By SETH J. FRANTZMAN

Militants take over bus station

Channel 45 Live broadcast

Newscaster: “We are live here on the scene, we understand that armed men have taken over a bus station and are holding hostages. They have put up a large flag with a white symbol on it, let’s speak with some experts, such as Dr. Frank Berthold of the University of Copfmanheim.”

Dr. Copfmanheim: “Yes, thanks for having me. This symbol we see with the two SS’s and the cross is sometimes known as a ‘swastika’ and was a holy symbol to many pagans. It is also used as a military symbol by some extremist groups. It is important though to explain that it is not inherently a hate symbol and that its use in military terms is actually an ancient cultural value. Christianity is a religion of peace, and this symbol, well, it is used primarily as a military thing, but some groups have co-opted it and used it as part of their campaign, sometimes called ‘terrorism’ by politicians, to spread fear. We must recall these are politically motivated groups.”

Newscaster: “Thanks, we can go live now to the Prime Minister’s residence for a statement on the current incient.”

Tweet by a politician

Prime Minister Bob Mealymouth “My hopes and prayers go out to those affected by this tragic event, but we must also emphasize that Christianity is a religion of peace and I will be meeting shortly with my Christian friends and attending a candle vigil at St. Anthony’s Cathedral to assure them that they are part of our community and we are being vigilant against reprisal attacks and threats against the Christian community. Politically motivated violence affects us all, and it primarily perverts the teaching of the son of God Jesus Christ, and we must re-iterate that the community most affected by these so-called ‘neo-Nazis’ is the Christian community whose good name is impugned, and I want to state with clear vigor that the actions today, event though we do not know exactly what motives them, is not in anyway consistent with the true teachings of Christ.”

Newscaster: “Now lets speak to another outspoken expert who has been warning for years that our actions in the world, have actually brought these acts upon us. Professor Terry Blame can you elucidate?”

Prof. Blame: “Yes, well, as I wrote in Blowback, our actions for years throughout the world have stirred up the anger and rage of people by trampling their pride and humiliating them and radicalizing them, so we have to understand that these extreme groups, they are reacting to what we have done. So, we have to understand that even though the guy who is accused of being the leader of this group just converted to ‘neo-nazism’ a few weeks ago, it was our actions ten years ago that clearly are at fault, and one of the main drivers of this is poverty. Remember, so long as people are poor and do not have hope they will be attracted to extremism.”

“A militant march before the incident”

Newscaster: “Thank you. Well as we follow these events and the actions of these militants closely, it is important again to note that although we see a swastika and SS symbols hanging from the necks of the hostages, and they have lined up the minorities and released the white people, it is important to note that this is a perversion of Christian faith. That’s what we are hearing from the experts.  But what is great to see is the outpouring of solidarity with the Christian community here, one neighborhood activist Shirson Bleading-Heart has created a Twitter craze to show sympathy for the potential victims of reprisal attacks.”

Shirson:  “We created a hashtag, #Walkwithme which basically is about telling our Christian neighbors that we support them and that they are at risk and we need to stop the hate, so we are inviting everyone to have a solidarity march tonight to churches and show support for the Christian community.”

Newscaster: “Thanks. There is no reason to think this is anything more than a crime motivated to strike fear. I want to read the statement that we’ve just received from Rabbi Mensche Bobstein, ‘we will not become hostages to hatred and fear’, I think that is a good way to close this segment.”