Christian terrorism
[16][17] However, in 2015 a majority of Americans from the Democratic and Republican political parties thought that "attacks on abortion providers [should] be considered domestic terrorism".
[28] Sue Mahan and Pamala L. Griset classify the plot as an act of religious terrorism, writing that "Fawkes and his colleagues justified their actions in terms of religion.
[30] Eastern Orthodox Christian-influenced movements in Romania, such as the Iron Guard and Lăncieri, which have been characterized by Yad Vashem and Stanley G. Payne as antisemitic and fascist, respectively, were involved in the Bucharest pogrom and committed numerous politically motivated murders during the 1930s.
It then began to commit acts of violence which included arson, beatings, the destruction of property, lynchings, murder, rape, tarring and feathering, whipping, and voter intimidation.
Vehemently anti-Catholic, the 1915 Klan espoused an explicitly Protestant Christian terrorist ideology, partially basing its beliefs on a "religious foundation" in Protestant Christianity and targeting Jews, Catholics, and other social, ethnic and religious minorities,[37] as well as people who engaged in "immoral" practices such as adulterers, bad debtors, gamblers, and alcohol abusers.
From an early time onward, the goals of the KKK included an intent to "reestablish Protestant Christian values in America by any means possible", and it believed that "Jesus was the first Klansman".
[39] From 1915 onward, "second era" Klansmen initiated cross burnings (adapted from scenes in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation[40]), not only to intimidate targets, but also to demonstrate their respect and reverence for Jesus Christ.
[42][43] Juergensmeyer categorizes contemporary Christian terrorists as being a part of "religious activists from Algeria to Idaho, who have come to hate secular governments with an almost transcendent passion and dream of revolutionary changes that will establish a godly social order in the rubble of what the citizens of most secular societies regard as modern, egalitarian democracies".
[49] Should a group of Christians feel threatened, religion is a verifiable, culturally important label to use in creating a "them-and-us" mentality.
This cultural Christian identity is often reinforced in the mind of the terrorist by media and governmental sources that vilify the other group or amplify its threat.
For example, the leader of the Orange Volunteers, who described themselves as Protestant fundamentalists, defended their attacks on Catholic churches on the basis that they were "bastions of the Antichrist".
[4][68][69] On 16 July 2001, Peter James Knight walked into the East Melbourne Fertility Clinic, a private abortion provider, carrying a rifle and other weapons[70] including 16 litres of kerosene, three lighters, torches, 30 gags, and a handwritten note that read "We regret to advise that as a result of a fatal accident involving some members of staff, we have been forced to cancel all appointments today".
He developed homemade mouth gags and door jambs to restrain all patients and staff inside a clinic while he doused them with the kerosene.
[73] Dr. George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the United States who performed abortions late in pregnancies, was a frequent target of anti-abortion violence and in 2009, he was killed by Scott Roeder as he stood in the foyer of his church.
A witness who was serving as an usher alongside Tiller at the church that day told the court that Roeder entered the foyer, put a gun to the doctor's head and pulled the trigger.
Shannon was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the shooting of Tiller and she later confessed to vandalizing and burning a string of abortion clinics in California, Nevada and Oregon.
Kopp hid in the woods behind Slepian's home in October 1998 and shot him through the window with a high-powered rifle, killing him as he stood in his kitchen with his family.
[79] Dear's ex-wife said that he had put glue on a lock of a Planned Parenthood clinic, and in court documents which pertained to their divorce, she said "He claims to be a Christian and is extremely evangelistic, but does not follow the Bible in his actions.
Neighbors said that the family of the Williams Brothers was known for its fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and they also said that recordings of sermons and religious music were frequently heard from their house.
[84] Doggart, a member of several private militia groups, spoke to an FBI source during a phone call and stated that he had an M4 carbine with "500 rounds of ammunition" that he intended to take to the Delaware County enclave, along with a handgun, Molotov cocktails and a machete.
[85] Doggart had previously travelled to a site in Dover, Tennessee, which had been described as a "jihadist training camp", in chain emails and found that the claims were wrong.
In April, Doggart accepted a plea bargain and stated that he had "willfully and knowingly sent a message in interstate commerce containing a true threat" to injure someone.
[89][90][91] According to University of Auckland Professor Douglas Pratt, who is an international expert on religious terrorism, the Christchurch mosque shootings by Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, which killed 51 people and injured 50 more people (primarily Muslims) at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, were a form of "Christian terrorism" and white supremacy.
Tarrant's manifesto The Great Replacement, which is named after the French far-right conspiracy theory bearing the same name, quoted Pope Urban II (who ordered the First Crusade) and demanded the retaking of Jerusalem, cited the death of 11-year-old Swedish girl Ebba Akerlund, cited NATO's involvement in Kosovo, stated Tarrant's wish that Istanbul (aka Constantinople) should be taken from Turkey so it will be back in Christian hands and he finally stated that Tarrant's main motive for the attacks was revenge against Islam.
[92][93][94][95] The perpetrator of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue shooting Robert Bowers paraphrased a section of John 8:44, stating "Jews are the children of Satan" on the bio of his now defunct Gab account.
[96] Similarly, the Poway synagogue shooting suspect John T. Earnest also cited Bible quotes to justify his attack and in March 2019, he attempted to burn down a mosque in Escondido, California but failed.
