WASHINGTON – A congressman is calling on American lawmakers to act on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Middle East – and soon.
Or there may not be any Christians left to help.
“I call upon the Congress to act because ISIS is after nothing less than the complete elimination of Christianity in Iraq,” Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., said Tuesday.
“They kill Christians or tell them they have to convert,” he said.
The rise of the Muslim terror army ISIS, also known as Islamic State, happened quickly. There are estimates now of 15,000 or more members of ISIS, which has been bulldozing its way across Syria and Iraq.
Christians and members of other non-Islamic faiths who are in its path are ordered to leave. Sometimes they’re executed. Sometimes they’re ordered to pay horrific penalties. Sometimes they’re stripped of their belongings and assets and then killed.
Fortenberry spoke at the In Defense of Christians Summit held in Washington. He noted that American intelligence analysts were not able to predict the sudden development of ISIS, which apparently was born in the civil war in Syria where “freedom fighters,” sometimes already affiliated with known terror groups, are battling President Bashar al-Assad for control.
Now the atrocities being committed by ISIS are horrifying the world, including crucifixions, executions of children and heads placed on stakes in villages.
Towns and cities in Iraq that have been home to Christians for nearly two millennia now have no Christian presence. Hundreds of thousands have fled to the Muslim Kurdish region for protection.
“The U.S. needs to help the region’s Kurds, who have taken in thousands of Christian refugees. The phenomenon that makes this so dangerous is that we have an eighth century mentality with 21st century weapons,” Fortenberry said.
He said a good start would be for Congress to authorize more action in the region.
Others speaking about the conference included representatives of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the Catholic church, churches in Antioch and the Coptic Orthodox Church.
In Defense of Christians President Toufic Baaklini said the West needs to step up for freedom.
“Westerners have stood by, silent, or unaware, while Christians and other groups in the Middle East have endured discrimination, persecution and religious cleansing,” he said.
“Today as the Islamic State continues its genocidal campaign against Christians in Iraq and Syria, the globe is finally awakening to their plight. IDC exists to give voice to these voiceless people. In this hour of their greatest peril, they are in desperate need of support. We must act now.”
Princeton University Professor of Jurisprudence Robert George said it’s good a conference is focusing on the persecution, but it’s sad that it’s needed.
“Throughout the Middle East, we see the constant, the thing that doesn’t vary, the persecution of Christians,” he said. “We must stand with the persecuted because the most fundamental right of all persons is to have religious freedom.
“I am proud of the witness of these religious leaders for the witness they are giving to the Christian faith,” he said.
“As a Christian myself, whose roots are in deep Middle Eastern Christianity, I am proud of the Christian community. Where is the voice of the Christians in the powerful nations of the West? Where is the voice of my fellow Christians in the U.S.?” he asked.
“Some of my Jewish friends have said they’re grateful for the voices of Christians. They’re puzzled by the silence of the Christians about their own in the Middle East. They believe it’s because of the complacency and the apathy.”
Cardinal Donald Wuerl said getting people’s attention is the challenge.
“How do you get people’s attention when the attention span of people in the West is so short? How do you get people to come together and stand together – to speak with one voice. No one knows the suffering of the people more than these leaders gathered here today. Don’t look away. Be aware.”
Wuerl said: “We stand in solidarity and we say we are with you in spirit and with you in purpose and resolve. I am glad to say that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is standing with our brothers and sisters in Christ – with our suffering brothers abroad. Thanks are offered for the voices that will leave this room and speak up for those who suffer.”
Bishop Leonardo Sandri said he’s grateful that leaders are meeting.
“But I want to remind all of us that it is prayer that will bring people together. I am glad that there are so many who are finally willing to stand up and stand together. This is a rare opportunity,” he said.
Patriarch Buchara Boutras Rai of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches told WND in an interview that it’s time “to awaken our brothers and sisters to the very tragic situation of Christians in the Middle East, in Iraq and Syria.”
“We will be the voice of those who are persecuted just because they are Christians,” he said.
Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria told a news conference: “The conditions are worsening and we’re here to talk about the dangers to those who try to live in freedom. I wonder if these things were happening to other groups if the silence would be the same.”
In a subsequent interview with WND, he said the summit is “a time for people to come together and speak powerfully and raise the profile so people can see the absolute tragedy of what’s happening to Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.”
“We’re trying to encourage the whole international community to come forward on one set of shoulders. We all need to take a collective sense of responsibility to help people who are living in a very dire situation,” he said.
WND reported last month an Iraq-born pastor who leads an Arabic congregation in the Dallas, Texas, area is warning that ISIS will not be content to stop at Iraq’s border.
“They’re after the whole world. They’re doing this to Iraq, but if they succeed, they’ll expand and they’ll even reach here,” said Jalil Dawood, a native of Iraq who now leads the Arabic Church of Dallas.
