My caution on Christmas violence sadly came true

He is a writer, researcher, and founder of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon.

I wrote an article last week criticizing The Oregonian newspaper for featuring a full-page article on Christmas Eve that attempted to discredit the birth of Jesus Christ.   I ended my article with this caution that media should do more to highlight people’s faith rather than tearing it down on their sacred holidays, and then reminded everyone of the danger of the season: “As we speak, the nation of Burma just outlawed Christmas celebrations in their country. In Nigeria, as many as 7,000 Christians were reported killed this year. There have been widespread attacks upon Jewish people around the world.”

I had no idea it was worse than I thought.

During the past week, 80 acts of violence broke out in India against Christians, against Christmas … and yes, even against Santa Claus.  It was so widespread that there is a Wikipedia page on all the incidents called 2025 Christmas violence in India.

People attacked Children who were singing Christmas songs and had their musicical instruments destroyed.  Churches were attacked during Christmas services.  Stores that sold Santa Clause outfits were vandalized.  Images of Santa Clauses were decapitated. Churches and homes have been burned in these regions.

But among the most awful was an attack on a Christmas lunch for blind children in Jabalpur.   This was normally a charity event where blind children and young people receive gifts, disability canes, and food for Christmas.  A local political party leader disrupted the event and yelled at a young blind woman with her daughter.  She ridiculed her disability, ridiculed her faith, and called her a whore.  She then violently grabbed the blind woman’s face and said she was cursed and will be blind again in the afterlife.

To strike a vulnerable blind woman and call her cursed comes as a shock to many Americans.  To me it reflects the disdain many in that region have for the poor and disabled.  Through my church, I did charity work in India by helping a newly created school for young girls who were denied an education.  I went to neighboring Nepal with a Christian ministry to help an orphanage that takes in all the discarded children of the village.   Both trips showed me how dark that region can be when local traditions treat the poor, the disabled, and women like human refuse.  I have seen it with my own eyes.  Both trips showed me how important the Christian faith is at protecting the world’s most vulnerable.  This is the Christmas message.   Oregon media should support this Christmas message that is making the world a better place in such dangerous areas, instead of dedicating a full-page article to tout middle school-level conspiracy theories that Jesus is a fraud.