The Outlook for Christians in Middle East is Not Good

Hat tip Jerusalem Post

In the below Jerusalem Post article, 2013 is not shaping up as a good year for Christians in the Middle East. Not surprisingly, there is only one country in the region that is welcoming (with isolated exceptions). That is Israel. In most other countries in the region, it appears that Christians are facing increased persecution and leaving.

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=297962&R=R1

I would like to ask the reader how much of this have you heard on National Public Radio or on ABC, CNN, NBC or CBS? Not much, I'll bet. Why not? Think it is not a big story that one of the three Abrahamaic faiths that was born in the Middle East is disappearing from the region? That would leave only Israel and its Jews, and we already know that the Arab Jews were driven out of the other countries back in 1948. Only a few thousand remain. If Israel disappears, that would basically leave one faith in the region, right?

Isn't that the goal?

I raised the question of the persecution of religious minorities in the Middle East last year at Loyola Marymount University during one of those events promoting sharia put on by local Islamic leaders.

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2012/04/shariah-workshop-at-loyola-marymount.html



"When called upon, I introduced myself, and  my question went like this:

"We have heard a lot of talk today about hate and intolerance, but there is an 800 pound gorilla in the back of the room, and its name is hate and intolerance. It is not the hate and intolerance that may or not be directed to you, but the hate and intolerance that is being carried out by Muslims against religious minorities in Muslim countries-people being killed and their places of worship destroyed-from the Coptic Christians in Egypt, to the Christians in Pakistan, the Jews in Yemen, the Baha'i in Iran, the Christians in Iraq and the Christians and animists in Sudan. In addition, Jews in Europe are now experiencing the worst anti-Semitism since the 1930s. It has gotten to the point where they cannot walk the streets wearing Jewish garb lest they be insulted, spat upon or assaulted. Yes, some of the perpetrators are neo-Nazis and skinheads, but the primary perpetrators are young, male Muslim immigrants.  'I am not attributing that to Muslims in America', I said. 'I don't hate Muslims and I don't know anyone in this room who does, but why do you never speak out against that hate and intolerance?"

Qazwini was the first to respond. He said there were two problems. First of all, most of these countries are not free countries, and for the past 8 decades, the Western superpowers, including the US, have supported these regimes. "Don't blame Islam", he said. "Don't blame it on Muslims."

Qazwini  also said that he has been active on the UC Irvine campus for 17 years and every Friday, he speaks out against this intolerance.

Jackson stated that it was a "false criteria". He also said, "Just because a problem persists, doesn't mean that Muslims are not speaking out. "Nobody is more concerned or affected by extremist interpretations than Muslims".

Hathout stated that he had just been involved in a Muslim conference on religious minorities (in Muslim countries). He also stated that "oppression of the majority will lead to oppression of the minority." 
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This is what you get. 

In the coming years, we had better get ready for a few more million refugees to the West coming out of this region. These I will support. And they will have tons of things to tell us when they get here. I just hope somebody will listen because precious few are listening now.