Timothy McVeigh was not a 'Christian' terrorist

Human Events, May 6, 2002 by Lofton, John

Finally, in an interview, Lou Michel told me: No, Tim McVeigh was not a Christian-"though he acknowledged the possibility of a higher power. But, he didn't accept Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, so far as I know."

Michel notes that, at the end, McVeigh did pray with a chaplain and receive the anointing of the sick, known as the last rites in the Roman Catholic Church. "But," says Michel, "I think he was just covering his bases." He didn't ask for the last rites until they were offered to him.

Whether McVeigh really repented and had a true conversion no one can know. But either way, the event happened long after he had committed-as a non-Christian-his act of terror in Oklahoma City.

With science as his religion, the terrorist Timothy McVeigh was much closer to being a Nazi than a Christian. When a Dr. Nyiszli asked the Nazi butcher Joseph Mengele, in Auschwitz: "When will all this extermination cease?", Mengele answered, "My friend! It will go on, and on, and on."

To be sure, many times the Nazi analogy is too quickly invoked or misapplied. But, when it comes to those, like McVeigh, who claim their cause justifies mass murder, the comparison is accurate and deserved.

Mr. Lofton is the editor and publisher of The Lofton Letter, a Christian newsletter.