Hate Mongering for Profit: Another Crazy Website's Clumsy Attempt to Distort the News

By Tom Hagy

So there is this website – Wounded American Warrior (dot com) (WAW) – another in a proliferation of phony news sites that generate ad revenue by playing on fear and hatred. Like any good propaganda service, it takes a grain of truth, mixes it with lies, and serves up a heaping pile of incendiary waste.  All in the name of Free Speech. Hoorah. Yes; these sites are really out there, in more ways than one. 

In this case, the site posted an “article” with the headline: “Islamist set fire at Florida church, write ‘Allahu Akbar.’” Accompanying this post was a photograph of a church engulfed in flame (see above).

The facts are astoundingly, if not comically, different than what this site has posted.

First, the police nor the FBI know who started the fire, so no one knows the arsonist’s faith, or whether he even has any.  

If it weren't so despicable it would be funny.

Second, the flaming church depicted in the photo is not the church where the fire was set. The photo shows a Presbyterian church, whose steeple and cross rise above the blaze (but probably not for long given the progress of the conflagration). The Shiloh Christian Center has no steeple, is not Presbyterian and remains standing.  It’s a Christian Center whose congregation appears to be predominantly, if not entirely, African-American. They believe in “The Trinity; The Father God; The Son Jesus; and The Holy Spirit.” 

Third, the fire – while a serious and terrorizing event for the members of the church – was a relatively small blaze that caused an estimated $5,000 in damage – not the destruction of the church. Granted, a chair was ruined.

Fourth, the graffiti also included a swastika, which is not a symbol associated with radical Islamists. It is more in line with the angry clowns who would commit heinous acts against African-Americans, or someone who wanted to mask both their identity and mission. Or someone who is a fan of right angles.

The WAW website also does a disservice to wounded veterans, playing off the name of the respected Wounded Warrior Project, which gets an 86-point rating from Charity Navigator on a 100-point scale. The charity gets an honorable 96-point rating in the accountability and transparency category.

The site also does a huge disservice to the Shiloh Center itself since it was targeted by ignorant vandals, or someone with some other criminal intent, or someone with racist beliefs.  Disservice, of course, is done to any peaceful Muslims in the U.S. or abroad who will [continue to] be looked upon with suspicion by the deliriously and proudly ignorant. If there is anything positive about the graffiti, it also does a much deserved disservice to any neo-Nazis who may be goose-stepping around the Sunshine State. In reality, it was probably a bunch of dumb kids showing off their geopolitical acumen.  

What’s sad is that people believe this stuff, and share it with their friends, and use it to further fan the flames of hatred. Then the most looney among them goes out for a night on the town with some spray paint and a cigarette lighter. Like we need that.