Thursday, June 9, 2022

Like a Bigfoot sighting

Is the news coverage of the Nigerian massacre on Pentecost.  I didn't even hear about it until a day later, and haven't been able to find out much information.  By today there were no stories at all.  It's horrific, and I have many friends from Nigeria I've met over the years.  In my ministry days, working with those through the International Missions Board, it was my blessed privilege to meet so many, and see what true joy in Christ really looks like.

It breaks my heart that this is their life, and has been for decades.  Again, you don't know it because the press ignores it.  So do most leftwing pundits.  We can't really blame the Islamic driven violence on European colonialism, or the US government, or GW Bush.  So it's small potatoes.  I know people can point to the WaPo, or Reuters, or CNN - all who have run some stories.  But can you in all seriousness say it compares to something like the coverage of the New Zealand mosque shootings?  I can't come close to mustering the level of denial to make that claim. 

Nonetheless, I know from those I've been blessed to befriend that their joy will continue apace.  Despite disease, hunger, persecution and death, they are among the most joyful and caring Christians I've ever known.  I still remember when my dear, late friend Joseph first met my dad.  My mom and dad were visiting us while in seminary.  I introduced Joseph to my dad, and he immediately rushed over and grabbed my dad and lifted him in a giant bear hug - just because.  Anyone who knew my dad gets the humor with that one. 

But prayers for these forgotten victims.  They serve no practical purpose to the media by covering their sorrows and suffering.  Pray for their loved ones.  Pray for the Church universal. And dear Lord, pray that we never slip down into the media's pitcher plant of demonic evil that measures charity and sympathy against a politically expedient yardstick. 

8 comments:

  1. As a News Aggregater, there has been a dearth of news & information on the Massacre in Nigeria. I've been making a point of collecting as many quality news articles on this story & place them at the top of each edition.

    Dead black Catholics can't disrupt the progressive narrative, uber alles.

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    1. I fear it will be a small collection if what I'm seeing is any indication. It might just be that Jesus was right and the world will hate us, versus anyone else. When you compare this to the New Zealand mosque shootings, it certainly could be argued.

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    2. Being hated and martyred is kinda the point of Christianity. From a Christian perspective, being hated and abused is (usually) sign you're doing something right. If anything, being praised by the world would be a red flag. Catholics in America are so obsessed with being treated fairly by the world, they've forgotten that converting non-believers is supposed to be the goal (granted that's coming from me, a semi-lapsed Catholic).

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    3. Martyrdom is something that may come to us, but it isn't something we should seek out. And it certainly isn't something we should accept for others. Today's proxy martyrdom for a cause being a distinctive that is less than respectable. If it's ours to be a martyr then by God's grace we will endure. In the meantime, in the US at least, it isn't just a case of 'treated fairly.' When increasingly Christians are called upon to verbally confess Caesar under threat of retaliation, including job loss and financial ruin, it's past hurt feelings. It isn't as bad as other parts of the world of course. But then no sane person would want to be in such a position if they aren't. As a friend of mine from the former USSR once quipped, people who don't worry about losing their freedom are people who have never been without it.

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  2. I did see ONE brief report on the TV news. Nothing since. It concluded with the line "the police are looking for a motive"!!!! What else could the flaming motive be to mass murder Catholics at Mass on the birthday of the Church, in a country where Moslem terrorist attacks on Catholics are constant??

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    1. If you search specifically by name, you can find some stories. Not many, and I've seen almost none over the last day. Again, it doesn't take a game show host to notice the difference between the global coverage of this versus the global coverage of the New Zealand mosque shootings. Not even close.

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  3. We are at the mercy of the msm as to what we see and hear and the importance (or not) of what they report or even the truthfulness of their reporting. Strange times we live in.

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    1. I don't know who said it, but the best quote about this I've heard says that the press can't tell us what to think, but it can tell us what to think about.

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