This story should have been an easy thing to report on: “Islamic fundamentalist attacked famous author and refused to testify”. But as we’ve all come to expect, the spin on this story is enough to twist your head off.

Do you remember when the Iranian Iatollah issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie? Well, America is at war, so any opportunity to paint a tragedy involving Iran in a tangental way is seen as a political necessity. It demonstrates the ease in which the mainstream media tries to justify the murder of civilians under any pretexct. How easy they have it when precise motivations of a man who attempted to murder a writer for “insulting” his faith are still a mystery. Hadi Matar has been convicted of the crime, even as he refuses to give us details on his actions. We rely instead on the criminal investigation, and the heavy bias of the media for answers.

I have no doubt that Islam is to blame, although I also wouldn’t be surprised if there were elements of mental distress that contributed to his actions (these things tend to get ignored when shielded in the cacoon of faith). Framing it as a political issue for an event that predates the war is no different than rewriting history to fit your narrative. This article cares little for celebrating justice being served, and is more focused on creating fear and distrust to back an unpopular war.

If you want an honest conversation of the dangerous of Islam, then I welcome it. What I don’t welcome is the media’s way of framing the conflicts as a battle of faiths, and worse, forcing the rest of us to chose one side or another. Christianity is no more an answer to insanity than Islam. It is like being asked to choose between a shit sandwitch and a shit burrito. The breading may change, but it’s the filling we don’t like.