Christian terrorism
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Acts of Christian terrorism are terrorist acts carried out by extremist Christian groups and zealous followers. Examples include the abortion clinic bombing by Eric Robert Rudolph, said to be a member of the extremist Christian Identity movement and murder by Christians of physicians who provide abortions, such as James Charles Kopp's shooting of Dr. Barnett Slepian.
Mainstream believers typically consider acts by "Christian terrorists" to be egregious violations of the religion's ethics and regularly condemn all acts of terrorism, including those perpetuated by self-professed Christian terrorists. The violent Christian Identity movement, for instance, is regarded as a highly un-Christian organization by non-members. Critics observe that this is a marked change from the often-bloody history of Christianity, specifically the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and numerous witchhunts.
Past and Present Terrorism
Terrorism is a modern notion defined and recognized in the later half of the twentieth century and, therefore, analysis of older history is anachronistic. Further, the definition is controversial and any list of acts of Christian terrorism will necessarily be controversial.
November 5 in Britain is a major celebration of the foiling of the Roman Catholic inspired Gunpowder Plot in 1605 when a group of terrorists tried to blow up the Protestant English leadership at the opening of Parliament. A major part of Bonfire Night is the burning of the effigy of the bomber Guy Fawkes who was hanged, drawn and quartered for his part in the plot.
See also Protestant and Roman Catholic conflicts which resulted in terrorism often on a huge scale. Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Inquisition, Thirty Years War, Wars of the Three Kingdoms (English Civil War).
Today, groups that commit acts that can be called Christian terrorism are often not exclusively motivated by their beliefs about Christianity. Often, their activities are rooted in pre-existing mutual hatred, such as the case is with the conflict in Northern Ireland, which has roots traceable as far back as medieval England. While some of the Christian terrorist groups active today may be motivated by the prospect of converting subjects to join their faith, others have territorial/political motives for fighting. Still others have more in common with Nazi ideology than with religious ideology, and work primarily with racist ideals, such as white supremacy. The Christian Identity movement is an example.
See also programs against Jews.
In the United States, the most frequent examples of Christian terrorism include the bombing of abortion clinics and the murder of abortion providers by (occasionally self-professed Christian) anti-abortion extremists.
Recently the controversy over Terri Schiavo's death has caused many extremist Christians to make death threats against Schiavo's husband and Judge Greer, who ordered the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube to be pulled. One man had planned to kidnap Mrs. Schiavo from the hospice where she was in a plan that most likely would have involved violence, but police had stopped him.
List of Christian Terrorist Organizations
- Christian Identity movement
- Ku Klux Klan (A racist Protestant Christian organization. )
- The Order (1980s-present)
Other Christian-related terror groups with nationalist motivations include:
- Lord's Resistance Army (Christian/Pagan/Muslim) (1987-present) (Uganda)
- Nagaland Rebels (1948-present) (Nagaland)