Kidnapped Nuns No Longer Bear the Cross

Raymond Ibrahim comments on the recent video of the St Thecla nuns, noting the significance of the absence of their pectoral crosses. The point is clear: The global Muslim persecution of Christians is religious in nature, not political. It is theologically grounded in Islam's doctrinal hatred of and warfare against Christ and His Church.

by Raymond Ibrahim, via World Magazine — Feb 18, 2014

A new video of the twelve Christian nuns kidnapped in Syria recently appeared.  In it, the nuns are taped sitting in a room and being questioned by an unseen man, presumably a member of the kidnappers.  He asks them how they are, if they’ve been mistreated, etc.

Hostage nuns: stripped of the Cross

They respond that they are being treated fine, that they very much look forward to being returned to their convent, that they heartily thank the world for its concern, and that they continually pray that God grant peace to all nations.

Their words say one thing, their expressions and demeanor another.  Put differently, as female captives of Islamic jihadis, what else could they say but what they were told to say?  Even if one of them dared to say the “wrong thing,” it naturally would have been edited out.  Who knows how many takes it took to get the video—which includes a bizarre clip of the nuns having a snowball fight with their abductors—just right?

One thing, however, although minor, speaks volumes concerning the nature of their captivity.  Although these same nuns, in pictures before they were kidnapped, often appear wearing the large pectoral crosses that nuns often wear, these are all gone in the recent video.

This is to be expected, considering the “pious” nature of their captors.  According to strict Islamic teaching, Christians and other non-Muslims are forbidden to show any signs or expressions of their “polytheism” (shirk in Arabic).  Indeed, this is spelled out clearly in the Conditions of Omar, which mainstream Muslim teaching attributes to the second caliph of the same name.

Robert Spencer: U.S. vs. Christians

by Robert Spencer, FrontPageMag — Feb 10, 2914

The Times of London reported Thursday that “the West and Gulf states are funding a new military offensive by rebel forces around Damascus in an effort to throw the Assad regime on to the back foot before a second round of Syria peace talks. The assault marks an attempt by the Free Syrian Army and its allies abroad to reassert control after months of rebel infighting.” The chief victim of this funding, however, may not be Bashar Assad, but the nation’s Christians.

The report notes that the Obama government “has established a training base for the FSA, say rebel field commanders. It includes $57 million in cash to pay the rebels.” The U.S. is also supplying weapons: “late last month, the US approved a supply of a big shipment of arms to rebels in Jordan.” This aid is supposed to go to the “moderates” of the Free Syrian Army in order to help them counter Syrian rebel forces that are aligned with al Qaeda.

On the ground in Syria, however, the distinctions between the various anti-Assad groups are often not easy to discern, especially since U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar have “channelled the lion’s share of funding and weapons to hardline religious factions such as the Islamic Front,” and the rebel factions are not fighting each other, but are all fighting against Assad. Another U.S. ally, Turkey, has likewise aided the anti-Assad forces.

All these groups are not just battling Assad; they’re also fighting against the nation’s Christians. This is true not just of the al Qaeda groups, but of the Obama-backed Free Syrian Army as well. In July 2013, Free Syrian Army fighters entered the Christian village of Oum Sharshouh and began burning down houses and terrorizing the population, forcing 250 Christian families to flee the area. Worthy News reported that just two days later, Free Syrian Army rebels “targeted the residents of al-Duwayr/Douar, a Christian village close to the city of Homs and near Syria’s border with Lebanon….Around 350 armed militants forcefully entered the homes of Christian families who were all rounded-up in the main square of the village and then summarily executed.”

In September 2013, a day after Secretary of State John Kerry praised the Free Syrian Army as “a real moderate opposition,” the FSA took to the Internet to post videos of its attack on the ancient Syrian Christian city of Maaloula, one of the few places where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken.

This is just the faction Obama is backing. The rebel factions funded by our “allies” Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey behave even worse toward the Christians.

Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham, who lives in Damascus, explained in October 2013 that the persecution was the result of the perception that the Syrian Christians supported the Assad regime: “Some people are saying that we Christians are the friends of the regime, but we are not, we are just ordinary Syrians, and we pray for all. Besides, even if we are for the regime, that is our right as free people.”

Back in May 2011, the Patriarch wrote to Western leaders asking them not to intervene in Syria: “Our Arab countries are not ready for revolutions, and not even for democracy of the European kind and model. I am asking the West not to encourage revolutions unconditionally here and there in the Arab world.”

This request went unheeded; yet now the reason why it was so sagacious is abundantly clear. Late in January a delegation of Syrian Christian leaders went to Washington at the invitation of the Westminster Institute and Barnabas Aid in order, according to a statement issued by the Westminster Institute, “to raise awareness of the humanitarian catastrophe that the Syrian conflict has become, and to explore concrete steps that can be taken by the United States to help end the crisis and to protect Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in Syria.”

Religion Freedom Commission: Consider Sanctions to End Christian Persecution

ICC — February 11, 2014

ICC Note: A spokesman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has again pushed for the United States to consider economic sanctions specifically in response to religious persecution in specific countries. The legal framework has been in place to take these kind of actions. Speaking last week at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama spoke on the importance of this but actions are needed to back up that rhetoric. 02/11/2014 Middle East (Washington Times) - The U.S. should consider economic sanctions on countries where Christians endure persecution, torture and death to help ensure security here and abroad, a religious rights advocate told Congress Tuesday. Elliott Abrams of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said a “case-by-case analysis” could be used in weighing sanctions. “You look at the list of countries and see so many that are underdeveloped, or middle income or poor,” Mr. Abrams told the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on global human rights. “In those cases economic sanctions … could have an affect. I think what we need to convey is … we care, and this will affect our relations.” “As it often is the first right taken away, religious freedom serves as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, warning us that denial of other liberties almost surely will follow,” he said. “Supporting religious freedom abroad is not just a legal or moral duty, but a practical necessity that affects the security of the United States because it builds a foundation for progress and stability.” Mr. Abrams, a former deputy national security adviser, also urged the Obama administration to appoint an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom within the State Department. … [Full Story]

IOCC is Assisting in Evacuation of Syrians Fleeing Homs

Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, via Pravmir — Feb 13, 2014

February 12, 2014 (Baltimore, MD) Syrian civilians evacuated from the embattled city of Homs under a UN-negotiated cease-fire are being aided by International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) as they flee to safety. IOCC and its church partner in Syria, The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (GOPA), are in Homs assisting in the evacuation that began this weekend and are providing emergency relief to the Syrian people fleeing the city.

The world’s most ancient Christian communities are being destroyed — and no one cares

“The victims are ‘too Christian’ to excite the Left, and ‘too foreign’ to excite the Right.” —French philosopher Regis Debray

“Tell the EU and the Americans that we sent you Saint Paul 2,000 years ago to take you from the darkness, and you sent us terrorists to kill us.” —Christian shopkeeper in Ma’loula

by Michael Brendan Dougherty, The Week via Pravmir — Jan 24, 2014

Christians in the Middle East have been the victims of pogroms and persecution. Where’s the outrage in the West?

Egyptian Coptic Christians mourn during a mass funeral in 2011. (REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Like many Coptic Christians in Egypt, Ayman Nabil Labib had a tattoo of the cross on his wrist. And like 17-year-old men everywhere, he could be assertive about his identity. But in 2011, after Egypt’s revolution, that kind of assertiveness could mean trouble.

Ayman’s Arabic-language teacher told him to cover his tattoo in class. Instead of complying, the young man defiantly pulled out the cross that hung around his neck, making it visible. His teacher flew into a rage and began choking him, goading the young man’s Muslim classmates by saying, “What are you going to do with him?”

Ayman’s classmates then beat him to death. False statements were given to police, and two boys were taken into custody only after Ayman’s terror-stricken family spoke out.

Ayman’s suffering is not an isolated case in Egypt or the region.

The Arab Spring, and to a lesser extent the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, were touted as the catalysts for a major historic shift in the region. From Egypt to Syria to Iraq, the Middle East’s dictatorships would be succeeded by liberal, democratic regimes. Years later, however, there is very little liberality or democracy to show. Indeed, what these upheavals have bequeathed to history is a baleful, and barely noticed legacy: The near-annihilation of the world’s most ancient communities of Christians.

Syrian Town Left Scarred By Opposition Group ISIS' Brutal Rule

ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. See my earlier post for more background on this Muslim jihad group seeking to install an Islamic caliphate spanning the Middle East.

Syrian Town Left Scarred By Opposition Group ISIS' Brutal Rule

By Arwa Damon and Raja Razek — AINA, Feb 17, 2014

Posted 2014-02-17 07:01 GMT

Addana, Syria (CNN) -- From the moment we cross the Turkish border into Syria, evidence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's draconian and brutal rule lingers.

More than a month after the group was driven from the town of Addana, residents here drive through the streets, pointing out where ISIS fighters carried out executions and left bodies to rot for all to see.

"That's where they had one of their checkpoints," says rebel fighter Abu Sa'ed, pointing to a small concrete building on the side of the road as we speed past.

ISIS arrived in Addana about a year ago, initially welcomed in the conservative town by Islamist fighters. But within a few months, ISIS had entrenched itself and begun exerting its harsh order through what one fighter calls "terrorism and punishment."

"ISIS came in and took over one area and announced it was an Islamic state and did whatever they wanted," Abu Sa'ed says.

In the passenger's seat, fellow fighter Abu Jaafar sighs, his AK-47 trained out the window.

"They used to leave the bodies of people they executed at the checkpoint for days," he says. "The corpses would rot. No one could avoid looking at them."

VIDEO: America is Complicit in the Persecution of Christians

An unflinching look at global Muslim persecution of Christians and other religious minorities by Bill Warner of Political Islam.

Mr. Warner has strong criticism in this video for church leaders, who are far too quiet on this issue, and he's right. We have seen some strong, excellent statements from Orthodox hierarchs in America in the last year, but we need continuous pressure exerted on the President and Congress on this issue.

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are being slaughtered by Muslim groups supported by the United States government. If we remain silent, we are complicit.

Nigeria: Jihad mass murder death toll at Christian village reaches 106; America urges protection of... homosexuals!

This Jihad Watch post is a follow up to one posted just a few hours earlier, when the death toll was "only" at 50.

As this wave of Muslim genocidal persecution of Christians sweeps the Islamic world, what does the United States do? Well, President Obama is currently lecturing Uganda over its laws against sodomy and homosexual acts, Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Nigeria to respect the human rights of the Boko Haram Muslim jihad terror group behind this latest massacre, and the New York Times is ignoring Muslim persecution of Christians, and reporting instead on persecution of homosexuals in Nigeria. 

Message from America?

America will continue to support and cover for Muslim jihadists in their bloodthirsty efforts to exterminate indigenous Christians from whatever region they please, but don't oppress homosexuals or we'll get all in a tizzy.

Nigeria: Jihad mass murder death toll at Christian village reaches 106

by Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch — February 16, 2014

The unimaginable horror of this is compounded by the world’s indifference. The few who dare to call attention to jihad attacks like this one are vilified, mocked, shunned, ridiculed, and defamed, even as such attacks multiply and the body count mounts ever higher. Right now Western governments have apparently decided that jihad attacks like this one can’t happen in their countries, and so don’t matter, and that when they take place in faraway lands such as Nigeria, they need not disturb the comforting fictions about Islam’s jihad doctrine that form the cornerstone of so much of their domestic and foreign policy.

An update on this story. “Over 100 killed in Islamist attack in northern Nigeria,” from AFP, February 16:

Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) – Suspected Boko Haram Islamists killed more than 100 people in an attack on a village in Nigeria, a local senator said on Sunday. 

The attackers stormed the village in Nigeria’s restive northeastern Borno state on Saturday, slaughtering scores of civilians and sending many others fleeing. 

“A hundred and six people, including an old woman, have been killed by the attackers, suspected to be Boko Haram gunmen,” senator Ali Ndume told AFP. 

Orthodoxy, Islam and Valentine's Day

I hope you had a 'nice' Valentine's Day. It's somewhat of a faux, 'Hallmark' holiday now really, but such is the culture.

But there is a real Saint Valentinus behind this celebration, who was martyred during the second century. For a good article discussing the Orthodox Christian tradition of St Valentinus' life and feast, and the Orthodox perspective on today's transmogrified secular feast surrounding it, see here.

Suffice to say that traditional Orthodox countries are resisting the over-romanticized, sometimes overtly sexualized, commercialization of St Valentinus' feast. However, the Orthodox critique of Western culture is always sober, theological, and pastoral.

In contrast, Islamic condemnation of Valentine's Day, and indeed of all "Christian" Western holidays, too often explodes into orgies of violence, as can be seen by the below assortment of news reports from around the Muslim world.

Muslims rally against jihad terrorism — no, wait…

Feb 15, 2014 | Robert Spencer

Actually, the rally was against that formidable manifestation of jahiliyya, ignorance, and “Islamophobia” known as Valentine’s Day. At least these Islamic supremacists in Gaza did not turn violent, as the anti-Valentine’s Day morality enforcers did in Pakistan...

Pakistan: Devout Muslim students stone other students for celebrating Valentine’s Day, fire on police, set hostel ablaze

Feb 14, 2014 | Robert Spencer

Islamic supremacists don’t just want to bypass and denigrate Valentine’s Day. They want you to do so also, and if you don’t, the stones and bullets will start flying. Here again we see that morality in Islamic culture is not so much a matter of virtue freely chosen, but of people living in terror of committing a transgression that could get them killed...

Bishop Details Secrecy of Christian Conversions in Lebanon

By Carl Bunderson

AINA via Catholic News Agency — Feb 13, 2014

Denver -- According to a local bishop, numerous conversions of Muslims to Christianity occur every year in Lebanon but the true number is unknown because of the risk of social stigma and persecution.

And because of Islam's penalty for apostasy: death, as mandated both in the Quran, and by the command of Muhammad: 

If they turn back from Islam, becoming renegades, seize them and kill them wherever you find them. (Quran 4:89)

“[In the words of] Allah’s Apostle, ‘If anyone changes his religion from Islam, kill him’.” (Sahih Bukhari 9.84.57)

The Prophet said, “The blood of a Muslim... is not lawful to shed unless he... abandons his religion [i.e. Islam] and the Muslim community.” (Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Reliance of the Traveller, A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, o1, p583, 1991.)

"Most of them try to go outside from Lebanon, to Europe or America or Canada or Australia to live there, because it's not possible to be converted and to stay here," a Catholic bishop in Lebanon told CNA in a Feb. 10 phone interview. 

"It's very, very hard to know how many are baptized, because everything will be a secret." 

Given the delicacy of conversion in Lebanon -- a Middle Eastern country with a slight Muslim majority -- the bishop spoke on condition of anonymity. While the region is lauded for its comparative plurality as Muslims generally coexist well with the Christian population, some hostility can be present toward those who convert from Islam.