TIME TO STOP IGNORING GENOCIDE
The persecution of Christians that so many seem reluctant to talk about was brought home on one of the holiest days yesterday, Palm Sunday, when cowardly Islamic State terrorists in Egypt bombed two Coptic churches, killing at least 43 worshippers.
The Copts are one of the most ancient Christian people living in the Middle East, but many thousands have been massacred or driven out by ISIS fanatics. This latest attack is certain to continue to drive more Copts out. But the world political community, especially the United Nations and the United States, has stood by idly for years, doing nothing to protect Christians from radical Islamists.
The Easter season is the holiest and truly most reflective period in the Christian faith, when our values and beliefs are foremost on our mind, messages I have heard stressed by Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis. But I wonder why so many good people of faith largely ignore entreaties to act from our world religious leaders.
John Paul II knew of what he spoke. He lived through Poland’s Nazi occupation, and after that the ruthless communist — and atheist — Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. I’ve heard all the Orthodox patriarchs from Turkey, Serbia and Russia as well as many Jewish religious leaders from throughout the Middle East, Europe and Israel talk about political vigilance. The horrors faced by Christians and Jews is a major part of their history, which they can never forget.
But with the news about the murder of Coptic Christians — along with other horrendous events recently like the deadly chemical bombings of children in Syria, rapes of young girls, bombings of churches and torture of Catholics — I have been deeply concerned about this silence in America. Our political parties seem more concerned with playing gotcha on each other than addressing a modern-day genocide.
We were taught by our parents and Church that Easter is the Season of Hope. But it’s also the Season of Faith. It’s time for people of faith and love to come together and reflect on our values and religious beliefs and demand that they be reflected in our nation’s public policies. We constantly see partisan ideologues angrily sniping at each other on TV, while the national media inflames this division. It’s really time for decent people of goodwill to get involved and be “faithful citizens,” as I heard Pope John Paul II so often say.
Has our country changed that much that the traditional values of faith and family on which our country was founded upon are no longer important? We owe it to our children and our country to speak out not in an angry, selfserving and partisan way, but with a united and unafraid voice that promotes the common good for all Americans, not just the elite and powerful.
Maybe this Easter season can be a season to hope again.