Europeans, Americans, or Christians are even potentially connected to a crime or offense, that’s yelling shark.  Whenever any other culture, religion, nation or ethnicity is doing it to Europeans, Americans, or Christians, as far as our culture is concerned, I’m afraid that’s just yelling barracuda.