Saturday 24 August - While the persecution of a Christian can be motivated by particular circumstances -- conflicts, sexual attraction, convenience, gain, and so on -- attacks on inanimate symbols would seem to reflect a hatred for Christianity and its followers that needs no 'reason' and seemingly gains nothing.

From one end of the Middle Eastern world to the other -- and in Arab, African and Asian nations, and increasingly in the West -- this sort of hate has become a regular occurrence, seemingly 'normalized.'

Although so-called 'mainstream media' reported some of the desecrations -- probably mostly because the Islamic State had already publicized them -- they rarely report that 'everyday' extremists also engage in this macabre practice.

Sadly, despite the Western establishment's insistence that religiously-inspired terror is a product of anything and everything but teachings, doctrines and text, the widespread appearance of people desecrating Christian graves and their crosses speaks of something else.

Although the persecution by members of some religions of live human beings, such as Jews and Christians, is certainly more monstrous, attacks on inanimate religious symbols possibly give an even clearer indication of a deadly hate borne for the 'other.'

Consider, for instance, extremists desecrating and destroying Christian cemeteries and their crosses. While the act itself is largely 'symbolic' -- in that no living person gets hurt -- it is also reflective of a committed hatred that transcends, say, responding to a physical threat. While the persecution of a Christian can be motivated by particular circumstances -- conflicts, sexual attraction, convenience, gain, and so on -- attacks on inanimate symbols would seem to reflect a hatred for Christianity and its followers that needs no 'reason' and seemingly gains nothing.

From one end of the Middle Eastern world to the other -- and in Arab, African and Asian nations, and increasingly in the West -- this sort of hate has become a regular occurrence, seemingly 'normalized.' A brief list follows, ordered by desecrations committed by formal terrorists, such as ISIS, al-Qaeda and similar organizations; informal terrorists, such as religious mobs; and theocratic governments.

As the number of newcomers in Western nations grows, the same practices that occur in the nations from which they came -- such as the desecration of Christian cemeteries -- grow with them.

Sometimes minorities in the West express their animosity in less direct ways. After newcomers in Germany were granted their own section at a cemetery, and after being allowed to conduct their religious ceremonies, they began demanding that Christian symbols and crosses in the rest of the cemetery be removed or covered up while their funerals were taking place.

Recently, European nations are taking preemptive measures to forestall potential anger emanating from religion. From Italy, it was reported in April 2019, 'crosses on graves in an Italian cemetery in Pieve di Cento have been covered with black cloth so as not to offend those who may come from another religion.' The report adds:

'The cemetery, which is located in Bologna in a town of around 7,000 people, has also installed motorized blackout curtains in a local chapel following renovations to hide Roman Catholic symbols during ceremonies involving other denominations.'

Sadly, despite the Western establishment's insistence that religiously-inspired terror is a product of anything and everything but teachings, doctrines and text, the widespread appearance of people desecrating Christian graves and their crosses speaks of something else.