The Mass Media | Matthew Reiad | Nov. 1, 2019
In history classes, we are often taught about atrocious genocides that have occurred all over the world. The Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust are such examples. A genocide is defined as, “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.” When anyone dares to question the historical legitimacy of a particular genocide, these people are rightfully condemned for their ignorance. In the Middle East, there is a modern-day genocide of Christians and those who convert out of Islam. Many of these targeted attacks are coordinated by governments, individuals, and extremist groups, representing a collective effort to exterminate Christians from the Middle East.
The Archbishop of Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan (the major church in Iraq), was interviewed by the BBC in May of 2019. “Christianity in Iraq,” he said, “one of the oldest Churches, if not the oldest Church in the world, is perilously close to extinction. Those of us who remain must be ready to face martyrdom.” The Archbishop continued by condemning the western response to the continued ignorance of the near extinction of Christians in the Middle East. “The archbishop went on to accuse Britain’s Christian leaders of ‘political correctness’ over the issue – he called the failure to condemn extremism ‘a cancer,’” saying they were not speaking out loudly enough for fear of being accused of “Islamophobia.”