Fundamentalists

The Empire Previously Known as the Soviet Union was founded on a comprehensive set of beliefs as thoroughgoing as any other religion: Communism. This was not simply an economic theory or a new way of analyzing the world. No, indeed. This was a complete set of wholly scientific knowledge that, if applied to human activity, would result in peace, happiness and propserity. It was true in the same sense that chemistry or arithmetic is true.

Accordingly, if Red Star Tractor Factory #5 was organized according to the principles of scientific Communism, then it necessarily would produce 50 flawless machines daily. If, in fact, it failed to do so, then it was because of saboteurs, counter-revolutionaries, and the like. It had to be so, since their faith in Communism told the commissars that it must be so. And millions of innocents died for their sins.

The West today is similarly ruled by a rigid ideology, held as the fundamental explanation of the Universe by the intellectual elites in our government, media, and universities. Were an archaeologist to uncover evidence that suggested that Jesus Christ never existed, faithful Christians would nod and wonder what the real explanation was, confident that their Lord was still The Lord. Similarly, our Secular Fundamentalists are unmoved by data, and all evidence supports their belief. Indeed, some information would be so confusing to the mass of citizens, so likely to be taken by the ignorant to disprove a tenet of Secular Orthodoxy, that it is hidden from them, like some medieval Cardinal of the Church of Rome, fearful lest the laity themselves read Scripture. Surely no end of confusion and discord would ensue.

Which brings us to our text for today, from Mark Steyn:

When Matthew Shepard was beaten and hung on a fence in Wyoming, Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times that it was merely the latest stage in a "war" against homosexuals loosed by the forces of intolerance. Mr. Shepard's murder was dramatized in plays and movies and innumerable songs by Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, Peter, Paul and Mary, etc. The fact that this vile crucifixion was a grisly one-off and that American gays have never been less at risk from getting bashed did not deter pundits and politicians and lobby groups galore from arguing that this freak case demonstrated the need for special legislation.

By contrast, there's been a succession of prominent stories with one common feature that the very same pundits, politicians and lobby groups have a curious reluctance to go anywhere near. In a New York Times report headlined "Sorrow And Anger As Newark Buries Slain Youth," the limpidly tasteful Times prose prioritized "sorrow" over "anger," and offered only the following reference to the perpetrators: "The authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive. Three suspects – two 15-year-olds and a 28-year-old construction worker from Peru – have been arrested."

So, this Peruvian guy was here on a green card? Or did he apply for a temporary construction-work visa from the U.S. Embassy in Lima?

Not exactly. Jose Carranza is an "undocumented" immigrant. His criminal career did not begin with the triple murder he's alleged to have committed, nor with the barroom assault from earlier this year, nor with the 31 counts of aggravated sexual assault relating to the rape of a 5-year-old child, for which Mr. Carranza had been released on bail. (His $50,000 bail on the assault charge and $150,000 bail on the child-rape charges have now been revoked.) No, Mr. Carranza's criminal career in the United States began when he decided to live in this country unlawfully.

Jose Carranza isn't exactly a member of an exclusive club. Violent crime committed by fine upstanding members of the Undocumented-American community is now a routine feature of American life. But who cares? In 2002, as the "Washington Sniper" piled up his body count, "experts" lined up to tell the media that he was most likely an "angry white male," a "macho hunter" or an "icy loner." When the icy loner turned out to be a black Muslim named Muhammad accompanied by an illegal immigrant from Jamaica, the only angry white males around were the lads in America's newsrooms who were noticeably reluctant to abandon their thesis: Early editions of the New York Times speculated that Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were being sought for "possible ties to 'skinhead militia' groups," which seemed a somewhat improbable alliance given the size of Mr. Muhammad's hair in the only available mug shot. As for his illegal sidekick, Malvo was detained and released by the INS in breach of their own procedures.

Read the whole thing.