There certainly appears to be a central theme in terms of the news this weekend. If you are a U.S. citizen, we are watching the slow, painful collapse of the country. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
Much more disconcerting however is our overt and covert abandonment of Israel. Additionally, we have to face another reality - a reality that involves the U.S. continually turning against Christians while supporting groups who engage in persecution of both Jews and Christians. God is most definitely watching these events.
The first reality we must face is the fact that the U.S. is not only abandoning support for Israel, we are actively undermining Israel and setting the stage for their demise. Genesis 12:3 looms large. Already this weekend, we have seen ample evidence to support that fact.
The second reality is seen in the abandonment of Christians - not only internally in the sense of the various policies and 'law' which actually mock and taunt Christians, but in the support of terrorist groups around the world who actively engage in persecution of Christians.
It is time to face reality.
Will Christians remain silent as our administration aids and gives assistance to terrorist groups who are engaging in the most severe and extreme forms of persecution?
Would the prophets have remained silent?
Prominent indicators confirm that the U.S. is the chief facilitator of the persecution of Christians around the world today.
According to the recently released 2014 World Watch List, which ranks the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted, Syria is the third worst nation in the world in which to be Christian, Iraq is fourth, Afghanistan fifth, and Libya 13th. All four countries receive the strongest designation, “extreme persecution” (other designations are “severe,” “moderate,” and “sparse” persecution).
Aside from being so closely and harshly ranked, these four nations have something else in common: heavy U.S. involvement. Three — Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya — were “liberated” thanks to U.S. forces, while in the fourth, Syria, the U.S. is actively sponsoring “freedom fighters” against the regime, many of whom would be better labeled “terrorists.”
While most Americans are shielded from the true nature of the war by the U.S. media’s reluctance to report on it, Arabic media, websites, and activists daily report and document atrocity after atrocity — beheadings and bombed churches, abducted nuns, Christians slaughtered for refusing to convert to Islam, and countless abducted for ransom or rape — at the hands of those whom the U.S. supports.
The Syrian situation alone indicts U.S. foreign policy. According to Reuters:
Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said. “This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm,” said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by other Christian groups put the annual figure as high as 8,000.
At any rate, the statistics speak for themselves: Syria, which used to be religiously tolerant, is now, in the context of the United States’ trying to bring “democracy” to it, the third worst country in the world in terms of “extreme persecution” of Christians.
The Blaze reports that Dr. David Curry, president of Open Doors,
charged that the Obama administration has essentially declined to make the protection of religious minorities a priority . . . “There are many instances where the vacuum of leadership and spokesmanship has created a real problem,” said the human rights leader. “I would say that every significant data point on this year’s ‘2014 Watch List’ is worse — and I think a factor in it is a lack of leadership from Western governments including . . . the U.S. in terms of religious freedom.”
But it’s worse than that. Far from taking any action or providing leadership — or simply ceasing to support the terrorists responsible — the Obama administration recently tried to go to war with Syria on behalf of the “freedom fighters” — amazingly, in the name of “human rights.” (Apparently the unsubstantiated rumorthat Assad massacred people is enough for the U.S. to go to war, but the ongoing and well-documented massacres of Christians and other civilians at the hands of the opposition is not enough for the U.S. to stop supporting them.)
What’s worse, even the most uninformed mainstream-media-watching American today knows that the so-called “Arab Spring,” which was hailed to justify U.S. support for “rebels” of all stripes — in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood (which months ago destroyed some 80 churches); in Libya, al-Qaeda, which has turned Benghazi into a terror zone; and now the “freedom fighters” in Syria — is not what it was touted to be.
In other words, at this point, whenever the U.S. intervenes in an Islamic nation, Islamists come to power. This is well demonstrated by the other three nations to which the U.S. brought “democracy” and where Christian minorities suffer “extreme persecution”:
Afghanistan: The supposedly “moderate” Karzai government installed by the U.S. upholds many of the draconian laws enforced by the Taliban — including the apostasy law, fiercely persecuting those who seek to convert to Christianity — and, in 2011, under U.S. auspices, it destroyed Afghanistan’s last Christian church.
Iraq: After the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein, Christian minorities were savagely attacked and slaughtered, and dozens of their churches were bombed (see here for graphic images). Christians have been terrorized into near-extinction, with well over half of them fleeing Iraq.
Libya: Ever since U.S.-backed, al-Qaeda-linked terrorists overthrew Qaddafi, Christians — including Americans — have indeed suffered extreme persecution. Churches have been bombed; Christians have beentortured and killed (including for refusing to convert); and nuns have been threatened.
Put differently, Muslim persecution of Christians is the litmus test of how radical an Islamic society has become. In all those Muslim nations that the U.S. has interfered in — Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt (till the Egyptians revolted, to thechastisement of the U.S.), and now Syria — the increase of religious intolerance is a reflection of the empowerment of forces hostile to Western civilization.
I am often asked, “How can we help persecuted Christians?” At this point, one must respond: “How about starting with getting the U.S. government to stop being the chief facilitator of Christian persecution?” Altruism aside, it would be in the interests of all freedom-loving people — and especially their descendants.
Iran is set to become the “alpha dog” - the dominant power – inthe Middle East, according to Fox News commentator Kathleen Troia "K.T." McFarland, the network'sNational Security Analyst.
As the United States relaxes sanctions against Iran in the wake of the agreement Tehran signed with Western powers, in which it promised to somewhat limit its nuclear development program, Iran's economy has gotten a major boost – without a commitment by the country to stop its production of enriched uranium.
As a result, said McFarland, Iran gets to “dance at both weddings” - improving its economy with the removal of sanctions, and continuing its nuclear development program. This, in turn, enhances the image of Iran's hardline Islamist leaders among its people, and guarantees that they will be emboldened to demand more special treatment in the future, she said.
"The deal with the Persian nation makes it clear we are leaving the region, and leaving Iran in charge,” McFarland wrote. “Iran is now poised to become the Alpha Dog of the Middle East – the dominant economic, military and political power in the region that controls the world’s exported oil. Thanks to the agreement struck by President Obama’s hand-picked Secretary of State John Kerry, it is doing so with America’s blessing.”
With the extra money coming in from oil sales that will be resumed, she said, Iran’s coffers will soon be plump enough to resume funding for terrorist groups throughout the region.” In addition, “Iran’s nuclear program will continue and its neighbors will treat Iran as a de facto nuclear weapons state,” she wrote.
The Iran deal is just one of many foreign policy blunders by the White House, McFarland wrote, citing examples such as the opposition of President Obama to President Bush’s Iraq war surge, which she said has led to a near-takeover of Iraq by militant Islamists.
“Here’s my prediction,” she added ominously. “The agreement with Iran will be hailed as a breakthrough. But then, so was Neville Chamberlain’s deal with Adolf Hitler in Munich….at least for a little while.
As the United States relaxes sanctions against Iran in the wake of the agreement Tehran signed with Western powers, in which it promised to somewhat limit its nuclear development program, Iran's economy has gotten a major boost – without a commitment by the country to stop its production of enriched uranium.
As a result, said McFarland, Iran gets to “dance at both weddings” - improving its economy with the removal of sanctions, and continuing its nuclear development program. This, in turn, enhances the image of Iran's hardline Islamist leaders among its people, and guarantees that they will be emboldened to demand more special treatment in the future, she said.
"The deal with the Persian nation makes it clear we are leaving the region, and leaving Iran in charge,” McFarland wrote. “Iran is now poised to become the Alpha Dog of the Middle East – the dominant economic, military and political power in the region that controls the world’s exported oil. Thanks to the agreement struck by President Obama’s hand-picked Secretary of State John Kerry, it is doing so with America’s blessing.”
With the extra money coming in from oil sales that will be resumed, she said, Iran’s coffers will soon be plump enough to resume funding for terrorist groups throughout the region.” In addition, “Iran’s nuclear program will continue and its neighbors will treat Iran as a de facto nuclear weapons state,” she wrote.
The Iran deal is just one of many foreign policy blunders by the White House, McFarland wrote, citing examples such as the opposition of President Obama to President Bush’s Iraq war surge, which she said has led to a near-takeover of Iraq by militant Islamists.
“Here’s my prediction,” she added ominously. “The agreement with Iran will be hailed as a breakthrough. But then, so was Neville Chamberlain’s deal with Adolf Hitler in Munich….at least for a little while.
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