2/7/15, "Obama criticised for telling Christians to get off 'high horse' over Islamic extremism," UK Independent, Zachary Boren
"President Obama has enraged American Christians by urging them not to "get on a high horse" over atrocities committed in the name of Islam.
Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, with the Dalai Lama in attendance, Obama said people should consider the history of "terrible deeds" committed in the name of Christ before describing violent extremism as an problem exclusive to Islam.
Of religion's ability to inspire both compassion and murder, the President said: "Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history.
"And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.
"In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ." image above from Rush Limbaugh
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Pope Francis cautions Christians: "Violence in the name of God....With historical perspective, one has to say that Christians, at times, have practiced it. When I think of the Thirty Years War, there was violence in the name of God."". 2014 interview
6/16/2014, "Full Text of Pope Francis’ Interview With ‘La Vanguardia’," National Catholic Register, EWTN News, Vatican City
"“The persecuted Christians are a concern that touches me very deeply as a pastor. I know a lot about persecutions, but it doesn’t seem prudent to talk about them here, so I don’t offend anyone. But in some places, it is prohibited to have a Bible or teach the catechism or wear a cross.…What I would like to be clear on is one thing, I am convinced that the persecution against Christians today is stronger than in the first centuries of the Church. Today there are more Christian martyrs than in that period."...Violence in the name of God...It’s something ancient. With historical perspective, one has to say that Christians, at times, have practiced it. When I think of the Thirty Years War, there was violence in the name of God.""...(From an interview granted with Spanish-language magazine La Vanguardia on June 9, 2014.)
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Per Pope Francis, best way to respond to threats of fundamentalist Muslims is "always meekness:"
1/15/15, "Full transcript of Pope's interview in-flight to Manila," Catholic News Agency, by Alan Holdren and Andrea Gagliarducci
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"Pope Francis discussed his trip, his recent canonizations, the upcoming encyclical on ecology, and reasonable limits to freedom of expression. Below is a full transcript of the discussion between Pope Francis and journalists during Thursday's flight:"...
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One of the journalists asked the Pope if he fears for his own safety in light of Islamic terrorism, and in general what is his response to the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. The Pope says the best way to respond is "always meekness:"
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"Ignazio Ingrao (Panorama): Holiness, there is much worry in the world for your safety. According to Israeli and American security services, The Vatican may be even a target of Islamic terrorists. On fundamentalist web sites the Muslim flag has been depicted flying from St. Peter's. There are worries for your security when you go abroad. We know that you don't want to lose contact with the people. At this point, is it necessary to change something in your behaviour, in your plans? Is there also fear for the security of faithful who take part to your celebrations. Are you worried about this? And more in general, what is the best way to respond to this threat of fundamentalist Muslims?
Pope Francis: "The best way to respond is always meekness -- being meek, humble. Like bread, no? Without being aggressive – I feel this way. There are some who do not understand this. And I am concerned for the faithful, truly. I have spoken with Vatican security about this: here on flight there is (the chief of Vatican police) Mr. Giani who is charged with solving this, he is updated about this problem. This concerns me, no? It concerns me enough. I have fear, but I you know I have a defect, a good dose of unawareness. I am unaware of these things.
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Some times I ask myself: what if it happened to me? I have said to the Lord, 'I only want to ask you one grace. Don't let me come to harm, because I am not courageous in the face of pain, I am very, very fearful'… But they can take security measures that are prudent, but secure. Then, we will see."..."
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Catholic Online: The world watches beheading and genocide of Christians in "the epitome of shame:"
8/8/2014, "WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTOS (RAW) - ISIS begins killing Christians in Mosul, CHILDREN BEHEADED," catholic.org, CatholicOnline
Image caption: "All humanity owes a debt to this baby girl, to find her murderers
and bring them to justice, dead or alive. That the nations of the world
and its citizens sit complacent is the greatest embarrassment to
civilization and should be the source of deep shame to all. Everything
less that we do is pales by comparison. We have a moral imperative to
act."..."The killings have begun. The world does the least it can do. Islamic State terrorists have begun their promised killing of Christians in Mosul, and they have started with the children. According to a report via CNN, a Chaldean-American businessman has said that killings have started in Mosul and children's heads are being erected on poles in a city park."
Image caption: "A distraught father in Syria holds the lifeless body of his decapitated daughter, executed by militants because she was of a Christian family. Allegedly, Christian children in Mosul are being systematically beheaded and their little heads placed on poles in a park as a warning to others who love their children."...
"Arabo, who is a prominent Chaldean-American businessman and met with other leaders of his community in the White House last week, has called upon American political leaders to grant asylum to about 300,000 Christians fleeing the ISIS invasion.
"The world hasn't seen this kind of atrocity in generations," he told CNN. He's mostly correct. Although genocides have happened repeatedly throughout history, including famous genocides in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, as well as Cambodia, the genocide perpetrated against Christians and other minorities is extreme, partly because it is being gleefully publicized."...
Image caption: "Convert or die. ISIS militants are crucifying victims because to them crucifixion is especially humiliating due to its Christian implications."...
"The terrorists who have invaded Mosul and other ancient Christian communities in Syria and Iraq have made music videos of themselves murdering civilians and captured soldiers. They are literally enjoying the act of killing and the fear and suffering experienced by others. This sadism may be the purest manifestation of evil witnessed since the Rape of Nanking during WWII."...
Image caption: "Islamists killing a woman by slitting her throat and capturing her blood in a bowl, holding her firm as her life literally drains from her neck. Such forms of execution are intended to intimidate others."...
"Already, several images have emerged of Christian children beheaded by ISIS, merely for being Christian. According to Arabo, women are being raped, then murdered, and men are being hanged. These are the people who were warned - convert to Islam of be put to the sword.
Even families that pay the tax, mandated by ISIS for Christians who remain, are now being victimized. The women are allegedly being taken from their husbands and made into "wives" belonging to the ISIS fighters. This means they can rape them and even kill them, if they do not subsequently agree to convert to Islam....
Still, in another part of Iraq, refugees retreated into the mountains where they have been surrounded by ISIS rebels who are now waiting for them to starve and die from exposure.... They have shown no mercy to children or their mothers. They revel in killing and are nothing more than an army of religious zealots and psychopaths. Their numbers are growing because nobody in the world is doing anything to stop them. Every murderous, blood-lusting Muslim who can reach the area is flocking to join ISIS and participate in the killing spree.
This is no longer an issue for Iraq alone to deal with. The entire planet has a solemn responsibility to deal swiftly with ISIS and to neutralize their threat to all civilized people.
That the world sits and watches is the epitome of shame and an indelible blight on humanity." images from Catholic Online
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March 26, 2015 Newsweek cover, "Targeting Christians":
Newsweek cover, 3/26/2015, "The New Exodus: Christians Flee ISIS in the Middle East" by
It is good that the media is FINALLY starting to notice the persecution of Christian and other minorities, but this column tries to distort the picture in Israel by lumping in Israeli Christians with non-Israeli Christians living in the disputed territories. Israeli Christians have the most rights and securities of any Christians in the region and it is the only Christian community that is actually growing in size in the region. The article attributes the diminishing Arab Christian community in the territories to generalized "violence" and "conflict" rather to persecution by Muslim extremists. Most mainstream news outlets stubbornly refuse to confront the full depth of Muslim radicalism."· March 29 at 6:05am
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"“Dogs were eating the bodies of the dead,” said Haji Khedev Haydev, 65, who ran through the lines of Islamic State jihadists surrounding it....On Thursday alone, up to 100,000 Iraqi Christians fled their homes."
8/10/2014, "Iraq crisis: 'It is death valley. Up to 70 per cent of them are dead'," UK Telegraph, Jonathan Krohn, aboard Iraqi Army helicopter on Mount Sinjar
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