| A Difficult Place for Christians |
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| by Chuck Colson | Mon, Jun 23, 2008, 02:31 PM |
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In early June, the German television network ARD aired a film called “God and the World: The Persecuted Children of God.” The “children” referred to are Iraq’s largest Christian community: the Assyrians. While any attention to the plight of Iraqi Christians is welcome, I only wish that the film could have aired in the country that is in the best position to help them: the United States. The film tells the story of the suffering and persecution endured by Assyrian Christians through interviews with Christian refugees—or “internally displaced persons,” as bureaucrats call them—who escaped the most dangerous areas. One Assyrian Christian who did not escape was Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul. On February 29, his car was attacked by gunmen who killed his two bodyguards and stuffed the archbishop in the trunk of their car. While in the trunk, Archbishop Rahho called his church and told them not to pay any ransom, because the money “would be used for killing and more evil actions.” His body was found in northeast Mosul. An Al-Qaeda member was sentenced to death for his murder. The archbishop’s death was only the most publicized attack on Christian clergy in and around Mosul. As the New York Times put it, “In the last few years, Mosul has been a difficult place for Christians.” That is an understatement: As Lawrence Kaplan wrote in the New Republic, “Sunni, Shia, and Kurd may agree on little else, but all have made sport of brutalizing their Christian neighbors . . . .” Making matters even worse is that American forces did not hesitate to call on Iraqi Christians to serve as interpreters, precisely because they were Christians. Their religion made them easier to relate to. Now, Iraq’s Christians are seen by extremists as “collaborators” and “crusaders.” Conditions have gotten so bad in parts of Iraq that some Iraqi Christians now celebrate mass “in homes and sometimes, like their ancient Christian ancestors, in crypts instead.” Anyone who knew anything about the history of the region—and its Christian minority—should have seen this coming. That is why Nina Shea of Freedom House, and others, called for special protection for Iraq’s Christians. Their advice was, is, and probably will continue to be, ignored by our government and the “international community.” The only way this will not happen is if western Christians make their voices heard. To that end, Christian Solidarity International, and others, have launched “Save Iraqi Christians.” Their goal is to get our government to “defend religious liberty in Iraq and create conditions that allow displaced Christians and other non-Muslim minorities to return to their homeland and live and worship in peace.” We ought to be using our “powerful leverage with government leaders in Baghdad and Kurdish authorities” to develop a “secure homeland province for religious minorities.” Because without this, a Christian community that survived invasions by the Persians, Muslims, Mongols and Ottomans, might not survive the American liberation of Iraq. They certainly will not survive our indifference. For more information on how you can get involved with Save Iraqi Christians, visit our website, BreakPoint.org.
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Comments (6)
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written by Byron George , June 23, 2008 Our government will not "defend religious liberty" in this country. Unless you happen to be of a religion other than Christianity. Even ultra-liberal organizations will not touch the Islam presentation in the Houston school a few weeks ago. I attempted to contact the aclu by phone and by email and received no response. If a pastor had been there presenting Christianity the aclu would have been all over it. The Bible says we will reap what we sow. This nation was founded on Christian principles. We now find ourselves slipping further and further from this foundation. The good news is that Christianity will survive all assaults against it.
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written by Paul Barnes , June 24, 2008 Mr. Colson in a Dec. 2002 article for Christianity Today magazine, argued that the classical definition of Christian just war theory should be "stretched" to accommodate a new age in which terrorism and warfare are intertwined. He concluded that "out of love of neighbor, then, Christians can and should support a preemptive strike" on Iraq to prevent Iraqi-based or funded attacks on the United States or its allies. His tune now has changed. The situation in Iraq is indeed tragic. Let's hope that the Christians there can survive the invasion and occupation of the Bush/Cheney administration.
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written by Ken Dickson This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , June 25, 2008 always the Bush Basher!!...the Liberal never has a solution, only a "bash"!...Tragic in Iraq? Yes!, But where had you rather be fighting this war? On the streets here? I think not!
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written by My Real Name , June 25, 2008 If these were true Iraqi freedom fighters killing our troops instead of terrorists, the logical thing for them to do would be to stop their activities immediately. We would be out in a flash. Then they could do what they wanted. This has been true from the beginning. However, their goal is to kill as many Americans as possible, which places them in the terrorist camp in my book. Therefore, we are not "occupying" Iraq, we are defending ourselves against terrorists. We are forcing them to battle there instead of here. Anyone noticed the dramatic drop in suicide bombings in Israel since Saddam was stopped from subsidizing them? Anyone on the Left care? Another argument lacking logic is that Bush deliberately lied about the reason for going in. This would have been a lie that would have been found out eventually, to his personal detriment. You may say Bush is that dumb, but I guarantee you Cheney isn't. Since every leading democrat there is was saying before we went in that WMDs did exist in Iraq, the logical conclusion is that a mistake was made by all, assuming they were not spirited into Syria. Otherwise, why should we believe democrat leaders any more than we believe Bush?
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written by RelicMM , June 27, 2008 My Real Name: Has anyone confirmed that the WMD are not stored in the Baaka Valley in Lebanon? Chuck: Your intentions are noteworthy, but how do you propose our government should end centuries of persecution there without destroying Islamic terrorists in their own backyard? Write comment
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