The Political Blame Game: Pulling Tricks to Deny the Obvious

By Douglas Murray 

• Immediately after the massacre in Orlando, the gay press was full of articles that adamantly refused to admit the reality of Islamic homophobia.
• The same organisations that obsess over which bakeries in the U.S. and Europe will or will not bake wedding cakes for gay couples, and rightly have no trouble berating homophobic Christian pastors, seemed wholly uninterested in the motivations of the Pulse nightclub killer. Instead, these papers and websites were filled with articles, petitions and joint letters, enjoining people not to notice the Islamic element.
• These gay activists have a vision of the world where only "patriarchal" white males of Jewish or Christian heritage can cause the world's problems.
• A small minority of very vocal "far-left" activists are now using their LGBT status as a smokescreen not to advance gay rights but to advance "far-left" politics.

The recent shootings at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando Florida have already begun to be submerged by the news cycle. Shock at the worst mass-shooting in American history -- which saw the death of forty-nine people and the wounding of even more, fifty-three -- has been further dulled by various distractions in the debate. This time, these have included a debate on America's gun laws and speculation around the sexuality of the gunman.

All of these matters have been fought backwards and forwards and should certainly be components of any argument. But the part of the debate that has been the most important and -- as usual -- the most covered over, has been the religious motivation of the gunman. This, and the response it has entailed, is worth dwelling on: it reveals a concerted effort not to learn from events.

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