The Plight of Iraqi Christians by Chuck Colson

For five years I have been telling BreakPoint listeners about the plight of Iraqi Christians. One of the oldest Christian communities in the world, one that prays in Aramaic just as our Lord did, has become the preferred target of all three of Iraq’s Muslim communities.

Well, their situation has become even more dire, and they are even more in need of our help.

The past few weeks have seen an escalated campaign of terror and extermination directed at Christians in the city of Mosul. In one week alone, more than 3,000 Christians fled the city and sought refuge in “churches, monasteries and the homes of relatives in nearby Christian villages and towns.”

What Archbishop Louis Sako called the “campaign of killings and deportations” comes along with the all-too-regular “abduction attempts for paid ransom” directed at Christians.

In just two weeks in October, at least 14 Christians were killed in Mosul as part of a “major displacement” orchestrated by al Qaeda in Iraq.

The killings came after leaflets were distributed in Christian neighborhoods telling Christians to “either convert to Islam . . . pay a tax levied on non-Muslims for protection . . . leave the city or face death . . .”

In a classic case of blaming the victim, CNN implied that Mosul’s Christians were somehow to blame for their own predicament. CNN reported that the “attacks may have been prompted by Christian demonstrations.” And what were they demonstrating for? “Greater representation on provincial councils.”

The nerve. Who do they think they are?