A book that relates the untold story of the murder of 45 million Christians in the 20th century alone has caused controversy in Italy. The author of The New Persecuted: Inquiries into Anti-Christian Intolerance in the New Century of Martyrs, Antonio Socci, has been accused of "demonizing Islam" by raising the issue of Christian suffering in the Muslim world.

Socci provides evidence that in the past 2,000 years some 70 million Christians have been killed primarily or exclusively for the reason of their faith, two-thirds in the past 100 years alone, with Joseph Stalin as the chief culprit. He says that an average of 160,000 Christians have been killed every year since 1990, the vast majority by Muslims in the Third World. Chronicling attacks, pogroms and wars in East Timor, Indonesia, Sudan, Egypt, Pakistan, India, and the Balkans, Socci identifies Islamic extremism as the main danger. And yet, says he, "This global persecution of Christianity is still in progress but in most cases is ignored by the mass media and Christians in the west."

Western indifference to Christian suffering, documented by Antonio Socci, is well illustrated by the recent standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one of the holiest Christian sites in the Holy Land, which was re-consecrated last month after being occupied by Arab gunmen and besieged by the Israeli army for 38 days. While extensively covered because of its photogenic value and its potential for further bloodshed, the stand-off has caused hardly a ripple in the Western world on what should be the obvious grounds for media scrutiny and public concern: the misuse and abuse of a Christian shrine by warring non-Christians in pursuit of their political objectives. The Bethlehem episode is thus illustrative of two parallel processes overlooked in the current Middle Eastern crisis: the apparently terminal decline of the Christian remnant in the Middle East after two millennia of precarious and mostly painful existence, and the remarkable indifference of the post-Christian Western world to its impending demise.

Already by their choice of the stage for what soon became a propaganda exercise the Muslim gunmen who occupied the church desecrated the basilica built on the site of the grotto where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born. They ate the food they found on the premises until it ran out, while more than 150 civilians went hungry. They consumed alcoholic drinks that they found in priests' quarters, undeterred by the Islamic ban on drinking alcohol. They tore up Bibles up for toilet paper. They turned one corner of the ancient church into an impromptu mosque. They even attempted to bury seven of their comrades, who were subsequently killed by Israeli snipers, inside the church or on its grounds -- obviously intending to turn one of the holiest Christian shrines into a place of Islamic pilgrimage to the fallen "martyrs."

Two weeks before the siege of the Church of the Nativity, as Israeli forces stormed into Bethlehem, an Israeli tank shell hit the facade of the nearby Holy Family Church, in a complex with an orphanage, hospital and hostel. The soldiers then fired, from fifty yards' distance, at the statue of the Virgin atop the Holy Family Church. The statue lost its left arm and its face was disfigured. The Israeli army expressed regret and promised investigation, but this did not look like an accidental shot: no terrorist could possibly hide behind the figure on the pinnacle of the hospital church. The story was reported by Reuters, and a picture taken by an AP photographer. It was available to the world media but ignored.

These two incidents illustrate the predicament of the dwindling Christian remnant in the Middle East. Once thriving Christian communities are now minorities squeezed between the warring Jews and Muslims who may hate each other but all too often share their aversion to Christianity. Institutionalized or covert discrimination to which Christians are subjected in Syria, Israel, Egypt, and Lebanon, accompanied by occasional eruptions of anti-Christian violence by the Muslim majority in the last two countries, have contributed to an exodus that threatens to eradicate the believers in Christ in the lands of his birth and life. (Excerpted from Chronicles Magazine)

Source : http://www.traditio.com/com.htm

There are couple of things that I often question. Why does a powerful nation like America keeps silent on this issue ? Where is the Human Rights Commission ? Why the world media ignores the truth ? Moreover, why does the Catholic Church [Vatican City] remains calm on these issues ?

Your opinions are requested.

Peace

-- Xavier (crusaders_warship@yahoo.com), December 10, 2002

Answers

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-- X (crusaders_warship@yahoo.com), December 10, 2002.

I f I could turn back time, and change things, I would have kept our nation out of the mideast troubles. Those people were fighting for hundreds of years before George Washington was born. That man warned us, to stay out of foreign entanglements. How right he was!.

-- ed Richards (loztra@yahoo.com), December 10, 2002.

just for reference, does anyone know how many MUSLIMS were killed by the christians over there in the middle east since 1990? I really want to know.

-- Luke Smith (skywalcore@hotmail.com), December 13, 2002.

Jmj

Hello, Luke.
Your question is an incomplete one. So that it could be compared to the huge numbers mentioned above (of Christians killed by Moslems), you must ask your question this way: "does anyone know how many MUSLIMS were killed for religious reasons by the christians over there in the middle east since 1990?"

The answer is, "Few, if any," for religious reasons. All or nearly all Moslems killed by Christians in the "Middle East" since 1990 have lost their lives either because they were terrorists or because they invaded and occupied a sovereign nation (Kuwait).

Hello, Xavier. After the article you copied, you asked some questions:
"Why does a powerful nation like America keep silent on this issue?"
[The U.S. government has not "ke[pt] silent" about some aspects of what you mentioned. It has spoken out against anti-Christian atrocities in Timor, Sudan, and some other places. However, the government has not said enough. Part of the reticence may be ignorance of the facts (i.e., the gravity of the situation in some nations). Part of it may be due to political fears (e.g., loss of voting support from American Moslems). Part of it may be due to economic fears (e.g., difficulty in trade, obtaining Asian oil). Part of it may be due to a wish to prevent vigilante actions or even a civil war (among religions in America).]

"Where is the Human Rights Commission?"
[The U.N. Commission? I don't know. You could probably find out by doing some research on the Internet.]

"Why the world media ignores the truth?"
[My suspicions: (1) many in the media are anti-Christian ... (2) many in the media are cowards, fearing murder and destruction of their people and facilities by Moslem terrorists ... (3) most of the media are political ultra-liberals, the kind of people who ironically tend to blame victims and to find excuses for evildoers.]

"Moreover, why does the Catholic Church [Vatican City] remains calm on these issues?"
[What good would it do not to remain calm? The Church has been victimized by criminals since the time of the Roman pagans. What is happening is nothing new. The Church does not have armed battalions to back up loud complaints. She has learned that accurate condemnations and quiet diplomacy are her weapons. You may think that the Vatican has been silent about Christians being murdered everywhere by Moslems, but that is definitely not the case. The pope, his spokesmen, and the local bishops have spoken out in condemnation. However, the Vatican does not have a gigantic, wealthy "public relations" office that is capable of getting the news plastered all over the media. Even when the Church speaks out loudly, she is often ignored by the news services.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 15, 2002.

I want to expand on two things I mentioned ...

I stated: "many in the media are cowards, fearing murder and destruction of their people and facilities by Moslem terrorists ..."
They also fear loss of access to Moslem nations and leaders, which equates to a loss of viewers, which equates to a loss of the "almighty dollar."

I also stated: "The Church ... has learned that accurate condemnations and quiet diplomacy are her weapons."
Even more important weapons are her prayer and trust in God.

JFG

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 15, 2002.