Media Bias when people of faith are targeted.

A Jewish synagogue, Congregation Tephereth Israel, has been burned possibly beyond repair, an additional fire set in St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church and vandalism at St. Joseph Church in New Britain on Friday, March 11. According to initial news reports, both a man and and woman are in custody for the crime. You might think that means two separate individuals committed the crime, but no, it is simply our modern, artificial strictures about gender causing natural confusion for our media elites.

We here at the Family Institute of Connecticut will be praying for all involved, particularly the suspect. It is an outrage when the media delays reporting the “hate” angle when the victims and perpetrator do not fit their preferred narrative. Instead, the motives remain “unclear” and facts about the suspect’s motivations and identity remain veiled or under-reported. In other news stories where a person seems to be targeted because of their appearance or beliefs, allegations of hate crimes are quick to surface in the news article.

In this case, these traditional houses of worship were violated and in one case, totally devastated by a “transgender woman” who has also been an online activist and occultist. A “transgender woman” is a man who dresses as a woman and acts like woman (though not necessarily a “lady”) and is likely to be sexually attracted to women. To be clear, the Family Institute of Connecticut has no issue with people who have gender dysphoria or who identify as transgender. They do suffer and there are people with gender dysphoria who live in our communities and we treat them as we wish to be treated – with respect and compassion. We do however, have a big problem with the media delaying the reporting of crimes as “hate” when people of faith are the target. Even setting aside transgenderism, three houses of worship targeted in one night should have raised the specter of “hate” for the Hartford Courant, the New Britain police and mayor.

“This needs to be investigated as a possible hate crime. The religious denominations targeted by the suspect (Orthodox Jewish synagogue, Evangelical Lutheran and Catholic churches) all hold to a traditional view of gender issues, while the suspect identifies as transgender according to documents filed in U.S. District Court:  https://ecf.ctd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2019cv0939-28 footnote 2: “Although confined in a male facility, Parker is a transgender female.”If self-defined welcoming and affirming churches were targeted by someone with a potential animus toward the LGBT community, it would surely be investigated as a hate crime, and rightfully so. This is no different.”

Stephen Mendelsohn, Facebook post to Mayor Erin Stewart March 12, 2022

In a 2019 editorial, the Hartford Courant laments that more Connecticut crimes have not been labeled “hate crimes”. Some crimes, even if they happen in the middle of the night and nobody hears or knows about them, should be more readily labeled as a “hate crime” they suggest. Maybe they are right. But 5 days and counting after 3 houses of worship are savagely attacked in New Britain, the Hartford Courant has not had the temerity to include in their report the obvious nature of these crimes. We wonder when, if ever, the transgender and Wiccan tendencies of the offender will be revealed or if the motives of the attacker will remain permanently mysterious.

For more about dual standards in the media, check out Peter Wolfgang’s article published in CatholicVote.

Are you interested in learning more about people with gender dysphoria or who identify as transgender and how to charitably respond with Christ’s love? Check out these materials from our friends at Family Policy Alliance.