^“and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26 NASV)

According to the Biblical record, the early believers were first called Christians in Antioch. Since the word Christian in the Greek literally means “little Christ,” it was probably intended as an insult, but the believers were fine with it and the name eventually stuck.

Prior to that they were called the followers of the way (Acts 9:2) and later some even referred to them as “sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5).

But some wonder if there is an attempt by those on the political left in America to give Christians another name change after the organized bombing of three Sri Lanka churches on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2019.

The Sri Lanka government stated a home-grown radical Islamist group called National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) is responsible for the attacks that led to 263 deaths at the churches and 27 killings at nearby resorts. The government also suspects NTJ had help from an international terrorist’s group.

• RELATED: ‘This bloody day is our reward to you’: Islamic State claims responsibility for Sri Lanka massacre: News.com.au

But what is odd has been the reaction by those on the political left in America to the attacks. It seems they couldn’t utter the word Christian and instead chose a different term.

Shortly after the bombing, Obama tweeted out his condolences writing:

“The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka.”

In his tweet he called Christians “Easter worshippers” which in itself was not that big of a deal until three hours later, former Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used the exact same term when she tweeted:

“On this holy weekend form many faiths, we must stand against the hatred and violence. I’m praying for everyone affected by today’s horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka.”

But it didn’t stop there, Julian Castro, who has thrown his hat into the ring for the Democratic presidential nomination, tweeted:

“On a day of redemption and hope, the evil of these attacks on Easter worshippers and tourists in Sri Lanka is deeply saddening…”

According to reports, Democratic Representative Dan Kildee and Colorado Governor Jared Polis also used “Easter worshipers’ and failed to mention Christians and churches.

Now it is possible they just copied each other or even used the same social media writer, but others are not so sure.

These were Islamic extremists purposefully targeting Christians.

As Karol Markowicz responded on her Twitter account, Obama didn’t refer to the Muslims killed in the horrific New Zealand bombing as “Friday prayer adherents,” he called them Muslims and actually described it as an attack on a Mosque.

Similarly Hillary was quick to condemn the New Zealand Mosque shooting as an attack by “white supremacist terrorist,” but she failed to mention Christians, Churches and Islamic terrorists in her description of the Sri Lanka massacre.

This was simply anti-christian hatred. This leads some to suggest that they were purposefully downplaying the victims’ identity as Christians and their attackers as Islamic extremists.

In his article on Townhall, columnist Denis Prager summed it up this way:

“Essentially, the left’s rule is that nothing bad — no matter how true — may be said about Muslims or Islam and nothing good — no matter how true — may be said of Christians or Christianity.”

Sources:

• Leftists won’t say ‘Christians,’ invent new term for bomb victims: WND
• Why Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tweeted about ‘Easter Worshippers’: Townhall

• The problem with mealy-mouthed comments about ‘Easter worshippers,’ ‘very fine people on both sides,’ and ‘some people did something’: Washington Examiner