The United Nations has recently designated March 15th as the “international day against Islamophobia.” This date was chosen because of the horrific terrorist attacks on Muslims. On March 15, 2019, Brenton Tarrant, an armed Australian, entered two mosques in New Zealand and opened fire on Muslim worshippers. 51 people were killed, and 40 others were wounded.
This incident has been condemned across the West, and rightly so. The UN has now designated Islam as a special threat.
However, this response raises an important question: If one non-Muslim attack against a mosque is sufficient for the UN institution to establish a special day of Islam, then what about the many, sometimes worse, Muslim attacks upon non-Muslim places of worship? They have not received a similar response from the UN.
Take a look at the recent Muslim attacks on Christian churches that were committed by Muslims.
Sri Lanka (Apr. 21, 2019): On Easter Sunday, Muslim terrorists bombed three churches and three hotels; 359 people were killed and more than 500 wounded.
Nigeria (Apr. 20, 2014): On Easter Sunday, Islamic terrorists torched a packed church; 150 were killed.
Pakistan (Mar. 27, 2016): After Easter Sunday church services, Islamic terrorists bombed a park where Christians had congregated; more than 70 Christians — mostly women and children — were killed. “There was human flesh on the walls of our house,” a witness recalled.
Iraq (Oct. 31, 2011): Islamic terrorists stormed a church in Baghdad during worship and opened fire indiscriminately before detonating their suicide vests. Nearly 60 Christians — including women, children, and babies — were killed (graphic pictures of the aftermath here).
Nigeria (Apr. 8, 2012): On Easter Sunday, explosives planted by Muslims detonated near two packed churches; more than 50 were killed, and unknown numbers were wounded.
Egypt (Apr. 9, 2017): On Palm Sunday, Muslims bombed two packed churches; at least 45 were killed, and more than 100 were wounded.
Nigeria (Dec. 25, 2011): During Christmas Day services, Muslim terrorists shot up and bombed three churches; 37 were killed and nearly 57 wounded.
Egypt (Dec. 11, 2016): An Islamic suicide bombing of two churches left 29 people killed and 47 wounded (graphic images of the aftermath here).
Indonesia (May 13, 2018): Muslims bombed three churches; 13 were killed and dozens wounded.
Egypt (Jan. 1, 2011): Muslim terrorists bombed a church in Alexandria during New Year’s Eve mass; at least 21 Christians were killed. According to eyewitnesses, “body parts were strewn all over the street outside” and “were brought inside the church after some Muslims started stepping on them and shouting Jihadi chants,” such as “Allahu Akbar!”
Philippines (Jan. 27, 2019): Muslim terrorists bombed a cathedral; at least 20 were killed, and more than 100 were wounded.
Indonesia (Dec. 24, 2000): During Christmas Eve services, Muslim terrorists bombed several churches; 18 were killed and over 100 wounded.
Pakistan (Mar. 15, 2015): Muslim suicide bombers killed at least 14 Christians in attacks on two churches.
Germany (Dec. 19, 2016): Near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, a Muslim man drove a truck into a Christmas market; 13 were killed and 55 wounded.
Egypt (Dec. 29, 2017): Muslim gunmen shot up a church in Cairo; nine were killed.
Egypt (Jan. 6, 2010): After Christmas Eve mass (according to the Orthodox calendar), Muslims shot six Christians dead as they exited their church.
Russia (Feb. 18, 2018): A Muslim man carrying a knife and a double-barreled shotgun entered a church and opened fire; five people — all women — were killed, and at least five wounded.
France (July 26, 2016): Muslims entered a church and slit the throat of the officiating priest, 84-year-old Fr. Jacques Hamel, and took four nuns, hostage until French authorities shot the terrorists dead.
It is important to note that the above list is not complete. There have been numerous similar attacks on churches in Egypt, here, here, here, here, here, and here. They received very little coverage in Western media, as there were only a few deaths.
This is particularly true for remote and, according to Western media, “unimportant” areas such as Nigeria where Christians are being expelled hourly in a Muslim-produced genocide. After noting that Muslims had killed 60,000 Christians from 2009-to 2021, an August 2021 report stated that Muslims also torched 17500 churches and 2,000 Christian schools during the same period. What number of unreported terrorist attacks resulted in the deaths of undocumented victims?
This list of Muslim suicide bombers attacking churches is incomplete. For example, the March 28th, 2021 attack at a Palm Sunday church was a botched attack. Only the suicide bombers — a Muslim husband and his wife — were killed.
These fatal attacks on churches have seen hundreds of Christians killed by Muslims. This is in addition to the many other attacks on Western Christians that took place, such as 9/11, London’s 7/7/2005 transport system attacks, Paris’s Charlie Hebdo, Bataclan Theater attack and Paris’s Charlie Hebdo, Paris’s Bataclan Theater attack, and Barcelona’s Las Ramblas attacks, Nice’s July 14, Nice’s July 14 attacks, Toulouse’s Jewish school attack, and Copenhagen’s terror attacks
The original question is: Why have there been so many Muslim attacks against churches that have claimed thousands of Christian lives and not enough for the UN’s “international day for combating Christianophobia?”
Or, to put it another way, why is this one incredibly reprehensible incident of a Westerner killing 51 Muslims more important to the UN than all the other instances in which Muslims have killed untold numbers of Christians?
If the UN were to be forced to explain the discrepancy, it would likely say that while the attacks on churches and other places might seem to be unfortunate, they don’t reveal a pattern in the same way that “Islamophobia.” The UN will also state that the attacks on churches are caused by terrorism, which is fueled by territorial disputes, economics, and inequality.
The truth is that the New Zealand mosque attack was an aberration, as evidenced by its singularity. However, Muslim attacks on churches are very common throughout history. One can see in Turkey what happened to the Christian Byzantine Empire, from its invasion by Arabs in the 7th century to Constantinople’s fall to Sultan Mehmed II in 1453 and the subsequent genocide of Armenians and Pontic Greeks in the 20th century.
As you can see, there are often several attacks on or harassment of churches in the Muslim world and more so in the West. Although some of these may have been minor, they all highlight Islam’s indifference to churches and any symbol or religious structure that isn’t part of Islam.
It is clear that those who terrorize churches have little in common: they are often from different countries (Nigeria and Iraq, the Philippines, etc.). They are of different races, speak different languages, and live in different socio-economic circumstances. Their religion seems to be the only thing they have in common.
In other words, the attacks on churches by Muslims seem to have an ideological root and are a systemic problem that needs to be highlighted and addressed by the international community.
The UN wants us to ignore all the ongoing massacres of Christian worshippers and dismiss them as unfortunate byproducts of misplaced “Muslim grievances”. Instead, we should focus on one single, though admittedly horrific, incident.
The UN clearly considers one incident a “pattern”, meaning that it is a pattern that requires recognition and response. All those who expose the well-documented pattern of violence and abuse against non-Muslims are to be silenced, ignored, or attacked. This is exactly what “combat Islamophobia” is all all about.
