"...if we be honest with ourselves,
we shall be honest with each other." ~ George MacDonald
"...if we be honest with ourselves,
we shall be honest with each other." ~ George MacDonald

Silencing the Persecuted

An Assyrian Catholic woman, Juliana Taimoorazy, was forced to flee Iran with her family. She found safety and a home in Chicago, Illinois. After she gave her testimonial at a Knights of Columbus event, a concerned woman asked her to speak at a Catholic high-school function in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Initially in favor of her speaking, the priest and president of the Catholic high school asked her to rehearse her speech to a small group of parishioners, himself included. Speaking on the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world, Juliana drew on her and her family’s life experience reaching back to the Genocide of World War I, better known as the Armenian Genocide, but which was more broadly directed at all Christian minorities and included the physical destruction of the Assyrian nation. Her family history includes a great-grandfather who died in an internment camp, a great-grandmother and two aunts who were kidnapped, another great-uncle who was cut to pieces, and an uncle who was shot by his own Muslim employee for being a Christian. It also includes the serial rape and brutalization of the women in her family—exactly what we are seeing ISIS do to those same populations today. Her familial story extends to mental, emotional, and physical persecutions in the 1980s that finally forced her family to leave. Today, the Christian community, including the Catholic Church, is well aware that upwards of 100,000 Christians a year are killed for being Christian and that most of this is at the hands of those acting in the name of Islam. [1767] A simple Google search makes it clear that the persecution of Christians in the Muslim world today is open, violent, systematic, and large-scale. There is nothing about Juliana’s testimony that strains credulity. Going through the rehearsal of her testimonial, however, the priest intervened to tell her that Islam is a religion of peace, that he personally believes in the “Five Pillars,” and that she could not give her testimonial unless she was prepared to debate with his interfaith partner and peer, the local imam. As the priest explained, to do otherwise would risk poisoning the minds of the Catholic youth.

The priest subordinated the testimonial of a woman’s persecution for being Catholic—to be given to fellow Catholics in a Catholic forum—to what he thought would be acceptable to Islam. This reflects the downstream effects of interfaith rules as intended by the Brotherhood. Even given the offense, Juliana accepted the priest’s conditions but never heard back from him. Juliana Taimoorazy is currently the director of a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness of the overt persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Who would have thought that a priest would silence such a testimonial? Sadly, a review of the news will indicate that Juliana’s experience has become the norm ("Appendix One: Interfaith Dialogue" in Catastrophic Failure by Stephen Coughlin).

What's going on here? Why are some priests and ministers doing this? What are these "interfaith rules"? For an in-depth look at these rules and how they are being used by those who have no real interest in genuine peace between various faiths see "Appendix One: Interfaith Dialogue" in the book Catastrophic Failure by Stephen Coughlin. See also the following interview about how the Brotherhood are using well meaning but misguided Christian leaders to silence those who would speak up for the persecuted. Interfaith Outreach, see also Engaging with Islam - 1 - Love Everyone. ( To understand the psychology of these ministers and priests see The Third Choice by Mark Durie.)

But what if you're a peace loving Muslim? What can you do apart from publicly condemning violence in the name of Islam? “You should quote the violent passages [from the Quran] and say you think all Muslims should ignore those passages.” See here. You can draw attention to those who are being persecuted in the name of your religion. You can make sure the stories of the persecuted are heard. Any Muslim who says they condemn violence in the name of Islam, but is not willing to give a platform to those who have suffered at the hands of those who call themselves Muslims are simply engaging in a charade (see here, here, and here). They do not genuinely care about non-Muslims (and Muslims) in the Islamic world; they only care about how Islam appears. Such people may not commit crimes in the name of Islam, but they enable those who do. Terrorism cannot be justified. 

Nothing can justify the purposeful killing of innocent people (or the attempt to kill, harm, or intimidate innocent people.) If an Italian killed your entire family, would you be justified in going to Italy and killing any stranger you met on the street? Anyone who justifies the killing of innocents with the word "because" ought to be in prison, as they are justifying terrorism. For example, if you say, "French citizens are being killed by Muslim terrorists because the French occupied Algeria," you have crossed a line in which terrorism is now justified. It is ok to say that the French committed atrocities against the Algerians when they occupied Algeriathis is true; but we must never say French citizens are being killed by Muslims because of the way the French treated the Algerians. This does not mean there is no reason why terrorism is being committed in the name of Islam. If you want to know what the because of Islamic terrorism is, read The Third Choice by Mark Durie.

We can treat our enemies kindly; but we must never pretend that our enemies are our friends. Jesus never pretended that his enemies were his friends. (He never once denied their intentions. He loved his enemies, even though they hated him. Jesus was their friend, even though they were not his. For an interesting discussion which goes into Jesus’ treatment of his enemies see here.)

 

Betrayed

Righteous Anger

Islamophobia