Islamists = Bible Heroes?

The chaplain of a Church of England bishop has kicked up a stir in the British media by comparing the Islamist subway bombers in London last year to Old Testament heroes, Christian crusaders and even the angry Jesus in the Temple.

Canon Philip Gray claimed that the July 7, 2005 London subway bombers shared the same "religious passion" as the Christian crusaders of the Middle Ages.

"Behind modern fanatical Islamic terrorism lie many spiritual and religious passions and narratives also found in the Christian tradition." he wrote recently in his diocesan newspaper.

Gray’s article was to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on the U.S. The 39 year old priest is the chaplain to Bishop of Blackburn Nicholas Reade. His musings naturally ignited controversy. Any seeming effort to mitigate the evil of the London subway bombers understandably strikes raw nerves among the British.

The London blasts on three trains and one bus killed 52 people and injured 700. All four of the Islamist bombers were killed by their own bombs, apparently welcoming martyrdom.

This is not unique, according to Chaplain Gray, who said Christians, like Muslims, "rejoice over the deaths of martyrs."

Read more here (If you can stand it.)