On June 10, the city of Mosul fell to the forces of ISIS, the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams. Politically, this is a catastrophe for American hopes of preserving the settlement they had uneasily imposed on the region, while a humanitarian catastrophe looms. Particularly hard hit are the region’s Christians, who have no wish to live under jihadi rule. A heartbreaking story in the The Telegraph recently headlined “Iraq’s beleaguered Christians make final stand on the Mosul frontline.”
So much has been widely reported, but what has been missing in media accounts is just how crucially significant Mosul is to the whole Christian story over two millennia. Although the destruction of Christian Mosul has been drawn out over many years, the imminent end is still shocking. The best way to describe its implications is to imagine the annihilation of some great European center of the faith, such as Assisi, Cologne, or York. Once upon a time, Mosul was the heart of a landscape that was no less thoroughly Christ-haunted.
Mosul itself was a truly ancient Assyrian center, which continued to flourish through the Middle Ages. No later than the second century AD, the city had a Christian presence.
The famous lament near the beginning of the OT book of Lamentations immediately came to mind, while reading this eloquent little piece by the incomparable historian, Philip Jenkins. “[i]Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look, and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow…[/i]” (Lam. 1:12)
As Jenkins wrote in his superb book, [b]The Lost History of Christianity[/b], “Religions die.” As he showed so brilliantly, at one time, the Syriac Church, including the “Nestorians” or the Assyrian Church of the East, was or equal size and importance to the Greek and Latin portions of the Church. But now, 99% of the Christians have fled Mosul and northern Iraq, probably never to return. The once great Monastery of St. Matthew will soon be like Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, if it survives intact at all.
But where is the international outcry over this outrage? How many Western Christians know, or care, about their Eastern brothers and sisters who used to live in Mosul, and have now been forced to flee for thier lives? FWIW, although Jenkins doesn’t mention it in this very brief article, Mosul is the modern name for what was once the Assyrian Empire’s ancient capital, Nineveh. Yeah, the infamous Nineveh associated with Jonah and Isaiah.
Lord, have mercy on us all, the refugees, the vicious persecutors, and we, the forgetful in the West.
David Handy+
I agree wholeheartedly and sadly with David. I have met myself the Syrian Catholic rite Archbishop of Mosul, a man of intellect and pastoral wisdom, now driven from his see city. (My previous parish was also host to a Syrian Catholic rite congregation.) If there is some small incident against Islam, disrespect for the Koran, for instance, there is uproar among Muslims. By contrast. this appalling persecution of Christians and destruction of Christian communities raises little echo in the wider world, some perhaps among concerned Christians, but in the media virtually nothing. Hardly a whisper on the BBC, for instance. What a damning indictment of our tired, introverted, Western world, with its hysterics over minutiae and its indifference to major issues. (Forgive me the histrionics. I am venting, I know.) Can our civilisation withstand the outward forces? I hope and pray.
In a very mild counter to the first two comments [with which I generally agree] those of us who are informed are also numb and helpless. There is absolutely nothing that one can do when Islamic jihadists and radicals take over a country. When that happens, Christians will be slaughtered and churches destroyed, [i]no matter how much outcry we raise[/i].
Elections matter. Candidates matter. Voters matter. Foreign policy matters. Domestic policy matters. Budgets and finances matter. And dear God, religions matter.
All of those things have consequences, whether it is in a Middle East country or whether in the US.
I agree that raising an outcry won’t have immediate effect, but I also agree that we definitely SHOULD do our part to raise an outcry. Such political activism can have a significant effect, first in leading to our governments taking a public stand, and later in taking investigative and retributive action. The fear of these things often does have an effect on perpetrators, even if we don’t see it.
In 1943, 76 prisoners of war broke out of Stalag Luft III. 73 were re-captured. 50 of these were covertly shot by the Geheim Staats Polizei after recapture. Most of them were British. The German government informed other POW that these men were shot whilst trying to escape.
The British government learned of the deaths from a repatriated POW the following year. The British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden addressed the House of Commons:
[blockquote] [After setting out why all the evidence indicated that the POW were murdered…]
“His Majesty’s Government must, therefore, record their solemn protest against these cold-blooded acts of butchery. They will never cease in their efforts to collect the evidence to identify all those responsible. They are firmly resolved that these foul criminals shall be tracked down to the last man wherever they may take refuge. When the war is over they will be brought to exemplary justice.” [/blockquote]
Many Germans were nervous about the kill orders. Goering, Keitel and others tried to talk Hitler out of the order in the first place. Others objected strongly when ordered to take part, despite the danger of dissenting. Still others moved to distance themselves from the murders, assuring the remaining POWs at Stalag Luft III that they had nothing to do with the deaths.
Now let’s be clear about this – many of these dissenters had taken part in massacres of other races, particularly in the East. They were already murderers, and would be so again. Mainly, it was fear of retribution that caused them to dissent, based on the (well founded) belief that the British would not forget.
None of this dissent was known in Britain when Anthony Eden made his speech. And he had no power whatsoever to implement his promises to “track down to the last man” and bring them to “exemplary justice” at the time. But we now know that his speech caused a significant stir in Germany. The speech alone may have saved the lives of other re-captured POW after this date.
The British investigation swung into gear within days of the war ending. They faced huge difficulties – the killings took place in numerous fields scattered across Germany. Places and witnesses were completely unknown. Yet through patient police work the investigators made many arrests. When RAF police walked into one civilian crematorium where a murdered POW had been cremated, the attendant’s first words were: “I always knew you would come”. This was a common event.
Not all were brought to justice. The investigation identified 72 men as being war criminals deserving of indictment for the murders. 21 were executed (some for other crimes as well), 17 were imprisoned, 11 committed suicide, 7 were untraced (4 presumed killed), 6 were killed in wartime. The rest, through a variety of circumstances were either acquitted or escaped prosecution.
Part of the protection given to the weak and the helpless against authoritarian groups is the knowledge that sooner or later a reckoning will be required. Whilst there are many motivations for engaging in slaughter, a large number of participants do so because they feel, as part of a group, that they will never have to face justice for their crimes.
We should use all political means at our disposal to urge our governments to take an interest in this issue. We want them to firstly make strong public statements condemning the murders (because they are murders). Other steps will come later. It will take many years, perhaps even decades, but every person involved in these Muslim groups must be reminded that sooner or later they will get the knock on the door.
I suggest encouraging anyone you know who is concerned by this to write a personal letter to their local political representative.
Our internet outcries are one useful piece, but as Sarah points out in #3, there is much, much more that needs to go into the defense of human rights, building a decent quality of life on earth, and spreading the Truth that brings eternal life.
There are so many things needing attention, and my inbox seems to have daily calls to sign the latest petition, fund the latest online outcry, or whatever. Most of this comes under #firstworldproblems
It is a “numb, helpless” feeling sometimes. Last Sunday I pointed out profound and irreconcilable differences between Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Several folks thanked me for the clarity, but plenty of others walked off smiling, intoning stuff like “Well, we all worship the same God” and “But we don’t say that you have to believe in Jesus as the only way to heaven, do we?” These, despite me pointedly refuting the former and bringing out the exclusive claims about Jesus in the Epistle and Gospel they’d just heard.
RE: “every person involved in these Muslim groups must be reminded that sooner or later they will get the knock on the door.”
Except that they won’t, and they know that.
The difference between the British government in 1943 and the British government — not to mention the US government — in 2014 is profound. I think the informed and aware understand that.
Further, I’m a little confused about the nature of the outcry being called for. Are we to outcry regarding all the Christians slaughtered by Islamic jihadists? If so, that becomes a rather steady, background droning noise of outcry and it will be impossible to maintain, since the slaughter of Christians will take place 24/7 over a period of many many many years. It’s difficult, not to say impossible, to maintain a piercing and focused outcry over a period of decades for numerous country’s Christians being slaughtered by Islamic jihadists.
Setting that aside, I don’t believe that there is [i]anything short of corresponding mass slaughter from our side[/i], that would convince Islamic jihadists that there would be retribution and justice for their actions. The cultural difference between Islamic jihadists and German Nazis is also, I think, profound.
Everybody’s different, I know. I’ve always been opposed to ineffective outcries, myself, preferring to outcry when I know there are consequences to be relied on behind the outcrying.
I know that MichaelA and I don’t share the same political values, so my main purpose in the above is simply to explain further to comments #1 and #2 why so many of the informed do not outcry.
Sarah, I know that you are not actually commending mass slaughter, but I have to observe (a) it would be immoral, and as such (b) would erode the difference between Christianity and Islam; and (c) would actually encourage jihadists by creating a whole bunch of ‘martyrs’ (a word that they have sadly corrupted of meaning).
I think that IF (a big IF) the political will existed, a lot more could be done. The U.S. needs to point out to Saudi Arabia that its oil is steadily becoming less needed with fracking et al. Secondly, many Muslim leaders while decrying the West love to shop and maintain residences in London, NY, Geneva, Monaco and elsewhere. Valuable for our economies. But we could say no more of this while our people are being slaughtered. More broadly, there could be economic sanctions which despite the naysayers have had an impact on Iran. But even as I type these words I know that in our population generally, and in our media and political classes especially, there is scarcely a scintilla of interest in the plight of Christians under persecution.
RE: “I know that you are not actually commending mass slaughter . . . ”
I believe that is what wars are for. For instance, in WWII we commended and sought mass slaughter of Nazis until such time as they waved the white flag. The mass slaughter of Nazis was deemed a better option than a mass slaughter of ourselves or our allies.
But my point is that short of that there will be no “convincing” of Islamic jihadists that they should cease mass slaughter of Christians because they might receive retribution and justice for their actions. I think people are severely underestimating the very stark difference in cultures between 1940s German soldiers and 2014 Islamic jihadists.
“Stone age” is an apt description and despite their evil, 1940s German soldiers were not “stone age.” Another apt description might be Two-Year-Old-Child-Having-Temper-Tantrum-Swinging-Machete . . . and saying to such an infant “there will be retribution and justice for your actions” is unpersuasive.
Again — I know there are people who don’t accept my assertions and political worldview and that’s fine. I’m just explaining why somebody like me — and a lot of my Christian friends — sees very little good that comes from incessant outcries about slaughters that inevitably occur in country after country where Islamic jihadists take over. This is the nature of Islamic jihadists. They slaughter Christians. It’s been this way for hundreds and hundreds of years. They have a religion that demands it. No amount of outcrying will cause it to cease.
The above being said and truly believed by me and others, my saying it does not in any way allow me to articulate or adequately describe the deep sadness and grief I feel over my brothers and sisters — whom I will someday hopefully see and honor for enduring far more than I have — persecution and terrible deaths.
I feel like one feels when one reads the newspaper story about another child that has suffered at the hands of its parents and finally, after months and years of torture, died. Helpless, frustrated, overwhelmed with sadness, and resigned to the reality of this occurring every day we are on earth.