Robert Dear is a Christian Terrorist

There I said it. I said what the right-wing media will not. I said what political correctness will prevent many of you from saying.

On November 25, I posted a thread, Radical Christianity — Pastor Who Hosted GOP: Paris Victims 'Devil-Worshippers', in which I discussed what I see as the continued growth of an extremist Christian element among American conservatism and how its being largely ignored by moderates on the Right and the Right-leaning MSM.

As I expected, there were a host of comments from the apologists and deniers about how off-base the comparisons to Islamic extremism made in my OP were as well as all manners of replies about BLM, Obama, Rev. Wright, etc. Unfortunately, incidents in days since and the response to them have validated my statements.

Here I will discuss what we have learned so far about the PP shooter and then contrast it with the spin pushed by the far-right media, intent on burying all connections to the extremists ideologies they foster.

I'll start with this, from an affidavit by his 2nd wife, Barbara Mescher, the daughter of Republican State Senator Bill Mescher (who died in 2007, while in office), in their 1993 divorce proceedings.

Post and Courier - Accused Planned Parenthood shooter charged with rape in North Charleston in 1992

“He claims to be a Christian and is extremely evangelistic, but does not follow the Bible in his actions,” Mescher stated in the affidavit. “He says that as long as he believes he will be saved, he can do whatever he pleases. He is obsessed with the world coming to an end.”

Next up is some of what's come out so far about his statements to police.

CNN - Source: Suspect spoke of 'baby parts' after Planned Parenthood shooting

Colorado Springs, Colorado (CNN)Robert Lewis Dear, the suspect in Friday's shootings at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, mentioned "baby parts" to investigators and in later interviews expressed anti-abortion and anti-government views, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told CNN.

Finally a few items; a bit from his 3rd wife, a post from an online profile and a statement from a neighbor in the NYT article:

NY Times - Robert Dear, Suspect in Colorado Killings, ‘Preferred to Be Left Alone’

The younger Mr. Dear was raised as a Baptist, Ms. Ross said in an interview in Goose Creek, S.C., where she now lives. He was religious but not a regular churchgoer, a believer but not one to harp on religion. “He believed wholeheartedly in the Bible,” she said. “That’s what he always said; he read it cover to cover to cover.” But he was not fixated on it, she added.

On Cannabis.com, the writer said in December 2005: “AIDS, hurricanes, we are in the end times. Accept the LORD JESUS while you can.”

In his new home in the Rocky Mountains, where he had been registered to vote for only a year, neighbors said they did not know Mr. Dear well. Zigmond Post, who lives about a half-mile from Mr. Dear, said that he had met him only a few times, but that his dogs had once gotten loose on Mr. Dear’s property. When he went to fetch them, Mr. Dear handed him a few pamphlets strongly critical of Mr. Obama. Mr. Post said the pamphlets were strictly political and did not have any anti-abortion messages or racist overtones.

“He gave us these pamphlets and said, ‘Hey, if you ever want to talk about this stuff, look this over,’ ” Mr. Post said in a telephone interview. “I think we threw them into the campfire that night.”

So what are we seeing from the far-right?

Ted Cruz is the darling of the religious extremists on the far-right (I'll be happy to list my reasons for saying this upon request) and so it's no surprise that he would have some surreal spin but what was a little surprising is that he's informing his insane opinions in some part from the likes of the far-right blogger Jim Hoft's The Gateway Pundit.

Think Progress - Ted Cruz Describes Alleged Planned Parenthood Shooter As ‘Transgendered Leftist Activist’

When a reporter asked him at an Iowa campaign stop Sunday evening about suspect Robert Lewis Dear saying he was motivated by “no more baby parts,” Cruz countered that he’s also been reported to be a “transgendered [sic] leftist activist.”

Cruz explained, “We know that he was a man registered to vote as a woman.” This discrepancy on Dear’s voter registration was first reported by The Gateway Pundit, a self-described “right-of-center news website,” under the claim that he “identifies as [a] woman.” Conservatives have since run with the claim that Dear is transgender.

The "evidence" for this claim? T his post on the Gate Way Pundit in which a screenshot of a 3rd party voter registration information site shows his gender as "Female." That's right folks, that's evidence according to Jim Hoft, that Robert Dear "identifies as a woman" and that's all Ted Cruz — a man who would be leader of the frickin' free world — needs to make the statement that Dear is a "transgendered [sic] leftist activist."

Just in case that BS won't fly with anyone who isn't as insane as Ted Cruz, like other deniers on the Right, Jim Hoft will also be happy for you to ignore the growing extremism and the sickly fruit it's bearing by ignoring the man's religious history and motivation and his obvious political leanings — and not calling him a "Christian Terrorist" — but rather emphasizing his instability as though violent religious extremism isn't itself a form of derangement.

The Gateway Pundit - FIRST PHOTO of Crazy Killer Robert Dear’s Dilapidated Trailer in Hartsel, Colorado

Police detained nutcase shooter Robert Lewis Dear at a Planned Parenthood building Friday evening after going on an afternoon shooting spree that left three people dead including a pro-life police officer.

Robert Lewis Dear has reportedly been been cooperating with investigators since he was arrested. But throughout the interrogation, sources said Dear has been behaving erratically.

North Carolina neighbors of Dear say he was quiet and when he did speak, he didn’t appeared to be all there. Neighbors also say he didn’t talk about religion or abortion.

Don't expect anyone to be denouncing this terrorist's actions at The Blaze either, they're too busy coming up with all sorts of disgusting excuses when they're not essentially condoning him (and pushing this nonsense that he identifies as a woman from The Gate Way Pundit — gotta love that echo chamber).

The Blaze - Abortionists and Planned Parenthood Shooter Are Just Two Sides Of The Same Coin

1. The shooter is insane, not pro-life.

2. It is utterly disingenuous to demand that pro-lifers “publicly condemn” these attacks.

4. The Planned Parenthood shooting only proves that Planned Parenthood is evil.

So while Robert Dear provided us with yet another illustration of why it’s evil to be a mass shooter, he also provided us with an illustration of why it’s evil to be an abortionist. What makes one evil is what makes the other evil. They are distinguishable only in style, volume, and popularity.

Breitbart is simply ignoring anything about his past and stressing that the "baby parts" bit was just one of the many things he said:

Again, while this drew attention to Planned Parenthood over the summer and into early fall, the law enforcement official who pointed to Dear’s “no more baby parts” statement made clear that Dear said other things as well. NBC News reported it this way: “Sources stressed that Dear said many things to law enforcement and the extent to which the ‘baby parts’ remark played into any decision to target the Planned Parenthood office was not yet clear.”

WND couldn't be bothered with facts either and like Ted Cruz and The Blaze, they repeated the nonsense from Jim Hoft:

WND - Planned Parenthood shooter not fitting left's stereotype

Robert Lewis Dear registered to vote as 'female,' previously charged as Peeping Tom

Throughout Friday’s six-hour armed standoff at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood facility that left three dead and nine wounded, social media feasted on the fact the gunman was described as a white man, as WND reported.

It didn’t take long for that meager piece of information to morph into “Christian,” “pro-lifer,” and “Republican,” even though authorities had not then — or even yet — released any information about the gunman’s motive.

So far, Robert Lewis Dear, 57, of Hartsel, Colorado, is disappointing those who tried to stereotype pro-life Christians as terrorists.

No evidence of Dear’s involvement or even opinion on the issue of abortion or religion has surfaced. Pro-life groups denounced the shooting and indicated they had neither interacted with or heard of him.

As it turns out, Dear’s not even a Republican — he’s registered to vote in Park County, Colorado, as unaffiliated. And as a female!

That's just a sample folks. As a parting bonus item, while I was checking the recently popular far-right news blog The Conservative Treehouse for their "reporting" on the PP shooting (nothing after he was apprehended which is surprising because they practically invented the dubious public database screenshot disinformation tactic) there was
this interesting post from the 27th about Ted Cruz entitled "Creepy Business – Ted Cruz Father: My Son “Annointed” To “Take Control of Society”…" which shows that even if they're not willing to call Dear a "Christian Terrorist" they're at least willing to point out from their own far-right perspective many of the same things I've been saying about Ted Cruz and those whose pocket he's in — people who every bit as extreme in their ideology as Robert Dear.

a reply to: theantediluvian

LOL,

Go for it. While your at it tell everyone that whoever believes in Christ is a terrorist?

Go a bit further and just say anyone who disagrees with the Progressive position on issues is a terrorist as well?

Let's list them:

Republican
Conservative
Libertarian
Tea Party Caucus
Pro 2A
Pro Life
Pro Constitution
Christians (especially if white or Southern.
Anyone of any race or ethnic group who does not agree with the Progressive platform. (If white, they are racist, if any other ethnic or racial identification then they are sell outs or uncle toms)

Who else did I miss on your Terrorist watch lists?

a reply to: theantediluvian

Ideological terrorists would bomb and kill us all back to 6000BC if they got half the chance and to top it off they act as the antithesis of what they espouse to believe.

I pity the fool(s).

I can see in the not too distant future
The new and old testaments shall be banished
And believers persecuted

Gods prophecy shall be complete

Well of course. Anybody can see Dear is the perfect picture of mental health; a well rounded fully integrated American, and very well socialized. It's only his killer-religion that led him astray.

@@

originally posted by: infolurker
a reply to: theantediluvian

LOL,

Go for it. While your at it tell everyone that whoever believes in Christ is a terrorist?

I'm not doing any such thing and I won't be cowed by your politically correct victim-playing tactics.

The famed echo chamber is at it again...

Not much more to add. Mr. Dear is definitely insane though so at least the echo chamber has that right. Not much else though and it really takes some mental gymnastics to come up with the excuses displayed here.

For some reason I want to call it The Bill O'Reilly Gambit.

a reply to: infolurker

Anyone who believes in Christ is a terrorist? That's almost as silly as claiming Islam is a religion of hate.

originally posted by: infolurker
Who else did I miss on your Terrorist watch lists?

-According to volatile and precious university Art students, all truck drivers with a confederate flag in their grill.

I posted about that devil-worshiper pastor days before you did. In the Paris attack mega thread. He's a kook. There are a lot of kooks, many of whom you list here. Some of them even have some followers.

But there is no proof that the shooter in Colorado watched or listened to these people or even that he was any kind of Christian for real, even though he may have been born into a Baptist family.

The extremists on both ends are being their usual extremist selves, with some slight differences this time because they are not on sure footing. They have very few talking points prepared and so their ilk are staying silent because they're afraid of what might come out and how they might be tarnished or branded as a result. Some of the braver or more extreme souls are attempting to go it alone and saying really stupid things and grasping at early or unfactual information.

The extreme left is predictably leaping to what seems to them the logical conclusion. Even if it's not.

And the vast majority in the middle are more typically always slower to respond, until the facts are more or less lining up, and so usually end up losing the viral, stick-in-your head war.

Dude might be a Christian. He's more than likely a terrorist, given the target he chose and his actions.

But none of that necessarily makes him a Christian terrorist other than the use of an adjective that probably has no need to be there at all, unless of course someone wants to polarize people or lead them down a certain road or breed more hate and ignorant raging and ranting.

i don't know why some humans have a compulsion to stick an adjective onto the word terrorist, particularly a religious one, and feel that that explains all the mysteries of the universe conclusively and succinctly. It doesn't. It's far more complex than this.

So, yeah, you said it. But why? What's the point really? What's that supposed to prove or show or accomplish?

ETA: Can someone tell me why this rag is saying that President Obama called the shooter a "Christian Terrorist" when the transcript of his remarks show no such thing? Transcript

The American people need to “do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them,” remarked Obama. “Period. Enough is enough,” he continued.

“A gun in the hands of just one Christian terrorist has resulted in the loss of life of a police veteran, father, and volunteer pastor; two civilians, injuries to five of Colorado’s brave law enforcement officers, and four innocent civilians.”

Was there another statement?

Crazy doesn't quantify a thing He could have hacked crosses onto his forehead and guess what?
CRAZY.

No sh!t.

It seems there are a lot of seething 'liberals' foaming at the mouth, waiting for any incident to give an opprotunity to slam white christians, especially 'right wing' ones, its almost like some sick obsession.

I see it everyday, not just here on ats. Its like millions of Americans would love to see any white conservative, especially white christian conservatives either tried as terrorists or given the death penalty. It's hard to see, with all their hate which one they would prefer. # is going crazy around here latetly.

These are the same people who preach against 'hate' everyday, but have zero capacity to look inside and see their very own incredible hatred toward fellow human beings.

Meanwhile, these same people, many atheists, almost make some type of life goal to defend muslims..when we quite literally see countless deaths and acts of terrorism daily from people who are proclaimed muslims, every damn day. But still they cant stop spewing their vitriol toward anything and everything 'christian' because ALL christians are evil white, ring wing vile people.

I dunno what the hell is going on, there is a serious explosion of hate lately, and from where im sitting, it all seems to be coming from the left, and trendy millenials who just want to seem cool to be a part of something.

God, i hope this all ends soon.

______________________________

this is a dude that told neighbors he installed a metal roof to prevent the govt from beaming mind control signals into his head. he also said the govt was using grammar to control people's thoughts. in short he was as crazy as a june bug. he would have fit in perfectly in some of the subforums of this site. That hardly makes him a christian terrorist.

originally posted by: Wookiep
It seems there are a lot of seething 'liberals' foaming at the mouth, waiting for any incident to give an opprotunity to slam white christians, especially 'right wing' ones, its almost like some sick obsession.

I see it everyday, not just here on ats. Its like millions of Americans would love to see any white conservative, especially white christian conservatives either tried as terrorists or given the death penalty. It's hard to see, with all their hate which one they would prefer. # is going crazy around here latetly.

These are the same people who preach against 'hate' everyday, but have zero capacity to look inside and see their very own incredible hatred toward fellow human beings.

Meanwhile, these same people, many atheists, almost make some type of life goal to defend muslims..when we quite literally see countless deaths and acts of terrorism daily from people who are proclaimed muslins, every damn day. But still they cant stop spewing their vitriol toward anything and everything 'christian' because ALL christians are evil white, ring wing vile people.

I dunno what the hell is going on, there is a serious explosion of hate lately, and from where im sitting, it all seems to be coming from the left, and trendy millenials who just want to seem cool to be a part of something.

God, i hope this all ends soon.

Ding, ding, ding.

You win the award for outstanding perception of Progressive policy today.

I doubt it will end anytime soon. I believe their insane hatred is intense, driven, and constantly directed. It will only end once they have eradicated their perceived political enemies and effectively shut everyone up who disagrees with them.

Anyone who insists on using the term Islamic terrorism should have no problem calling this Christian terrorism.

But I'll just call it domestic terrorism, for the same reason I don't say Islamic terrorism

You can't be a Christian murderer, or Christian billionaire, etc

S&F

Who says a terrorist can't be crazy? Some might say that a terrorist is crazy by definition. (Many would disagree...mostly terrorists)

And this seems like a good enough place to leave the old cliche: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."