Mainstream Media Seems Indifferent To Persecution Of Christians
ICC Note
Christians are persecuted in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Unfortunately, the mainstream media have ignored the persecution of Christians.
By Herb Denenber
12/26/2008 Islam (The Bulletin)-This column has devoted more space to the subject of the worldwide persecution of Christians than the rest of the mainstream media put together. That’s easy, as the mainstream media, and for that matter most of the Western media, have ignored this story, one of the most important of our time.
I find it remarkable that not only the mainstream media virtually ignores the story, but also major Christian denominations and their leadership seem almost indifferent to the persecution of Christians worldwide. And don’t assume it is a small or isolated problem. It is truly a worldwide problem impacting millions. I found this surprising, but the persecution of Christians in the twentieth century exceeded all previous centuries.
Persecution of Christians has several other layers of importance. First, much of it involves Muslims and the Stealth Jihad, which now challenges the very existence of Western civilization. Second, Christian persecution shows how we have failed to guarantee basic human rights in so many areas of the world. Third, when we tolerate religious or other persecution of one group, we put all of us at risk.
Ms. Gilbert visited Bethlehem on Dec. 20, and her description of one meeting with a Christian cleric perfectly captures how Hamas and the Palestinian Muslims have crushed all the life out of a once large and vibrant Christian community. Here is Ms. Gilbert’s account of that visit: “I went to Bethlehem myself Saturday and can tell you that there is heaviness in the air. A friend and I met with old Christian cleric — he’s very ill — who must remain unnamed. Suffice it to say that he has worked there for 50 years among the Christians.
Ms. Gilbert, in the same issue of the Jerusalem Post, turns her attention to the ongoing genocide and persecution of Christians in the Sudan , Africa ’s largest nation by land mass. Ms. Gilbert points out that in an attempt to impose Shari’a (Muslim) law, Sudan “has been bloodied by one of the most protracted and brutal civil wars in contemporary times.”
This involves the Khartoum regime’s attack against the Christian (and animist) in the South beginning in 198 3. She writes, “As a result, an estimated 2 million south Sudanese have since died while some four million have been displaced.” There are two genocides in Sudan – one in Darfur and one against the South,
The slaughter in the South has not received the same attention as Darfur , but the problems there are far from solved. Nina Shea of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom found the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between North and South is rapidly deteriorating, and the overall picture is grim.
People are anxious to return to their homes but there is literally nothing to return to with no water, sanitation medical care or other infrastructure. The peace agreement that was supposed to settle the conflict is at risk. That means the nine to 10 million Christians in the Sudan are also at risk.
Ms. Gilbert points out the long-time leader of the South was killed in a helicopter crash, and the duplicity of President Omar al-Bashir and the attempt of his Khartoum regime to enforce its radicalized version of Islam, means that the stipulations of the CPA are not being followed. Bashir continues to carry out aggression by assaulting oil-rich Abyei.
All this means that Christians who have fled to other countries such as Egypt are afraid to return. Some 3,000 Sudanese are now living in Israel .
