Book of the Month: AUGUST, 2025
X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
by Chris Claremont, Paul Smith, Brent Anderson, Frank Miller
The Daily Bugle, November 5, 1982 — Special Edition
"MUTANTS IN THE CROSSHAIRS”
TRUTH BEHIND Stryker’s CRUSADE
By Eddie Brock, Daily Bugle Staff Writer
In a chilling display of zealotry masked as faith, Reverend William Stryker—former military man turned televangelist—stands at the center of a rising wave of anti-mutant violence. Under the banner of his so-called “ministry,” Stryker has unleashed a campaign that’s part sermon, part witch hunt, and entirely dangerous.
Sources confirm that Stryker’s private forces—armed, trained, and disturbingly devout—were behind a series of coordinated abductions and attacks on known mutant civilians. His goal? Nothing short of genocide, carried out under the guise of "divine cleansing." This isn't a fringe movement; this is a polished operation with studio lights, satellite coverage, and deep-pocketed donors.
The X-Men, long accused by some of being vigilantes, stood between Stryker and mass murder this week—preventing what could have been the largest public execution of mutants in history. In a scene right out of a nightmare, Stryker had planned to use Professor Charles Xavier, under psychic duress, to wipe out mutantkind via Cerebro—a machine meant to locate, not eradicate.
Stryker was ultimately exposed on live television, revealing his true motives before an aghast audience. The optics? Damning. The fallout? Ongoing.
But the bigger question remains: how did a man like this gain a platform in the first place?
In the wake of these events, it's not enough to just praise the X-Men for stopping him. We, as journalists and citizens, must ask ourselves how many more Strykers are out there—less theatrical, perhaps, but no less hateful. And what will we do when they show their faces?
God may love, but men, clearly, still kill.
Eddie Brock is an investigative reporter for the Daily Bugle. His opinions are his own—but backed by interviews, field notes, and a sharp sense of justice.