<div dir="ltr"><span title="2016-07-18">July 18, 2016</span>
<h1>Blind Violence and Blind Guides</h1>
<span><a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/author/william-kilpatrick" target="_blank">William Kilpatrick</a><br><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/155fdaea029f29d8" target="_blank">https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/155fdaea029f29d8</a></span> <img src="http://3m7ajlsrzj92lfd1hu16hu7vc.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/france_sasha-goldsmith-via-AP-660x350-1468821981.jpg" alt="France Truck Attack" height="350" width="660"> <div>
<p><b>“Pope Francis condemns more ‘blind violence’ after Nice attack,”</b> reads <a href="http://catholic.net/op/articles/3057/pope-francis-condemns-more-blind-violence-after-nice-attack.html" target="_blank">a headline</a> from a Catholic news agency.</p>
<p>On behalf of the Holy Father, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro
Parolin, sent a telegram to the Bishop of Nice expressing the Pope’s
sorrow:</p>
<p style="padding-left:30px">As France was celebrating her national
holiday, the country was again struck by blind violence, this time in
Nice, claiming many victims, including children. Once again condemning
such acts, His Holiness Pope Francis expresses his profound sadness and
his spiritual closeness to the French people.</p>
<p>With all due respect to<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the Pope and his Vatican advisers, it is they
who are blind.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>They have shut their eyes to the role that Islam plays
in motivating terrorist attacks</b></span> like the one in Nice that left 84 dead
and over 200 injured.</p>
<p>Some acts of violence can be labeled as “blind.” There are
individuals who in a fit of passion strike out in a blind fury (and then
often regret it). But that was not the case with <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Mohamed Bouhlel. His
crime was carefully calculated and premeditated. He rented a truck—the
biggest one available. He stocked up on weapons. He chose a French
national holiday and a site where thousands would be gathered.</b></span> His
massacre plot can hardly be considered an act of blind rage.</p>
<p>Did he act out of fervor? Yes. But again, it was not blind. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>It was
based on an entirely legitimate interpretation of Islam. He sought to
serve Allah by killing infidels.</b></span> And, <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>since he must have known that the
evening would end in his own death, we can assume that he sought the
eternal reward </b></span>which his namesake promised to martyrs.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Mohamed Bouhlel acted with eyes wide open. The same cannot be said of
the Vatican, which time after time in the wake of terrorist attacks has
condemned them as acts of senseless violence.</b></span> But people who act out of
religious conviction do not consider their acts to be senseless. Far
from it, they are certain that what they do is packed with meaning.
Vatican officials, of all people, should be able to understand that.<span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b> It
should be blazingly obvious </b></span>to them <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>that Islamic terrorists act out of
religious motivation </b></span>(even though that may not be the sole motivation).
And <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>there should by now be no doubt about which religion they follow.
</b></span>After all, <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>the terrorist’s name was “Mohamed.” </b></span>Judging by news <a href="https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/07/101-muhammads-jailed-by-u-s-anti-terror-agencies-since-911" target="_blank">reports</a>,
a disproportionate number of terrorists go by that name.<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> Does that
suggest anything?<span style="background-color:rgb(249,203,156)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(249,203,156)">If thousands of people named “Jesus” were perpetrating
terror attacks across the globe, would anyone hesitate to conclude that
there must be a Christian connection?</span> If they shouted “Jesus is Lord!”
(the rough equivalent of “Allahu Akbar”) while mowing down their
victims, would we assume that their motivations had nothing to do with
their faith? <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Yet for years, the Vatican has joined its voice to the
chorus of those who say that violence has nothing to do with Islam.</b></span></p>
<p>Just as <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the Catholic hierarchy has been blind to the violent side of
Islam, they have been blind to the consequences that follow upon a
dramatic increase in the Muslim population. It has been entirely
predictable for a long time that more Muslims in Europe would result in
more of the kind of terror that France witnessed on Thursday.</b></span> Bouhlel
himself was not a recent immigrant, but recent refugees have been
implicated in other European terror attacks. Moreover, recent refugees
made up the majority of the <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/07/12/cologne-sex-attacks-2000-attackers-120-suspects/" target="_blank">2,000 men</a>
who sexually assaulted 1,200 women in Cologne and other German cities
on New Year’s Eve. And many European countries have experienced a <a href="http://www.indiatimes.com/news/world/migrants-linked-to-69-000-crimes-in-germany-in-first-three-months-of-2016_-256450.html" target="_blank">wave of violent crimes</a> in the wake of the 2015 mass migration from Muslim countries.</p>
<p>According to polls<span style="background-color:rgb(182,215,168)"><b>, a <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/12/poll-massive-majority-german-across-political-spectrum-reject-islam-migrant-crisis/" target="_blank">majority of Europeans</a>
now believe that Islam does not belong in Europe. </b></span>Because they are not
beholden to any official narrative, they are able to connect the large
and bloody dots that are spreading across Europe. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Yet the Catholic
hierarchy in Europe has been and continues to be in the forefront of
those calling for a welcoming attitude toward Muslim migrants. </b></span>What will
it take to wake them up?</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>For quite a while now, European bishops and the Pope have berated
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)">Christians </span>for not having a more welcoming attitude toward Muslim
migrants, as though their closed-hearted attitude was somehow
responsible for<span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"> refugee children</span> drowning in the Mediterranean. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(249,203,156)"><b>Will
they now take responsibility for the <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">dead and mangled</span> children on the
Boulevard Anglais in Nice? For the 130 <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">dead</span> victims of the Bataclan
Theater massacre? For the thirty-two dead in the Brussels airport and
subway bombings? For the 1,200 victims of the New Year’s Eve <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">sexual
assaults</span> in Germany?</b></span></p>
<p>Of course, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the bishops </b></span>are not guilty of those atrocities. But they
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>are guilty of grossly misunderstanding Islam and the threat it poses</b><b> to </b></span>
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>Muslims and non-Muslims alike.</b></span> They need to seriously consider whether
Jesus’ warning about blind guides might apply to some of them. <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Their
hearts, </b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">we must assume,</span><b> are in the right place, </b></span>but <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>their heads are in
the sand.</b></span></p>
<p><i>(Photo credit: Sasha Goldsmith via AP)</i></p>
</div>
<p>
<span>Tagged as</span>
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/islamic-jihad" rel="tag" target="_blank">Islamic Jihad</a>,
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/pope-francis" rel="tag" target="_blank">Pope Francis</a>,
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/terrorism" rel="tag" target="_blank">Terrorism</a>,
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/vatican-public-policy" rel="tag" target="_blank">Vatican public policy</a>
</p>
<div>
<div><span style="vertical-align:bottom;width:129px;min-height:20px"></span></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/blind-violence-blind-leaders#" title="Facebook" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:rgb(59,89,152);line-height:32px;min-height:32px;width:32px"></span></a>
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/blind-violence-blind-leaders#" title="Tweet" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:rgb(29,161,242);line-height:32px;min-height:32px;width:32px"></span></a>
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/blind-violence-blind-leaders#" title="Print" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:rgb(115,138,141);line-height:32px;min-height:32px;width:32px"></span></a>
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/blind-violence-blind-leaders#" title="Email" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:rgb(132,132,132);line-height:32px;min-height:32px;width:32px"></span></a>
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/blind-violence-blind-leaders#" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,101,80);line-height:32px;min-height:32px;width:32px"></span></a>
<a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/blind-violence-blind-leaders#" title="View more services" target="_blank">8</a>
</div>
</div> <div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<img alt="William Kilpatrick" src="http://3m7ajlsrzj92lfd1hu16hu7vc.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/William-Kilpatrick_avatar_1388375486-75x75.jpg" height="75" width="75"><h4>By <a href="http://www.crisismagazine.com/author/william-kilpatrick" title="Posts by William Kilpatrick" rel="author" target="_blank">William Kilpatrick</a></h4>
<p>William Kilpatrick taught for many years at Boston College. He is the
author of several books about cultural and religious issues, including <i>Psychological Seduction; Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right From Wrong;</i> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Islam-Atheism-Struggle-Soul/dp/158617696X" target="_blank">Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West</a> and the forthcoming <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorrect-Guide-Jihad-Guides/dp/1621575772/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467592202&sr=1-1&keywords=the+politically+incorrect+guide+to+jihad" target="_blank">The Politically Incorrect Guide to Jihad</a>. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including <i>Catholic World Report, National Catholic Register, Aleteia, Saint Austin Review, Investor’s Business Daily,</i> and <i>First Things</i>. His work is supported in part by the Shillman Foundation. For more on his work and writings, visit his website, <a href="http://turningpointproject.com/" target="_blank">turningpointproject.com</a></p>
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h3><br></h3></div>