The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Now that we’ve established that the Pope may be a Ricochet reader, I would humbly ask that he direct his attention to an article that appeared in the March 9 Wall Street Journal. Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., writes to remind us that it is not only his country and the Jews who are threatened by recent developments in the Middle East. The region’s Christians, as well, are a vanishing people. A sample:
[Christians’] share of the region's population has plunged from 20% a century ago to less than 5% today and falling. In Egypt, 200,000 Coptic Christians fled their homes last year after beatings and massacres by Muslim extremist mobs. Since 2003, 70 Iraqi churches have been burned and nearly a thousand Christians killed in Baghdad alone, causing more than half of this million-member community to flee. Conversion to Christianity is a capital offense in Iran, where last month Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani was sentenced to death. Saudi Arabia outlaws private Christian prayer.
Having addressed the fact that many Catholics have strayed from the Church’s teaching on matters of sexual morality, perhaps the Pope might now be persuaded to speak out against the ongoing systematic elimination of Christians from everywhere in the Middle East. (That is except from Israel, where both Christians and Christianity flourish.)
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Comments:
May '11
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
I seem to recall in reading in "From Time Immemorial" that when the Baathist came to power in Iraq they not only deported a large Jewish population but Christians too, so this is not a new trend.
I think we should drill for our own oil in North America, stop buying their oil, then wall the whole place off while having Israel's back, and let them fight it out. I think I'm getting sick of the Middle East.....
Nov '10
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
The Vatican always --for good reason-- treads carefully here. Public statements that even remotely appear to criticize Islam are used as a pretext by the jihadis to bash Christians. Still, one wonders: where is the tipping-point? At what point is there nothing left to lose?
Feb '11
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Until you give them back Spain and reinstall their armies at the gates of Vienna, they will remain in victim mode, trying only to recover what was once theirs.
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Yes, we mustn't offend the delicate sensibilities of practitioners of the Religion of Peace, else they start lopping off heads. Where indeed is that tipping point?
Oct '10
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Preemptive surrender is our only real hope. Give it all to them, and then there will be peace. This has never been tried before.
What can we lose?
And do you, Israel P., believe for an instant that they will be out of victim mode once we do?
Jun '10
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Jack Dunphy
Yes, we mustn't offend the delicate sensibilities of practitioners of the Religion of Peace, else they start lopping off heads. Where indeed is that tipping point? · 1 hour ago
You maybe don't like the answer, but apart from leaving your home forever, the only way to survive in these places (where the Islamic radicals have taken over) is to be as invisible as possible. The real solution is to leave, but some refuse to. They'd rather take their chances. They apparently believe things will settle down over time. So for them, anything you do to help (from the outside) has to be done quietly. In that situation, Christians can be outspoken or they can stay alive. Hard to do both.
May '11
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Jack Dunphy
Yes, we mustn't offend the delicate sensibilities of practitioners of the Religion of Peace, else they start lopping off heads. Where indeed is that tipping point?
An unfortunate point is that European countries are islamicizing together. There is no clear canary in the coal mine which will declare Sharia law in time for other countries to come to their senses.
Feb '11
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
raycon
Preemptive surrender is our only real hope. Give it all to them, and then there will be peace. This has never been tried before.
What can we lose?
And do you, Israel P., believe for an instant that they will be out of victim mode once we do? · 44 minutes ago
Hey, I live where it has already been tried. For nearly twenty years. I have friends who have been thrown out of their homes and one whose war hero son has been disinterred.
No one needs to tell me that it doesn't work.
Edited on March 13, 2012 at 3:18pmJun '10
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Isn't it amazing that the most innocent thought (e.g., that there may be "radical Islamists) sends up the sirens of Islamophobia, while we see the Christian communities of the Islamic world disappear before our eyes, and little if anything is said.
Sep '10
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
I'd like to take a moment to refresh everyone's memories about the Pope's 2006 Regensburg Lecture, in which the entire Muslim world miraculously translated an academic lecture into numerous languages of the Middle East and, within minutes, threatened to riot if people persisted in calling them violent. If I were a cynic, I'd say it was a set up.
I believe its safe to say that Pope Benedict XVI and his closest Cardinal advisors are well aware of the daily martyrdom in the Middle East, and, unfortunately, have to work well away from the prying eyes of Bedouin-Bavarian linguists who may take offense at a stray adverb that glances longingly at Al Farabi from under a papal handkerchief.
Its also useful in times like this to remember that the former Bishop of Hippo, Saint Augustine, was a resident of North African Carthage -- now present day Algeria -- an area which has been forcibly converted to Islam for over 1,300 years.
Edited on March 13, 2012 at 4:20pmOct '10
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
I once spent an evening in 2000 at dinner and prayer with a group of 5 Afghan pastors. None of them was publicly known to be a Christian, and all 5 lived covertly, as did their small flocks. It took over an hour to drive to the meeting place, although it was less than a mile from where I was staying. I do not know if any of them is still alive.
I have only had one Afghan tell me, secretly, he was a Christian, and he was an employee. All the remaining employees claimed Islam, although I had my suspicions about a few, just couldn't ask them.
In Pakistan I have had three close Christian friends, one of them a pastor, martyred over the last 15 years.
I tend to view every beheading, bombing and other violent attack as "Islamic Evangelism".
It is how the religion of peace convinces an unbelieving world that Allahu Akbar, god is great.
Jun '10
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Kind of like being a Mormon 170 years ago. The places and faces change, but the story 0f religious persecution goes on and on. That's why everybody has a stake in it.
Feb '12
Re: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians
Readers, note that this (and the exile of the Jews) is very much current Islam but very much NOT traditional Islam. In Islam before 1850, Christians and Jews were second-class citizens, but they were still citizens. I can understand that; to the victors go the spoils. But now the Christians of Bethlehem are disappearing in the same way as the Jews of Babylon did after 1948. It's a human rights outrage, and also a cultural tragedy.