Hashtag Hypocrites Mocked Christian Warnings on Africa For Decades

Dignitas News Service ^ | May 14, 2014 | Paul M Winters

[dignitasnews]

There is no greater or more skillful opportunist in the world today than the American liberal-progressive. One cant cant go anywhere without seeing proud and self-righteous liberals adorning pins, notebooks folders or their social media pages with#bringbackourgirls, which of course is meant to give all of us a lesson in the importance of compassion and international awareness. While much good can come from an international campaign of publicity against the evils of Boko Haram, the very same liberal hashtag hypocrites basking in their self-importance have spend the past two decades turning a blind eye and mocking conservative Christian groups who have been warning us of the persecution of Christians in the third world.

In a pattern that is becoming all too familiar, the progressive left has long dismissed the legitimate concerns raised by Christians as "rantings of Bible-Thumpers" assuming that any issue raised by a messenger they long ago took sides against is unworthy of their time or thought, only to jump in when it becomes a cause célèbre so they can display their compassion and "global awareness" as proof positive of their benevolence and gentle righteousness. The next phase is then to turn this phony compassion into political demagoguery and attacking the right wing for its perceived ambivalence on an issue they have mocked conservatives for for years.

A perfect example of this was given on an episode of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, when the hyper-partisan Maher attempted his usual digs at conservatives while interviewing actor/producer George Clooney, in this piece speaking of the latter's work in the Sudan as Maher hints at a familiar liberal talking point as he insinuates that conservatives are incapable of empathy of people who are "not like them at all" as a reason behind (Maher's assumptive) ambivalence toward the importance of Clooney's work in Darfur. The video speaks for itself.

Video found @: http://www.mrctv.org/videos/george-clooney-exposes-bill-maher%E2%80%99s-blind-hatred-conservatives

He is not the only Hollywood Democrat to find that, in general, Republicans are more tuned in to the issues facing the African continent, and a desire to make positive change. While we at Dignitas News Service have more than our share of disagreements with Ben Affleck on domestic policy issues, we find his work in the Congo and throughout the continent to be quite commendable. Far from a fan of former President George W Bush, he has justly praised him for his efforts in Africa and in an appearance on Capital Hill Affleck stated "Our Republican friends have perhaps been better on Africa than my party."

It is for these, and so many more, examples that conservatives were particularly upset and offended at the sudden burst of crocodile tears. As the "hashtag" campaign regarding the horrific kidnappings and forced conversion of Christian schoolgirls by Islamic radicals (conveniently leaving that aspect of the crime out) has in fact helped the overall cause of freeing the girls and bringing the monsters of Boko Haram to justice, we are left to wonder if the cries of Christian conservatives had been heeded earlier, and not mocked, would we have been able to prevent these horrors from occurring in the first place.

"Our Republican friends have perhaps been better on Africa than my party," Ben Affleck

The frustration and disgust with the obvious display of hypocrisy and posturing by the left caused a reaction from much of us on the right that, ironically enough, provided liberals with an opening to further exploit their new-found interest in Africa for political gain. Many conservative outlets, including Dignitas News Service, jumped on this story the day it happened, when the number of kidnapped girls was already a shocking 100, and not the 300 number that caused much of the liberal side to join in with such gusto. Columnist Ann Coulter's campaign to point out this hypocrisy was understood by the choir, but ultimately backfired on her (and the right) among much of the short-attention span public. Rather than being seen as calling the left out on their faux concern, liberals used it to paint Coulter as uncaring at best, racist at worst. Many conservatives found Coulter's methods as opportunistic and counterproductive to the conservative cause. When conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves to similarly point out progressive exploitation of the crisis, the attacks went even further, with a skillfully coordinated social network campaign designed to specifically tag Limbaugh as a racist who was looking to undermine the #bringbackourgirls campaign.

For members of the black community and the twenty-something $200 tee-shirt wearing white urban professional that Democrats depend on for their political power, this was a fairly easy case to make. Neither of these constituencies are listeners of Rush and are unaware of the numerous times he's addressed these issues in the past, or that his own brother, David Limbaugh, is the author of 2004's Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity. While much of the book related to the left's efforts against the faithful in America, he prophetically points out how progressive hatred of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth blinds them to the very real and valid concerns raised in regards to anti-Christian terror perpetrated in Nigeria and throughout much of Africa.

As Christians and sincere believers regardless of faith, the best that we can do in this is to believe that in his mysterious ways, divine Providence will utilize the hashtaggers of the world as a tool to help spread awareness to defeat an evil far worse than these Philistines and political opportunists and to also find common cause with the genuinely compassionate among those who consider themselves liberal, Clooney's, Affleck's and others to work for a better future for the people of Africa, a continent which holds so much promise and potential, but is under siege by religious intolerance as well as ineffective and corrupt governments throughout.While our frustration may be justified, we need recall the words of Matthew (6:1) Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven, and leave it to him to decide whose concern is righteous and who is seeking public gain.

As conservatives and political animals, I recognize this is not an easy thing to do. I myself am guilty of the very charges of hypocrisy I have leveled on our opponents throughout this column. It is not the first time these two aspects of my personality have been at odds, thus I try to heed the words in I John 4:20, If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? It is a battle and mystery I will likely fight my entire life as I try to differentiate from the righteous who I simply disagree politically with, and the unrighteous elements within our opposition.

That said, we should take with us the lessons of this episode to evaluate how to best win the public relations battles that, like it or not, our opportunistic opponent will try to capitalize on, as they do with nearly every issue which raises the attention of the masses. Both aspects of our personalities ultimately have common goals and we are increasingly finding has a common foe. The remaining decades of our time on earth will no doubt hold many situations where, as with the persecution of Christians in Africa, our warnings will go unheeded and even mocked by the hashtag hypocrites of the world.

By Paul M Winters

Sources:

MRCTV Breitbart Bible.com