the Centrist

One might think of the negative aspect of New Jersey as the home of the ‘mob’. This has been fostered by programs like HBO’s hit series ‘The Sopranos’. Yet, when I think of the unfavorable aspect of the state which boasts ‘liberty and prosperity’ as its motto, it is not fiction that I dread … it is reality. I remember the blind cleric with the ‘Santa hat’ from the first World Trade Center bombing in1993. He was the ‘harmless looking guy’ … as they all seem to be symbolized… representing the ‘religion of peace’. He was eventually linked to not only the first Twin Towers bombing, but also al Qaeda. New Jersey has a substantial Islamic population and heretofore, other than above mentioned incident, has been relatively quite on the jihad front. That is until Friday January 14th (2005) when an entire Christian family was found bound, tortured, and murdered in a probable Islamic religious ritual. One might suppose that this heinous crime would steel the headlines, after all there are not only religious ramifications, but also two of its victims were young girls, aged 8 and 15 years. Furthermore, one young girl was especially targeted because she had a cross tattooed on her wrist … a sign of peace, her peace, the Egyptian Coptic Cross. Coptic Christians, although small in numbers, are one of the oldest denominations in the Christian faith. That church, found mainly in Egypt, was purportedly planted by St. Mark early in the Apostolic Period.
It is in this tradition and the melodrama of the web that we find our story. Hossam Armanious, his wife Amal Garas and their daughters Monica (8) and Sylvia (15) were were the victims. Hossam had been bantering on the internet with Islamists and it has been implied that he had won most of these debates. Intellectual assent is not allowed in Fundamentalist Islam … in other words, one should not open themselves to any but the Islamist view point (even other sects of Islam are taboo). Hossam was threatened with his life, by the jihad, if he continued contending in these ‘private chat rooms’. According to Judson Cox of the “Conservative Voice” he would be bound and butchered ‘like a chicken’ in accordance to the Koran. Co-incidently there was no sign of forced entrance and nothing was stolen from the home … so motives other than Islamic retribution are scant.
Nevertheless, the press is not paying much attention. In a society which stresses murder as a media event (i.e. Lacy and Mark Peterson) we have seen almost no national coverage on this case. Media pundits such as Fox’s Gretta Van Susteren or the Court Channel have all but ignored it in an apparent attempt at Political Correctness. What are they afraid of? Are they fearful that the jihadist may get angry and perhaps: Blow up sky scrapers; attack the Pentagon; or murder innocent families? When will the press understand that we are at war, and actions like this, as well as Iraq, are part of that war? Furthermore, what are we to reason by national media coverage: that Michael Jackson, an icon with bleached skin, carrying an opened umbrella and wearing sequine shoes and one white glove is more dangerous than Islamist terrorists wearing strange hats?
Because the American media continues to ignore atrocities such as these, America will be subject to more of them. The massacre of an American family in the sanctity of their home is but another 911, albeit on a smaller scale. American citizens persecuted, tortured, and murdered for their faith cannot … must not … stand. One must ponder, if the Armanious family had been Islamic, rather than Christian, and a radical Christian cult was responsible, would we not hear an out cry from the press and the ACLU about ‘religious persecution’ and ‘reparations’ due the Christian Community? America the home of the free, the land of the brave … it’s time to stand up and be counted … the souls of this innocent family implore you … where is the justice, where is the media coverage, where lies the truth.