BY DOMINICK DICARLO | STAFF WRITER
During the Easter weekend, I had the chance to sit down with my family and appreciate everything that I have been blessed with in my life. I have been able to grow up in a loving family that taught me many of the values that I hold today. My faith is one of the places that I get my values from, and it forms many of my political beliefs as well. Western society as a whole has been built upon Judeo-Christian morals and values, it is not just my life that has been impacted by Judaism and Christianity. People who hold no religious affiliation whatsoever get most of their values from religion, just as I do. These are values that all of us should share, no matter what our political beliefs might be. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents rely on a common system of values for our society to hold itself together. Sadly, this shared set of values is quickly becoming severed in a way that we have never seen before in America.
Over the Easter weekend, we witnessed an absolutely awful terrorist attack in the country of Sri Lanka. Over 300 people at this time are believed to be dead, and over 500 innocent people were injured. Officials say that the attacks were “retaliation” for the Christchurch mosque shooting from a few weeks ago. Let me be very clear here, Sri Lanka is not a Western nation, the people there do not hold all of the same morals and values that we here in the West believe in. These people were Christians, however, and they were brutally murdered for these beliefs.
We should all condemn violence on all sides. Whether it is white supremacists or radical Islamic terrorists; all forms of hatred and violence are unacceptable in our society. The condemnation of violence should never become a political issue; unfortunately, it seems to have become one in the United States of America.
For a moment, I would like to compare the reactions of two Democratic politicians. One set of reactions is from the Christchurch mosque attacks and the other is from this past weekend in Sri Lanka.
Former President Barack Obama had this to say after Christchurch:
“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.”
Next, read what President Obama said about Sri Lanka:
“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.”
In both of these instances, we should be condemning all forms of evil and hatred. We should be saying that Muslims, Christians, Jews, whoever it may be, should never be attacked for their religious beliefs. President Obama did not do this. Firstly, he used the incredibly strange term “Easter worshippers," (who are Christians, if you did not know), to define who was killed. The real problem here though is his refusal to condemn Islamic terrorists for the attack.
The other politician that we should look at is former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After the Christchurch attack, Clinton said:
“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.”
Now, take a look at what Secretary Clinton stated about this past weekend:
“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.”
The differences in what Secretary Clinton said for these two tragic events is very telling. Secretary Clinton condemns white supremacy for all of the evils that come with it in the first response, yet she is simply unwilling to condemn radical Islamic terrorism in response to the most recent attack. She also called Christians “Easter worshippers," just like President Obama, which is just so strange on its own. Christians are the only ones who celebrate Easter, so I am just not sure why Democrats cannot fathom saying the word “Christians."
We can seemingly no longer condemn evil in all of its forms if America. Whether or not we choose to call out a group directly has become relegated to whether or not we fear it might upset the voting base. We see this on the right as well, with certain politicians afraid to call out forms of racism and white supremacy over the years. The issue has become more and more severe on the left though. It almost seems as if Christians cannot be persecuted in the eyes of the left because we have been the dominant religion in America ever since the founding.
This all goes back to a growing problem on the left in America. Religious identity seems to have become a negative thing. Claiming that religious values helped shape this country has become a partisan issue, just as most things in America have become today. When religious identity is removed from a society that was built using religious values, society will inevitably begin to breakdown. When our politicians refuse to acknowledge oppressed people, even if they might not be seen as a minority here, we can clearly see that the breakdown of society has already begun.
Let me make this very clear, hatred and violence towards any religious group should be condemned and stopped. Every single American should be able to agree on this, and we should not try and play partisan politics with these travesties. This Easter season, I pray that all of us can look past our partisan blinders to see where we can improve. Where can we look to extend olive branches to the other side? Where can we find places to agree on issues? We should start with our cultural values and work upward. If we cannot do that, I am not sure what we can do at this point to heal our divisions.
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Liberty Den University or its members.
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