Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council says the blame for Matthew Murray’s tragic shooting spree should be placed on — you guessed it — the “secular media:”

It is hard not to draw a line between the hostility that is being fomented in our culture from some in the secular media toward Christians and evangelicals in particular and the acts of violence that took place in Colorado yesterday.

His remarks came in an email sent to his followers on Monday. (Click here to view the email. The secular media comments come at the end.) Perkins isn’t alone in those sentiments.

Roberts Peters, president of Morality in Media, said the way violence is presented in the media today could explain some of the recent shootings by young people. “Today, films and other media glamorize murder and revenge and present it in the most detailed, sadistic manner possible. More often than not, media also portrays religion in a negative light,” said Peters in a recent statement.

And then there’s this from prominent evangelical and former Republican Presidential candidate Gary Bauer:

In his last online message, Murray reportedly wrote, “You Christians brought this on yourselves. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world.” It is worth noting that this hatred of Christians is constantly promoted by the radical Left – on their websites and in their books, articles etc.

So let’s see if I’ve got this straight. Matthew Murray is raised by a fundamentalist family. He regularly attends fundamentalist churches for most of his short life. He is home schooled with an “ultra-religious curriculum.” He tried to become a missionary. He almost certainly is suffering from a serious mental illness. And yet, when he snaps, it’s somehow the fault of the radical left and/or the secular media? Sadly, this kind of nonsense is nothing new.

Daniel Brogan
Daniel Brogan
Daniel Brogan is the founder and former CEO and editor-in-chief of 5280.