How America Betrayed Middle Eastern Christians

[Michie]

In May of last year, the devout Catholic Senator J.D. Vance spoke out about the plight of Christians in Iraq and elsewhere, victims of American interventionism abroad. “Traditional neoconservative foreign policy keeps on leading to the genocide of Christians,” he stated. It is telling that as Vice President, Mr. Vance sings a different tune about America’s Middle Eastern involvement. The United States should provide weapons to Israel, whose recent war has been devastating for Christians in Lebanon and Palestine, so that the Israelis can “prosecute this war the way they see fit.” Whereas Vance once at least partially measured the success of American policy in the Middle East by its contribution to the welfare of Middle Eastern Christians, he now thinks it of paramount importance only that Americans don’t drop the bombs ourselves. Vance’s shift is symptomatic of a broader pattern on the American right, dating back decades, one which uses Middle Eastern Christians as props in political debates but fails to take their plight seriously.

The devastation of Christian communities in the Middle East as a result of American policy is undeniable. Since America’s invasion of Iraq, the Christian population of Iraq plunged from 1.5 million to 150,000, according to a State Department report. The brutal Syrian civil war, in which the United States was involved indirectly, has decimated Christians there, causing nearly two-thirds to flee. Israel’s recent war, and American support for it, has continued this pattern. It has harmed and destroyed Christian communities in Palestine and Lebanon, some of the remaining places Middle Eastern Christians—the oldest Christian communities in the world—practice their religion in relative peace and security.

Continued below.

How America Betrayed Middle Eastern Christians

When Middle Eastern Christians oppose Islamic terrorism, American Christians celebrate them. We turn silent, however, when our allies assail them.

mereorthodoxy.com

 

[BobRyan]

In May of last year, the devout Catholic Senator J.D. Vance spoke out about the plight of Christians in Iraq and elsewhere, victims of American interventionism abroad. “Traditional neoconservative foreign policy keeps on leading to the genocide of Christians,” he stated. It is telling that as Vice President, Mr. Vance sings a different tune about America’s Middle Eastern involvement. The United States should provide weapons to Israel, whose recent war has been devastating for Christians in Lebanon and Palestine, so that the Israelis can “prosecute this war the way they see fit.” Whereas Vance once at least partially measured the success of American policy in the Middle East by its contribution to the welfare of Middle Eastern Christians, he now thinks it of paramount importance only that Americans don’t drop the bombs ourselves. Vance’s shift is symptomatic of a broader pattern on the American right, dating back decades, one which uses Middle Eastern Christians as props in political debates but fails to take their plight seriously.

The devastation of Christian communities in the Middle East as a result of American policy is undeniable. Since America’s invasion of Iraq, the Christian population of Iraq plunged from 1.5 million to 150,000, according to a State Department report. The brutal Syrian civil war, in which the United States was involved indirectly, has decimated Christians there, causing nearly two-thirds to flee. Israel’s recent war, and American support for it, has continued this pattern. It has harmed and destroyed Christian communities in Palestine and Lebanon, some of the remaining places Middle Eastern Christians—the oldest Christian communities in the world—practice their religion in relative peace and security.

Continued below.

How America Betrayed Middle Eastern Christians

When Middle Eastern Christians oppose Islamic terrorism, American Christians celebrate them. We turn silent, however, when our allies assail them.

mereorthodoxy.com

IT appears to me - that any Christian in any nation has that problem, the nation they are in is at war with any other nation (as long as both are not Christian nations). It is a side effect of war itself, no matter the reason for the war.