According to recent mainstream media accounts, the radical Iraqi jihadist group ISIS has delivered an ultimatum to Christians who live in Mosul - convert to Islam, pay a tax, or die. Christians are not happy with these options and are leaving the city in droves. Obviously this is a terrible situation but leave it to America's Christian "news" network to politicize this persecution in order to smear the President. Last night, Megyn Kelly hosted her pal, Tony Perkins, head of the SPCL designated homophobic hate group, The Family Research Council. While Kelly was just fit to bursting with righteous indignation over the treatment of Iraqi Christians, devout Christian Perkins used the sad situation to bash the President. Like the head of John the Baptist, this Fox agitprop was delivered on a silver platter!
The devout but divorced Catholic Kelly began with a dramatic report on the persecution. In describing what is happening, she emphasized the words "horrific" and "violent" in citing crimes being committed against the Christians. Her emotional presentation provided a perfect set-up for Perkins to deliver the Fox propaganda message: "I’m not sure what’s more shocking, the atrocities of ISIS or the silence of the Obama administration." (The news about the persecution only broke within the last week). Kelly had her best I-am-so-pissed look on her pretty face as Perkins spoke about the history of the Iraqi Christian community. As he spoke, the chyron reinforced the agitprop: "Perkins, WH silence is deafening as Iraqi Christians persecuted."
As he detailed the choices faced by the Christians, "under Islam," Kelly shook her head sadly, saying "my goodness." She did yet another dramatic rendering, while enunciating every word, of an old church that had been burnt down by the jihadists. Her eyes flashing, she nearly spit out the words about "the total lack of respect for anything that isn't theirs." (I don't recall if Kelly felt as strongly about the arson attempt at the Murfreesboro, TN mosque.)
Perkins pivoted back to the Obama bashing with his comment that "our administration remains silent on these issues." (Again, the news is barely a week old and during that week Obama has had other things to think about!) He told a Christian lie when he said that Obama has said nothing about a pastor imprisoned in Iran when Obama raised the plight of Pastor Abedini at this year's National Prayer Breakfast. He accused Obama of saying nothing, "until the last minute," about Meriam Ibrahim a Sudanese Muslim woman who was a cause celebre for the Christian right. (She was jailed by Sudanese authorities because she married a Christian man.)
Kelly's question, about whether Obama should be "specifically calling attention to this latest horrific realm of violence they're unleashing," teed up more smears from Perkins. He replied in the affirmative and claimed that the US has had a long tradition of supporting those experiencing persecution - even Muslims. In doubling down on the patented Fox Obama-hates-Christians meme, as well as throwing in some patented Fox Islamophobia, he accused the President of being consistently silent when Christians are being persecuted. He provided the baseless speculation that "this administration is more concerned about offending Islamic states and Islamic nations than they are defending the long standing policy that America has always had that religious freedom is a human right, not just an American right."
Kelly's outrage over the plight of Iraqi Christians was just a platform for not so subtle Obama bashing on the part of professional Christian Tony Perkins whose characterization of Obama as a Muslim sympathizer is a popular meme among those nice Christians who believe that Obama is a secret Muslim. As propaganda, it was priceless. As Christian fellowship - not so much!!!