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| Unarmed and alone, Ingrid Loyau Kennett trying to talk down the Jihadi murderers of Lee Rigby in London source |
CNN published
an article asking "What Made London Samaritans So Brave?"
CNN writer Jason Marsh asked about women like Ingrid Loyau-Kennett and Gemini Donnelly-Martin, who, alone and unarmed, defied the two jihadi murderers who killed Lee Rigby on the streets of London on May 22, 2013.
Ingrid Loyau-Kennett addressed that question herself:
"Around her neck, she wears a small gold cross, encrusted with rubies and diamonds. She is a practising Catholic and partly credits her faith for how she acted. 'I live my life as a Christian,' she explains. 'I believe in thinking about others and loving thy neighbour. We all have a duty to look after each other. A whole group of people walking towards those guys would have found it easy to take those weapons out of their hands. But me, on my own, I couldn't.'" Source
CNN and Jason Marsh kept any mention of Loyau-Kennett's own attribution of her own motivation to her Christian beliefs out of the article. This looks a lot like Christophobia.
***
I commented on the CNN's whitewashing of Loyau-Kennett's Christianity out of the article.
A CNN reader named Lisa Miller responded to me. Her response is below:
Lisa Miller "And what about all the other practicing Christians who loot, kill and otherwise cause others harm. Give me a freaking break. The woman in question is a good person and THAT's why she did it. Half of the people I know go to church, and church is not the mediating factor in whether they behave righteously or not....their hearts and souls do. Look at the evangelicals, amny of whom spew venom against anything they don't believe in....are they less Christian."
My response to Lisa Miller:
Lisa Miller, I am a teacher. I care a lot about scholarship and writing. Every semester, I give students a seven-page handout entitled, "How to write a research paper." I go through the process step by step: how to choose a topic; how to find peer-reviewed research; how to conduct your own research; how to construct a thesis statement … etc.
At the end of every semester, the same mini-dramas are repeated. The students who write excellent papers tell me the same thing. "I did what you told me to do. I followed instructions."
Other students write failing papers. Those students tell me the same thing, too. "I was too busy to do what you said … I was too focused on my job or my home life or my relationship to pay attention to instructions… I just don't care about school right now … I didn't do what you said."
The same can be said for any number of endeavors. Many people try to lose weight. Some do what doctors tell them to do: they cut calories and increase exercise. Others want to lose weight but don't cut calories, and don't increase activity. People who want to lose weight, ignore the advice to cut calories and increase activity, do not prove wrong that advice. It is still good advice, although some do not follow it and remain overweight.
I'm sure you get my point. Jesus gave us instructions. Some follow. Some don't. Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, herself, attributed her actions to her faith, to her following, as she said, Biblical precepts, eg: "I live my life as a Christian. I believe in loving thy neighbor."
CNN's Jason Marsh ignored Loyau-Kennett's own words in writing his article. Shame on Jason Marsh and shame on CNN for a lack of journalistic integrity.
Lisa Miller, you wrote, "The woman in question is a good person and THAT's why she did it."
Lisa, the key question becomes, what defines good?
What defines good is the value system, the instruction manual, that people follow. We saw two sets of people on the streets of London last Monday following two different instruction manuals.
Both sets of people wanted to do good. The jihadis believe that they are doing good. You can see it in the on-site videos made. "Mujahid" – jihadi – as he wanted to be called, Michael Adebolajo, the verbal killer with the bloody cleaver, struggled to justify, to the camera, his murder of Lee Rigby. He was trying to convince his fellow humans that what he did was right, in line with HIS scripture, the Koran.
In the same way that CNN chose to ignore Loyau-Kennett's own attribution of her own behavior to her Christianity, there are also press organs that are choosing to ignore that the jihadi murderers quoted their scripture in justifying their actions. Most Muslims have never killed, and never will kill, anyone. But these two Muslims cited their own scripture, chapter and verse, on-camera, in justifying their actions.
The instruction manual we follow in life, how we interpret that instruction manual, and how closely we follow it, matters.
The CNN article can be found here.
CNN writer Jason Marsh asked about women like Ingrid Loyau-Kennett and Gemini Donnelly-Martin, who, alone and unarmed, defied the two jihadi murderers who killed Lee Rigby on the streets of London on May 22, 2013.
Ingrid Loyau-Kennett addressed that question herself:
"Around her neck, she wears a small gold cross, encrusted with rubies and diamonds. She is a practising Catholic and partly credits her faith for how she acted. 'I live my life as a Christian,' she explains. 'I believe in thinking about others and loving thy neighbour. We all have a duty to look after each other. A whole group of people walking towards those guys would have found it easy to take those weapons out of their hands. But me, on my own, I couldn't.'" Source
CNN and Jason Marsh kept any mention of Loyau-Kennett's own attribution of her own motivation to her Christian beliefs out of the article. This looks a lot like Christophobia.
***
I commented on the CNN's whitewashing of Loyau-Kennett's Christianity out of the article.
A CNN reader named Lisa Miller responded to me. Her response is below:
Lisa Miller "And what about all the other practicing Christians who loot, kill and otherwise cause others harm. Give me a freaking break. The woman in question is a good person and THAT's why she did it. Half of the people I know go to church, and church is not the mediating factor in whether they behave righteously or not....their hearts and souls do. Look at the evangelicals, amny of whom spew venom against anything they don't believe in....are they less Christian."
My response to Lisa Miller:
Lisa Miller, I am a teacher. I care a lot about scholarship and writing. Every semester, I give students a seven-page handout entitled, "How to write a research paper." I go through the process step by step: how to choose a topic; how to find peer-reviewed research; how to conduct your own research; how to construct a thesis statement … etc.
At the end of every semester, the same mini-dramas are repeated. The students who write excellent papers tell me the same thing. "I did what you told me to do. I followed instructions."
Other students write failing papers. Those students tell me the same thing, too. "I was too busy to do what you said … I was too focused on my job or my home life or my relationship to pay attention to instructions… I just don't care about school right now … I didn't do what you said."
The same can be said for any number of endeavors. Many people try to lose weight. Some do what doctors tell them to do: they cut calories and increase exercise. Others want to lose weight but don't cut calories, and don't increase activity. People who want to lose weight, ignore the advice to cut calories and increase activity, do not prove wrong that advice. It is still good advice, although some do not follow it and remain overweight.
I'm sure you get my point. Jesus gave us instructions. Some follow. Some don't. Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, herself, attributed her actions to her faith, to her following, as she said, Biblical precepts, eg: "I live my life as a Christian. I believe in loving thy neighbor."
CNN's Jason Marsh ignored Loyau-Kennett's own words in writing his article. Shame on Jason Marsh and shame on CNN for a lack of journalistic integrity.
Lisa Miller, you wrote, "The woman in question is a good person and THAT's why she did it."
Lisa, the key question becomes, what defines good?
What defines good is the value system, the instruction manual, that people follow. We saw two sets of people on the streets of London last Monday following two different instruction manuals.
Both sets of people wanted to do good. The jihadis believe that they are doing good. You can see it in the on-site videos made. "Mujahid" – jihadi – as he wanted to be called, Michael Adebolajo, the verbal killer with the bloody cleaver, struggled to justify, to the camera, his murder of Lee Rigby. He was trying to convince his fellow humans that what he did was right, in line with HIS scripture, the Koran.
In the same way that CNN chose to ignore Loyau-Kennett's own attribution of her own behavior to her Christianity, there are also press organs that are choosing to ignore that the jihadi murderers quoted their scripture in justifying their actions. Most Muslims have never killed, and never will kill, anyone. But these two Muslims cited their own scripture, chapter and verse, on-camera, in justifying their actions.
The instruction manual we follow in life, how we interpret that instruction manual, and how closely we follow it, matters.
The CNN article can be found here.
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