Burying A Hate Crime

The headline may cover one side of this story:

Church shooter wanted to be a missionary

But the Denver Post story is deliberately misleading because this weekend's shootings at New Life Church and Youth with a Mission was apparently the act of someone who hated Christians. You'd have to work pretty hard to get to that information, though.

The media is more comfortable with Christians as people who hate others than it is with Christians as the victims of hate crimes.

It is obvious that the killer, Matthew Murray, had been a Christian. He had been enrolled at Youth with a Mission before health problems ended his stay there. He had enrolled in a Christian college, but withdrew before attending a single class.

But we learn, if we read all the way down to paragraph 23 of the 28-paragraph story:

Earlier today, a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity said it appeared Murray "hated Christians."

If the same crime had happened at a Muslim center and mosque, do you think we'd have to wait until paragraph 23 to know of the shooter's feelings towards Muslims? Heck, even if it had occurred at a Jewish school and synagogue, the reporter would have felt obligated to report that the perp hated Jews.

But if someone hates Christians and kills Christians for no other reason than that they're Christians, well heck, who wouldn't? What news is that?

hat-tip: memeorandum