How the Islamic World was Forged: An Exercise in Common Sense

"That there are still millions of Christians in Egypt (approximately 10% of the population)�is not proof of Islam�s tolerance but rather its intolerance." 

by Raymond Ibrahim, FrontPage Magazine � August 31, 2015

What made non-Muslims convert to Islam, leading to the creation of the Islamic world?

Early historical sources�both Muslim and non-Muslim�make clear that the Islamic empire was forged by the sword; that people embraced Islam, not so much out of sincere faith, but for a myriad of reasons�from converting in order to enjoy the boons of being on the �winning team� to converting in order to evade the dooms of being on the �losing team.�

Modern day Muslims and other apologists�primarily in academia, government, and mainstream media�reject this idea.  They argue that the non-Muslims who embraced Islam did so from sheer conviction; that the ancestors of today�s 1.5 billion Muslims all converted to Islam due to its intrinsic appeal; that the modern day coercion and persecution committed by the Islamic State and other organizations is an aberration.

Of course, as mentioned, the primary texts of history are full of anecdotes demonstrating the opposite.  However, because ours is an increasingly ahistorical society, in this essay I endeavor to show that sheer common sense alone validates what history records, namely, that the Islamic world and its populace was forged through violent coercion.

To do so, I will use Egypt�one of the most important Muslim majority nations and my ancestral homeland�as a paradigm.  I will show how a historic fact that Islam�s apologists habitually boast of�that there are still millions of Christians in Egypt (approximately 10% of the population)�is not proof of Islam�s tolerance but rather its intolerance.

��

In the 7th century, when Islam was being formulated, Egypt had been Christian for centuries,[1] before most of Europe had converted.  Alexandria was one of the most important ecclesiastical centers of ancient Christian learning and, along with Rome and Antioch, one of the original three sees.[2]  Much literary and ongoing archaeological evidence attest to the fact that Christianity permeated the whole of Egypt.

Writing around the year 400�roughly two-and-a-half centuries before the Arab invasion�John Cassian, a Christian monk from the region of modern day Romania, observed that

the traveler from Alexandria in the north to Luxor in the south would have in his ears along the whole journey, the sounds of prayers and hymns of the monks, scattered in the desert, from the monasteries and from the caves, from monks, hermits, and anchorites.[3]

And in recent times, both the oldest parchment to contain words from the Gospel (dating to the 1st century) and the oldest image of Christ were discovered in separate regions of Egypt.

Possibly oldest known image of Christ, found in Egypt and dating to the 1st century

The question now becomes: what made such an ancient and heavily Christian nation become Islamic?  More specifically, what made the ancestors of today�s Egyptian Muslims�most of who were Coptic Christians�convert to Islam?

For an objective answer to this question, a completely overlooked factor must be considered.

��

In the 7th century, when Muslim Arabs overran Egypt, and on into the medieval era, religion was not something to be casually adhered to or changed as it is today in the West.  People of that era were true believers; there was no alternative narrative�no so-called �science vs God� claims.

Whatever religion a person was born into was accepted with absolute conviction�despite the many movies that project modernity onto Medieval Christians. (Thus the focal character of Kingdom of Heaven, Balian, and all other Christian protagonists reject the �fanatical Christians� and exhibit a more open, tolerant, and �nuanced� view on religion, including Islam.  Such depictions are anachronisms with little grounding in history.)

In Medieval Europe, the truths of Christianity were etched into the minds of all, from youth on up.  There was no doubt�because there was no alternative.  As historian of Medieval Europe and the Crusades Thomas Madden puts it:

[T]he medieval world was not the modern world. For medieval people, religion was not something one just did at church. It was their science, their philosophy, their politics, their identity, and their hope for salvation. It was not a personal preference but an abiding and universal truth.

In this context, to apostatize, to leave the Christian faith, especially for another creed, was the most unthinkable of all transgressions against one�s own soul�a sin that would lead to eternal damnation.

�God wills it!� Typical depictions of �hypocritical�

crusaders in Kingdom of Heaven

It was of course the same with Muslims.  The point here is that pre-modern man took the religion of his people, his tribe, his world, very seriously�especially when such religions taught that failure to do so, or worse, to willingly apostatize, would lead to eternal hell.

Put differently, even if Islam offered intrinsic appeal, the idea that pre-modern Christians were �free� to choose to convert�free of guilt, free of fear, free of existential trauma�is anachronistic and thus implausible.

Again, Western man, who lives in an era when people change religions as often as they change shoes, may have great difficulty in fully appreciating this idea.   But it is true nonetheless.

After writing that �Christians saw crusades to the east as acts of love and charity, waged against Muslim conquerors in defense of Christian people and their lands,� Madden correctly observes:

It is easy enough for modern people to dismiss the crusades as morally repugnant or cynically evil.  Such judgements, however, tell us more about the observer than the observed.  They are based on uniquely modern (and, therefore, Western) values.  If, from the safety of our modern world, we are quick to condemn the medieval crusader, we should be mindful that he would be just as quick to condemn us [regarding our values and priorities]�.  In both societies, the medieval and the modern, people fight for what is most dear to them.[4]

��

If Europeans were this dedicated to Christianity in the medieval era, what of the Copts of Egypt who were Christian many centuries earlier?  Indeed, according to some historical sources, Egypt�s ancient Christians may have been especially tenacious in their zeal.

What, then, made them convert to Islam in mass is the question before us?

Is it plausible to believe that the primitive Muslim conquerors of Egypt did not discriminate against its indigenous Christians or pressure them to convert to Islam (even as Muslims do so now in the �enlightened� modern era)?

Is it true, to quote Georgetown University professor John Esposito, that Christians �were free to practice their faith to worship and be governed by their religious leaders and laws in such areas as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. In exchange, they were required to pay tribute, a poll tax (jizya) that entitled them to Muslim protection from outside aggression and exempted them from military service.� (Rebuttal to this assertion here.)

A "subdued and humiliated" dhimmi pays the jizya. Note all the Muslims are armed,
with an axe right in front of the pasha. The threat is clear.

And yet, though left in peace and unpressured, Egypt�s original Christians found the new creed of sword-swinging, camel-riding  Arabs so intrinsically appealing that they willingly apostatized in mass from the religion of their forefathers�a religion that was so fundamental to their being, albeit in a way modern man cannot comprehend?

In fact, common sense suggests that nothing less than extremely severe circumstances and hardships�persecution�prompted the Copts to convert to Islam.

��

Of course, for the historian who reads the primary sources�as opposed to the mainstream works of fiction being peddled as �history� by the likes of Karen Armstrong and others�the above exercise in common sense is superfluous.

For the primary sources make clear that, while Egypt�s Copts acquiesced to dhimmi status�constantly paying large sums of extortion money and accepting life as third class subjects with few rights simply to remain Christian�bouts of extreme persecution regularly flared up.  And with each one, more and more Christians converted to Islam in order to find relief.[5]

One telling example: in Muslim historian Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi�s (d. 1442) authoritative history of Egypt, anecdote after anecdote is recorded of Muslims burning churches, slaughtering Christians, and enslaving their women and children.  The only escape then�as it is increasingly today�was for Christians to convert to Islam.

After recording one particularly egregious bout of persecution, where countless Christians were slaughtered, enslaved, and raped, and where reportedly some 30,000 churches in Egypt and Syria were destroyed�a staggering number that further indicates how Christian the Near East was before Islam�the pious Muslim historian makes clear why Christians converted: �Under these circumstances a great many Christians became Muslims� (emphasis added).[6]

Alongside these times of extreme persecution, the entrenched dhimmi system saw the increasingly impoverished Egyptian people slowly convert to Islam over the centuries, so that today only 10% remain Christian.

Consider the words of Alfred Butler, a 19th century historian writing before political correctness came to dominate academia.  In The Arab Conquest of Egypt, he highlights the �vicious system of bribing the Christians into conversion�:

[A]lthough religious freedom was in theory secured for the Copts under the capitulation, it soon proved in fact to be shadowy and illusory. For a religious freedom which became identified with social bondage and with financial bondage could have neither substance nor vitality.  As Islam spread, the social pressure upon the Copts became enormous, while the financial pressure at least seemed harder to resist, as the number of Christians or Jews who were liable for the poll-tax [jizya] diminished year by year, and their isolation became more conspicuous. . . . [T]he burdens of the Christians grew heavier in proportion as their numbers lessened [that is, the more Christians converted to Islam, the more the burdens on the remaining few grew]. The wonder, therefore, is not that so many Copts yielded to the current which bore them with sweeping force over to Islam, but that so great a multitude of Christians stood firmly against the stream, nor have all the storms of thirteen centuries moved their faith from the rock of its foundation.[7]

��

The reader will bear in mind that although the above exposition concerns Egypt, the same paradigm applies to the rest of conquered Christian lands.  Today the whole of North Africa is reportedly 99% Muslim�yet few are aware that it was Christian majority in the 7th century when Islam invaded.  St. Augustine�arguably the father of Western Christian theology�hailed from modern day Algeria.

Thus it is not an exaggeration to say that �the Islamic world� would be a fraction of its size, or might not exist at all, were it not for the fact that non-Muslims converted to Islam simply to evade oppression and persecution.  Once all these Christians converted to Islam, all their progeny became Muslim in perpetuity, thanks to Islam�s apostasy law, which bans Muslims from leaving Islam on pain of death.  Indeed, according to Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a leading cleric in the Muslim world, �If the [death] penalty for apostasy was ignored, there would not be an Islam today; Islam would have ended on the death of the prophet.�

Bloodied gate of Coptic Christian church in Egypt,

one of many dozens to be attacked in recent years.

Which leads to one of Islam�s most bitterest of ironies: a great many of today�s Christians, especially those in the Arab world, are being persecuted by Muslims whose own ancestors were persecuted Christians who converted to Islam to end their own suffering. In other words, Muslim descendants of persecuted Christians are today persecuting their Christian cousins�and thus perpetuating the cycle that made them Muslim in the first the place.

The long and short of all this is simple: Past and present, Islam has been a religion of coercion.[8]   More than half of the territory that once made up Christendom�including Egypt, Syria, Turkey, North Africa�converted to Islam due to bouts of extreme violence and ongoing financial bleeding.  The Islamic State and like organizations and Muslims around the world are not aberrations but continuations.  The violence, intolerance and coercion they exhibit�pressuring Christians to convert to Islam, compelling Muslims to remain in Islam�created and sustains what is today called the Islamic world.

Not only do we have a plethora of original source material proving these conclusions, but sheer common sense demonstrates as much.

��

NOTES:

[1] St. Mark began evangelizing Egypt in the middle of the 1st century.

[2] That two of the three original sees of Christianity originated in what are now two Muslim nations�Egypt and Turkey�further speaks to the Christian nature of the Middle East before the Islamic invasions.

[3] Abba Anthony, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Saint Anthony Monastery, March 2014, issue #3, p.6).

[4] Thomas Madden, The New Concise History of the Crusades (NY: Barnes and Noble, 2007), 223.

[5] As Muslims grew in numbers over the centuries in Egypt, so did persecution (according to Islam�s Rule of Numbers), culminating in the immensely oppressive Mameluke era (1250-1517), when Coptic conversion to Islam grew exponentially.

[6] Taqi Ed-Din El-Maqrizi, A Short History of the Copts and Their Church, trans. S. C. Malan (London: D. Nutt, 1873), 88-91.

[7] Alfred Butler, The Arab Invasion of Egypt and the Last 30 Years of Roman Dominion (Brooklyn: A & B Publishers, 1992), 464. One of the major themes throughout Butler�s book�which, first published in 1902, is heavily based on primary sources, Arabic and Coptic, unlike more modern secondary works that promote the Islamic �liberator� thesis�is that �there is not a word to show that any section of the Egyptian nation viewed the advent of the Muslims with any other feeling than terror� (p. 236):

Even in the most recent historians it will be found that the outline of the story [of the 7th century conquest of Egypt] is something as follows: �. that the Copts generally hailed them [Muslims] as deliverers and rendered them every assistance; and that Alexandria after a long siege, full of romantic episodes, was captured by storm.  Such is the received account.  It may seem presumptuous to say that it is untrue from beginning to end, but to me no other conclusion is possible. [pgs. iv-v]

Butler and other politically incorrect historians were and are aware of the savage and atrocity-laden nature of the Islamic conquests.  The Coptic chronicler, John of Nikiu, a contemporary of the Arab conquest of Egypt and possibly an eyewitness, wrote:

Then the Muslims arrived in Nikiu [along the Nile]� seized the town and slaughtered everyone they met in the street and in the churches�men, women, and children, sparing nobody.  Then they went to other places, pillaged and killed all the inhabitants they found�.  But let us say no more, for it is impossible to describe the horrors the Muslims committed�

Not, of course, that the average Muslim is aware of this fact. Indeed, in 2011 the Egyptian Muslim scholar Fadel Soliman published a book that was well received and widely promoted in the Islamic world, including by Al Jazeera, entitled Copts: Muslims Before Muhammad.  The book makes the ahistorical and anachronistic�in a word, the absurd�argument that Egypt�s 7th century Christians were really prototypical Muslims and that that is why Arabia�s Muslims came to �liberate� them from �oppressive� Christian rule.

[8] If not in theory, certainly in practice.   See �Islamic Jihad and the Doctrine of Abrogation.�

��

RAYMOND IBRAHIM is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam specialist.  His books include Crucified Again: Exposing Islam�s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007). His writings, translations, and observations have appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, CNN, LA Times, Fox News, Financial Times, Jerusalem Post, New York Times Syndicate, United Press International, USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Weekly Standard; scholarly journals, including the Almanac of Islamism, Chronicle of Higher Education, Jane�s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Middle East Quarterly, and Middle East Review of International Affairs; and popular websites... continue reading...

5 Middle East Churches That Could Cease to Exist If Islamic State Influence Continues to Spread

A high-level overview of five of the local Christian Church communions most severely threatened by the 21st-century resurgence of pure Islam. 

Coptic Icon of Jesus Christ, Pantocrator

The below article is a welcome contribution to the education of American Protestants and Evangelicals, some of whom do not consider Eastern Christians of any kind to be true Christians. This is also a great help for us in our daily prayers for those being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. 

At the same time, it must be noted that the thumbnail sketches in the Christian Post article below concerning non-Chalcedonian Christology do not do justice to the theology of these "Oriental" churches. Further reading for an expanded understanding of this issue is highly recommended.

Therefore, immediately below are links to related articles which explore in far greater depth the question over the "non-Chalcedonian" Christian Churches.

_______

THE NON-CHALCEDONIAN CHURCHES:

Regarding the division which occurred after the Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451, and recent efforts to examine anew the faith of the non-Chalcedonian churches, see the following:

• RECENT EFFORTS FOR UNITY BETWEEN THE TWO FAMILIES OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH - Coptic.net
• VARIOUS DOCUMENTS CONCERNING EASTERN ORTHODOX AND ORIENTAL ORTHODOX JOINT COMMISSION AND UNITY - Orthodox Joint Commission
• Beyond Dialogue: The Quest for Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Unity Today - Rev. John Erickson, Dean, St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

The report at Coptic.net linked above begins with this statement:

Since 451, at the Council of Chalcedon,  there has been a division within the Orthopdox [sic] Church due to different Christological terminology. In recent times, members  of the Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches  have met together coming to a clear understanding that both  families have always loyally maintained the same authentic Orthodox Christological faith, and the unbroken  continuity of  the apostolic tradition, though they may have used Christological terms in different ways. It is this common faith and continuous loyality [sic] to the apostolic tradition  that has been the basis of the conversations held over the last two decades towards unity and communion.

For a traditionalist Orthodox response to recent dialogues between Orthodox and non-Chalcedonian churches, see:

• Eastern Orthodoxy and "Oriental Orthodoxy" - Orthodox Christian Information Center

As for my own view of the non-Chalcedonian question, I give thanks to God for all things, even for our sufferings and for this new age of global Christian persecution, for it enables each one of us to confess Jesus Christ, and to prove our love for Him and our faith in Him. Regardless of semantic differences in the theological expression of our faith in Jesus Christ, we are united at the very least by a communion of blood, a communion of the Cross, a communion of martyrdom.

See also:

• What is an Assyrian Christian?
• What is an Armenian Christian?

_______

5 Middle East Churches That Could Cease to Exist If Islamic State Influence Continues to Spread
Christian Post via Pravmir � August 24, 2015

There are Christian churches throughout the Middle East that trace their roots back to the time of the apostles that could cease to exist if Islamic State and other radical Muslim groups continue to gain control of more territory in the region.

The Islamic State Caliphate: Darkness falls across the Middle
East, North Africa, Central Asia, and on into Europe.

Author George J. Marlin, who is also chairman of the Board of Aid to the Church in Need USA, recently released a book titled Christian Persecutions in the Middle East, which not only discusses the growing threat to believers in the region, but also provides the history of many of the churches that have existed in the Middle East since the time of the apostles that could now be facing extinction at the hands of Muslim extremists.

Listed below are five of those churches.

1. The Syrian Orthodox Church

The Syrian Orthodox Church came into its modern formation when Syrian Christians rejected decrees made by the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Western Christian Churches at the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. The Council acknowledged that Christ has two natures, divine and human, which come together in one person.

(PHOTO: REUTERS/MAJED JABER. Jordanian Christian clerics hold a mass at the Syriac Orthodox Church in Amman, May 21, 2013.

In an attempt to hold onto their beliefs about Christ, which state that He is one nature of full humanity and full divinity, Syrian Christians regrouped under their own bishops and broke away from the established church.

The Syrian Orthodox Church traces its origins back to the church of Antioch found in the New Testament and considers St. Paul its first Bishop. The head of the Syrian Orthodox Church today is known as the �Patriarch of the God-protected City of Antioch and of all the Domain of the Apostolic Throne.� He is elected by fellow bishops and must be celibate. The patriarch resides in Damascus and the church has archdioceses in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Palestine.

Today, the Syrian Orthodox Church has 5 million members worldwide.

2. The Coptic Orthodox Church

The Coptic Orthodox Church � Coptic meaning Egyptian � traces its roots back to A.D. 42 when St. Mark the Apostle first brought Christianity to Egypt. Monophysitism, the belief that Christ has a single divine nature, first took root in Egypt and was embraced by the head of the church and patriarch of Alexandria, Dioscorus.

Coptic bishop surveys church in Minya, destroyed by Muslims.

His teachings were condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, leaving many Egyptian believers separated from Catholic and other Orthodox churches.

The Coptic Orthodox church continues to be operated today under the leadership of its patriarch, formally known as �The Most Holy Father and Patriarch of the great city of Alexandria and of all Egypt, of Nubia, Ethiopia and the Pentapolis, and of all places where St. Mark preached.� He is elected by the church�s bishops and must be celibate, abstain from meat and fish for life, and be over 50 years old.

The church�s membership has eroded significantly since the conquest of Egypt by Muslim Arabs in A.D. 640 and Coptic Orthodox Christians are now a persecuted minority in the region.

3. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Church fathers at the Council of Chalcedon decided that Jerusalem should be elevated from being a diocesan see to patriarchate because of its significance to the birth of the Christian faith. The decision led to the reorganization of 60 diocese in the region that now come under the jurisdiction of a Jerusalem patriarch.

PHOTO: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD. Members of the Greek Orthodox clergy await the arrival of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Metropolitan Theophilos before the washing of the feet ceremony outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem�s Old City, April 9, 2015, ahead of Orthodox Easter.

The city flourished as a Christian hub until Arabs conquered the city in A.D. 637. During this period, Christian monasteries and churches were destroyed while much of the population converted to Islam.

European Crusaders took back the land in 1099 and appointed a Latin patriarch. But when Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria reconquered Jerusalem in 1187, the Latin patriarch serving at that time fled.

The Ottoman Turks took control of the city in 1516 and Constantinople, the former capital of the Byzantine Empire, re-established itself in Jerusalem, which led to the selection of Greek patriarchs in the region.

Today, the Orthodox Church controls many of the holy sites in Jerusalem. Patriarch His Beatitude Theosophilos III has headed the church since 2005 and he resides in Jerusalem where he oversees the affairs of the church�s 130,000 members.

4. Melkites (Melkite Greek Catholic Church)

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church was originally comprised of Christians from Alexandria, Antioch and Syria that complied with the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. The Church also traces its origins back to the New Testament Antioch church.

PHOTO: REUTERS/MUHAMMAD HAMED. Christians take part in a candlelight march and prayed for peace in Gaza, Jordan, and in the Arab region, at the Greek Orthodox Church, in Al-Fuheis near Amman August 11, 2014.

Melkite, a term which derives from the Syriac word for king, was originally used to describe Christians in the Middle East who embraced the Christology of the Council of Chalcedon.

After the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox schism of 1054, many Orthodox believers in Antioch looked to re-establish communion with Rome and in 1729, the churches were reunited under the Councils of Reunion.

The Melkite title was then reserved for members of the Antioch Orthodox who were reunited with Rome. The Melkite Church is headed by a patriarch who is elected by its bishops. His election must be confirmed by the Vatican and the leader currently resides in Damascus. There are around 1.2 million Melkite Catholics worldwide and most of them reside in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

5. The Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church descended from the remnant of Nestorian Christians or believers who followed the teachings of former Constantinople Patriarch Nestorius that were contested by the Council of Chalcedon who resided in what is now modern-day Iraq.

PHOTO: REUTERS/AHMED SAAD. Iraqi Christians attend mass at Mar George Chaldean Church in Baghdad, March 1, 2015. Iraqi Christians say they have no intention of leaving the country despite the recent abduction of over 100 Assyrian Christians by the Islamic State.

After the mass slaughter of Christians in the region at the hands of the Mongols, a family of believers who passed down the office of patriarch for generations governed those who had survived.

John Sulaka, an abbot at a Nestorian monastery opposed the established patriarch and sought to have communion with Rome by traveling there in 1551. He was ordained as a bishop by the Catholic Church and upon his return, he set up a new patriarch affirmed by the pope.

Sulaka, who had taken on the new name Simon VIII, was captured and killed in 1555 by the Pasha of Amadya, and for the next few centuries the Chaldeans fell into chaos.

In 1830 under Pope Pius VIII, however, they were brought into full communion with Rome and a new patriarch was established who resided in modern day Mosul, Iraq. Today, there are 18 Chaldean dioceses in the Middle East with 10 of them being located in Iraq. The patriarch was moved to Baghdad after World War II and its 500,000 members are mostly comprised of Assyrians.

For more information on churches that have roots in the Middle East that are now facing the threat of radical Islam read George J. Marlin�s book Christian Persecutions in the Middle East.

New-Martyr Mary the Copt

The below account of the martyrdom of Mary Sameh George, by Raymond Ibrahim, highlights three important details:

• Mary kept a cross hanging from her rearview mirror in her car, a quiet, visible confession of her faith in Jesus Christ, in spite of living in Egypt, a country where Christians routinely suffer persecution from their Muslim neighbors.

• Mary put herself in harm's way to deliver medicine to a sick, elderly woman near her church, thus fulfilling Christ's words, "I was sick, and you visited me" (MT 25:36).

• Mary did not fear those who can only kill the body, but cannot touch the soul (cf. MT 10:28).

Now her pure soul is with Christ:

�These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (REV 7:14)

Let us pray for our brothers and sisters being persecuted for the sake of Jesus Christ, and let us rouse ourselves to imitate the faithful witness of Mary and all the New Martyrs! Let us never deny our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, and let us prefer death rather than to commit apostasy and betray Him!

O Holy New-Martyr Mary, pray to God for us!


The Martyrdom of Mary Sameh George of Cairo
by Raymond Ibrahim � March 30, 2014

"Oh how lucky you are, Mary, you who are beloved of Christ.  They tore your body because of the Cross.  Yet they offered you the greatest service and gave you a name of honor as one who attained the crown of martyrdom."  

� Coptic Orthodox Bishop Raphaeil, Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church

On Friday, March 28, in Ain Shams, a suburb of Cairo, rioting Muslim Brotherhood supporters attacked the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church, including by opening fire on it and setting parked cars aflame.  Four people died.

One of the slain, a young Coptic woman, was savagely mauled and molested before being murdered�simply because her cross identified her as a Christian to the Brotherhood rioters.

According to an eyewitness who discussed the entire event on the Egyptian program, 90 Minutes, Mary Sameh George was parking by the church to deliver medicine to a sickly, elderly woman:

Once they saw that she was a Christian [because of the cross hanging on her rear view mirror], they jumped on top of the car, to the point that the vehicle was no longer visible. The roof of the car collapsed in. 

When they realized that she was starting to die, they pulled her out of the car and started pounding on her and pulling her hair�to the point that portions of her hair and scalp came off.  They kept beating her, kicking her, stabbing her with any object or weapon they could find�.  

Throughout [her ordeal] she tried to protect her face, giving her back to the attackers, till one of them came and stabbed her right in the back, near the heart, finishing her off.  Then another came and grabbed her by the hair, shaking her head, and with the other hand slit her throat.  Another pulled her pants off, to the point that she was totally naked.

The eyewitness, as well as many others who have since appeared on videos, complained about Egyptian State Security and how it did not intervene�just like under Morsi, when St. Mark Cathedral was besieged, even as security stood by�how it knows exactly who the murderers are, and how one of Mary�s murderers, whom �everyone reported to Security,� was simply relaxing in his home, not even hiding.

Added the eyewitness: �Let me tell you, here in Ain Shams, we [Christians] know that every Friday is a day of death; that the day after Friday, Saturday, we�ll be carried to the morgue!�

In fact, the overwhelming majority of attacks on Egypt�s Christians occur on Friday�the day when pious Muslims meet in mosque for prayers and to hear sermons.

[...]

Responding to this latest murder of a Christian, Coptic Bishop Raphaeil wrote:

Oh how lucky you are, Mary, you who are beloved of Christ.  They tore your body because of the Cross.  Yet they offered you the greatest service and gave you a name of honor as one who has attained the crown of martyrdom.

More poignantly, the bishop quoted Christ in the Bible, �Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service� (John 16:2)�a reference to the fact that the Muslims slaughtering the followers of Christ all around the world quite often believe they are doing God�s (or Allah�s) work.

Hence why anecdotes such as Friday�s are becoming immensely regular in the Muslim world. Indeed, only a few months ago, two other Coptic Christian girls � both also named �Mary� � were slain when Brotherhood supporters opened fire on yet another church.

Exposed: Egypt�s Institutionalized Persecution of Coptic Christians

Bishop Agathon concludes that �Copts are between a state anvil and aggressor hammers,� meaning that, the state serves only to keep its Christian citizens in place while Islamic radicals pound away at them.

by Raymond Ibrahim � May 4, 2015

In a 25-minute interview on Arabic satellite TV with Dr. Mona Roman, Coptic Christian Bishop Agathon fully exposed the plight of his Christian flock in Minya, Egypt�a region that has a large Coptic minority that is steadily under attack.

While several important points were made, most notable was that the Egyptian State itself is often behind the persecution of and discrimination against Christians.

According to the frustrated-sounding bishop, local governmental authorities�including the State Security apparatus�are not just ignoring the attacks on Copts, but are often the very ones behind them.   For example, when the Copts were having a serious council meeting with government officials about the possibility of building a church, one of the authorities actually contacted the Islamic sheikhs of the village asking whether they �stand with the Coptic church or with the State?�  If the latter, each Muslim household was instructed to send one family member to protest against the proposed building of a church�so that security can then point to the mob and, as usual, just tell the Copts, �Sorry, no can do.�

Other times, State Security is complicit: Male and female Christian minors�currently 21 from just Minya alone said the Coptic leader�are habitually abducted by surrounding Muslims.  At the moment, the youngest Christian girl abducted had just started elementary school.  Whenever any of these attacks occur, Copts, working with the church, prepare bundles of documents, including photos and other verifications, incriminating the culprits.  These then are placed into the hands of top officials, to make sure they don�t get �lost� or �misplaced� by underlings.  The bishop named many of these top people�at no small risk to himself�and said he even put such proofs and documents into the hands of the Director of Intelligence himself.  �Absolutely nothing was done,� said the despondent Christian.

He discussed the difficulties that Copts encounter whenever they want to build a church�due to their dearth, some of the current churches serve tens of thousands of Christians�or even make simple repairs.  By way of example, he explained how the Virgin Mary Church in Safaniya village has no bathrooms or running water.  Christians �tried time and time again to get approval to build bathrooms, to no avail.�  The bishop lamented how elderly and sick people sometimes urinate on themselves during service, while mothers must change their crying babies� diapers right on the pews.

In response, authorities told the bishop to �Go and ask the Muslims of your region if they will approve the building of a church, or bathroom, or anything�and if they do, so will we.�

It should be noted that Islamic law specifically bans the construction or repair of churches.

Clearly frustrated, the bishop added: �We as Copts are human beings.   And envy takes us when we see our Muslim brothers build mosques where they will, how they will, at any place and at any time.  And the State helps them!   But as for us, we cannot build anything and that which is already open is being closed�.  We, the Copts, are citizens with rights; and we see Muslims get whatever they want, while we are always prevented.�

The Coptic bishop also said that sometimes Christians are punished whenever they go and �bother� authorities about their treatment.  For example, when a Coptic delegation went to make a formal complaint, one of them was immediately kidnapped.  His kidnappers demanded and received 120,000 Egyptian pounds for his release.  Police were notified�even told where the exchange of money for hostage was to take place�but did absolutely nothing.  The bishop referred to this incident as a �punishment� while Dr. Roman, the Coptic hostess, called Minya, Egypt a �State of Retribution� against those Copts who dare refuse to suffer quietly,� adding, �Al-Minya is apparently not an Egyptian province; it is governed by ISIS.�

Finally, Bishop Agathon made clear the despondency he and the average Christian in Egypt feel, repeatedly saying that, no matter which official they talk to, �nothing will change.�  If anything, the plight of Egypt�s Christians has gone �from bad to worse,� said the bishop: �We hear beautiful words but no solution.�

Dr. Roman concluded by imploring Egyptian President Sisi, saying: �I�ve said it before: President Sisi is very meticulous and aware of the nation�s issues.  Why, then, is it that the Coptic plight in Minya is being ignored? Why is he turning a blind eye toward it?�

Bishop Agathon concluded by saying that �Copts are between a state anvil and aggressor hammers,� meaning that, the state serves only to keep its Christian citizens in place while Islamic radicals pound away at them.

Orthodox Patriarchs attend Opening Ceremony of �Against the Crime of Genocide� Global Forum

His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon represents the OCA at historic, symbolic event.

OCP Media, April 22, 2015

Pope Tawadros II addresses gathering; Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA at far right.

His Holiness Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II participated in the Opening Ceremony of �Against the Crime of Genocide� Global Forum. His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, the President of Armenia Mr. Serzh Sarkissian, Mr. Thornborn Jagland, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, and Prof. Daniel Feierstein, President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars spoke in the High Level Segment of the Opening Ceremony. 

The Opening Ceremony was also attended by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Coptic Patriarch and Pope of Alexandria, His Beatitude Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Raii and many representatives of Churches particularly from Russia, England, Jerusalem, Egypt, Zimbabwe, and Cyprus.

In the first panel consecrated for the religious leaders and dealing with the subject of the Genocide, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II opened the session with a prayers for the Coptic and Ethiopian martyrs of the massacres in Libya. His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II then spoke about the effects of a genocide and how the holy shrines, churches, monasteries, and cultural centers are destroyed in an attempt to eliminate any trace of the persecuted people or their culture.

He called the international community and people of good will to recognize the genocide, comparing it to the confession of sins, with its stages of confession, repentance and redemption. He emphasized that the condemnation of such crimes is essential for prevention of the like in the future. He also expressed his worries of the rise of new similar crimes especially in the Middle East, referring to the recent Coptic and Ethiopian massacres in Libya. In his talk, Pope Tawadros II spoke about remembering the martyrs and explained the meaning of martyrdom in the Church.

His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II asked the audience to pause in silence and prayer for the return of their Eminences Mor Gregorius Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, especially since today marks exactly 2 years since their abduction. He then spoke about the link between what happened 100 years ago during the Armenian Genocide and the Syriac Genocide Sayfo to the abduction of the archbishops, as the same will to exterminate a people whose only sin is being �courageous Christians�. His Holiness also condemned the killings of Copts and Ethiopians in Libya and the killing and abduction of Syriac-speaking Christians in Khabour, Syria. He concluded with the hope that the risen Lord gives us and an affirmation to stay in our homeland despite all persecutions.

His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai spoke about the difference between a legal and theologica debate about the Genocide. He called all to remember to restart anew, recognize that this is a genocide in order to avoid the like and confess the sin of killing in order to reach total repentance.

Letters were read from representatives of Patriarch of Russia Kyrill, Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilus III and Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II as well as short speeches by the Anglican Church Representative and the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Zimbabwe Seraphim.

In Pictures: Christian Churches Under Islam

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then here are 20,000 words to consider, courtesy of the indefatigable Raymond Ibrahim (originally posted April 7, 2015):

"As Orthodox Easter approaches � Orthodoxy being the most native form of Christianity practiced by the indigenous Christians of the Middle East � it is well to reflect on the status of post �Arab Spring� Christianity.  A sampling of the many ruined and destroyed churches follows:"

The purpose in viewing the entire gallery of devastation on Raymond's site, is to move us to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters suffering persecution throughout the Islamic world. I am the most slothful of all in this regard, so I ask your forgiveness...

Coptic Christians Celebrate Easter Outdoors Because Muslims Forbid Church Building

See also: Muslims Prevent Christians from Praying in Coptic Home

by Raymond Ibrahim, April 16, 2015

Due to the difficulties Egypt�s Coptic Christians experience in trying to build�or even repair�churches in their homeland, some end up meeting in Coptic homes to worship (and often are attacked for it), while others worship out in the open.

This was the case for the Christians of Nag Shenouda, in Sohag City.  For 44 years they have been trying to build a church to congregate in.  After decades they finally got some permits.

But then the next obstacle presented itself�the Muslim populace itself refused to allow the Copts to build a church (in direct accord with Islamic law) and even burned down the panoply the Christians had erected to worship under (different incident from this similar one).

Denied, the Christians of Nag Shenouda celebrated Easter last week in the street (see picture above).

Previously, the area�s Christians used to pray in a dilapidated old house.  The area�s Muslims would not even allow the Copts to repair the building�s roof to protect them from rain.  The dilapidated building was eventually removed before collapsing on the worshippers.

It should be noted that, as a gesture of goodwill, the Copts had earlier donated a piece of land to the local Muslims to build a mosque�under the belief that such goodwill would be reciprocated. The mosque was soon erected, even as the Christians wait in vain for a church.

Coptic Priest: Islamic Law Trumps Egyptian Law in Case of Martyr�s Church

"This is like a disease that will spread everywhere."

See all posts regarding the 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya

by Raymond Ibrahim, April 1, 2015

(Coptic Solidarity) According to a local priest and Coptic spokesman, last Friday�s assault on a Coptic Christian church proposed to be built, with President Sisi�s permission, to honor the 21 Coptic Christians who were slaughtered by the Islamic State in Libya, was all too typical and a reminder that Islamic Sharia sentiment continues to trump the sovereignty of the Egyptian state.  During an interview he said:

First, what happened is that, when we make a decision for the church but then cannot implement this decision [to build the church] because some of the Muslims do not want it, because they don�t want the church�this is, first and foremost, a failure of the state and its authority and a failure of the rule of law.  When a group comes to oppose [with violence, several Copts were injured], and the police leaves them free, this is like a disease that will spread everywhere. 

Today, for example, there is a decision, but there are say 3-4 Brotherhood or Salafis opposing it, and the government appears protesting with them�in this case, you have given everyone who wants to oppose [with violence] the opportunity to oppose.

A Panegyric in Praise of the 21 New Martyrs of Libya

"I come to you weeping. I do not weep on your account, for men who received crowns do not warrant sorrowful tears. I weep because of you. For when the light of your faith became manifest, my weakness became apparent before my eyes."

See all posts related to the 21 Coptic New Martyrs of Libya.

By Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Diocese of Los Angeles

February 24, 2015

Why did you not cry, pleading with those who are about to murder you, that they may free you? Why did you not acquiesce to their demands?

Did they not propose that you abandon your Christ? Wouldn�t they have had mercy on you had you accepted their religion?

Do you not fear death?! Whence did you acquire this courage?

What theological training did you obtain? From what seminary did you graduate? What monastery did you frequent? What clerical rank do you carry?

Tell me, how did you not resist death? I do not know your secret.

Did you see (Christ) transfigured? Perhaps you heard Him? Truly, I do not know. The only certainty is that when you decided to utter your last words, those sweet words were �Oh my Lord, Jesus Christ.�

I come to you weeping. I do not weep on your account, for men who received crowns do not warrant sorrowful tears. I weep because of you.

For when the light of your faith became manifest, my weakness became apparent before my eyes. And I realized that the veils of darkness do not obscure the vision of God. I realized that He searches the heart and the inner parts. I realized that He knows the faith that resides within each seemingly destitute and abandoned vessel. And I realized that I am not prepared or worthy of this gift which you have attained.

Intercede for us, O righteous men, that He may have mercy on us through your prayers. Ask Him that He may guide us on the way of your faith, so that we may come to know your mystery.

Translated by Dr. Mark Moussa

Mob of Muslims Violently Attack Church in Protest Against Memorial for Egyptian Martyrs

This Muslim mob has merely multiplied the glory of the 21 Holy New Coptic Martyrs of Libya, while at the same time proving the demonic core of Islam. 

At least six Coptic Christians wounded as armed mob storms church in Al-Our village, home to 13 of the martyrs executed by ISIS in Libya.

See also: All posts related to the 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya

by Todd Daniels, ICC with ICC's Egypt Representative 03/29/2015 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) � As the country prepared to mark the fortieth day since the release of a video showing the execution of 21 Christians by ISIS jihadists in Libya, the home village of 13 of the 20 Egyptian martyrs was again the focus of Islamic extremists. At least six cars from a surrounding village carrying more than twenty armed men arrived in Al-Our village as dark started to settle over the village of 5,000. These men joined joined a crowd of more than 100 locals from Al-Our and made their way to Virgin Mary Church, currently the only church for the towns nearly 2,500 Christians. �At 8 pm, a group of armed Muslim young men in six or seven cars from nearby villages stormed our village. Many Muslim fanatic young men joined those who came from the other nearby villages and attacked the church," Milad Nageh, of Al-Our told International Christian Concern (ICC). �They shot guns at the church and pelted the church with stones and blocks,� Milad said. �They smashed the sign of the church, destroying the ground of the church yard and breaking the windows of the service buildings of the church. They also burned a car that was parked in the front of the church.� It was not only those who came from the other villages, but many of the Muslims from Al-Our were involved as well. �The Muslims whose homes surrounded the church were throwing stones at the church from the roofs of their homes,� Milad said. �This attack on the church was arranged before because a truck loaded with cement blocks had unloaded all of their blocks in the front of a Muslim home nearby the church two days ago,� Milad told ICC on Saturday morning, March 28, from inside the Virgin Mary church. He and others from the church stayed awake all Friday night to help protect the church in case there was another attack. �We thought that these blocks would be used in construction of a building belonging to the owner of this home, but these blocks were prepared to attack the church,� Milad said. Calls for Protection Went Unanswered Church leaders were concerned after hearing threats that there would be protests from Muslims on Friday. Fr. Makar Issa, the priest of The Virgin Mary Church in Al-Our village told ICC, "On Thursday evening, March 26, I was informed that the next day, Friday there will be Islamic demonstrations in the village against us.� At the Mass on Friday morning, �Bishop Raphael who came from Cairo to take part in the prayer of the memorial of 40th day of our martyrs informed that some Muslims from the village and the other nearby villages will organize march in our village after their Friday noon prayer,� Milad said. �They were protesting the building of a new church and they intend to attack the Christians and the church.� Fr. Makar asked the community not deal with the demonstrators during their march in the streets of the village even if they tried to provoke, and asked the youth to remain in the church to protect it from any attack. �I called the police many times and asked them to come to guard us but they came late and after their arrival they didn't guard the church. They stopped in the entrance of the village. Even still they allowed the cars of the attackers to enter the village and attack us and the church without any intervention from them to protect us,� Fr. Makar said. "I charge the responsibility of what happened to the policemen,� Fr. Makar Issa continued, �and I accuse them accuse them of inaction, indifference and complicity." At least six Christians were wounded by the attackers, three of them suffering serious injuries. Martyrs� Families Attacked Again On Friday, March 27 the Virgin Mary Church in Al-Our held a mass to commemorate the Arbaieen, marking 40 days since the release of the video showing the beheading of the 21 Christians in Egypt. A larger service was to be held in Samalout city on Saturday, March 28. 13 of the 21 martyrs were from Al-Our village. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had declared that a church would be built in the village to commemorate them, but, as Ishak Ibrahim documents, even this had sparked a reaction of protest from some Egyptians. This overflowed on Friday, following the afternoon prayers at the mosques in the village. Demonstrators made their way through the streets chanting slogans against the church. They were chanting things like �Islamic, Islamic� and �By no means, no church will be built on this ground,� and �We will make the church on the ground,� Milad told ICC. They also made their way to the home Samuel Alham Wilson, one of the martyrs, and pelted it with stones and rocks. Bebawy Alham Wilson, the brother of the Martyr Samuel Alham Wilson, told ICC, "After the Muslim Friday noon prayers some Muslim young men attacked our home which located in the entrance of the village. During their march while I was alone in the home with the my wife, wives of my brothers, and my mother. My brothers were in the church at this time. The attackers attempted to storm my home, I hurried and locked the door and barred it. They then hurled stones at my home." After more than two hours of protesting and assaulting the Wilson home, three police cars arrived and deployed in the entrance of the village. �They set up in the front of the mosque of the village, not even going to guard the church," Milad told ICC. Then when more rioters came in the evening, the police again did almost nothing to prevent the attacks on the church, only after much of the damage had taken place did the disperse the crowd. �There is a situation of panic and fear among all of us here. We are afraid that more violent attacks will occur against us and the church after the departure of the security forces who are deployed across the village now," Malak Nageh Ishack, a resident in the village told ICC. "We gave the security forces names of 100 Muslim young men from the village who took part in attacking the church, but police men arrested only five of them and the rest of them are free,� he said. �The police asked us to stay in our homes, leaving the Muslim attackers free walking in the village streets,� Malak said, �plus we have received threats from the Muslims that they will attack us again after the security forces leave the village.� On Saturday, the diocese of Samalout held a large memorial service, presided over by Bishop Anba of Samalout and attended by many of the local leaders. The hall of the church was packed and the church yard was full, an estimated 3,000 watching the mass on screen. Absent, however, were many of the relatives of the 13 martyrs from Al-Our. �I couldn�t go to the Diocese of Samalout to attend the service for the 40th day of the Martyrs,� Beshir Stephanos Kemal, brother of the two martyrs Bishoy and Samuel, told ICC. �I had to stay to protect my home,� he said. Just 20 or 30 from Al-Our made the trip to Samalout to attend the service, mostly women and children, with the men staying behind fearing there may be more attacks. Local leaders from the Christian and Muslim communities are to hold customary �reconciliation meetings� to try to stem the tensions that sparked this latest round of violence. The Sisi government has made declarations to improve the status of Christians in Egypt, but the reality has hardly changed. For the families of the men martyred in Libya, these attacks serve as yet another reminder that it is not just ISIS abroad, but even in their home village in Egypt they face armed attackers who are hostile to them as Christians and the presence of the church. --- See also this story at PJMedia:  Muslim Mob Attacks Family of Coptic Christian Beheaded By ISIS in Libya

National Review: 'Heaven In The Face Of Hell'

The families of 21 Coptic Christians martyred in Libya showed a gratitude not of this world. 

by Kathryn Jean Lopez
National Review, February 23, 2015

Twenty-one Egyptian Coptic Christians were slaughtered on a beach in Libya a week ago. And even in his mourning, the brother of two of them gave thanks. 

Beshir Kamel, brother of both Bishoy Astafanus Kamel, who was 25, and Somaily Astafanus Kamel, who was 23, thanked their murderers for not editing out the name of their Savior when disseminating the video of their beheadings. 

Appearing on an Arabic Christian television station, Kamel said that the families of the men, laborers who were working in Libya in order to provide for their families � 13 of them from the same small, impoverished village � were congratulating one another. �We are proud to have this number of people from our village who have become martyrs,� he explained.

Who would have an ounce of gratitude at such a moment? The answer: one who has hope � hope of something real and eternal. 

It sounds crazy to a modern secular society, one that tends to view religious faith as sentiment, comfort, and milestone ritual. 

Kamel said: �Since the Roman era, Christians have been martyred and have learned to handle everything that comes our way. This only makes us stronger in our faith because the Bible told us to love our enemies and bless those who curse us.� And he relayed what his mother had said, when asked what she would do if she ever met the man who had beheaded her son. �My mother, an uneducated woman in her sixties, said she would ask [him] to enter her house and ask God to open his eyes because he was the reason her son entered the kingdom of heaven.� 

That�s no mere sentiment, comfort, or ritual. While it�s unlikely that the Kamels� mother will face that day, Christians throughout the world have the ability to take action. 

In his response to the news from Libya, His Grace Bishop Angaelos, general bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, explained: �While it may seem illogical or incomprehensible, we also pray for those who have carried out these horrific crimes, that the value of God�s creation and human life may become more evident to them, and in this realization, that the wider effects of pain brought by this and other acts of brutality may be realized and avoided. We pray for an end to the dehumanization of captives who become mere commodities to be bartered, traded, and negotiated with.� 

The 21 Coptic Christians were killed because they were Christians, and some people � some of those most intimately affected by this evil � were responding as Christians. 

After committing himself to pray for those who suffer, Bishop Angaelos reminded Christians of the lesson of the witness of the 21 � a number that became a standard avatar on Twitter in the wake of the murders.  

There are geopolitical considerations and action to be taken in that sphere; there are charitable works to ontribute to; but there is also a lesson in what it is to be truly Christian that often seems the stuff of legend to us today, even as fellow countrymen of ours have dedicated their lives in radical sacrifice to love of God and service flowing from that love. As Bishop Angaelos put it: �In the midst of this sorrow, however, we must continue to dig deeper for the joy that comes from an understanding that this life is but a �vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away� (James 4:14), and that true glory and joy are found in an eternal life prepared for all those who live in and for love and peace.� He continued: �It is only through this understanding that we can continue to live according to the words of I Peter 3:15 as demonstrated in the life and witness of the Coptic Church and her children over centuries, �. . . always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you. . . .�� 

Besides fundamental matters of human rights and freedom, this is why cultures benefit from having Christians in their midst; this is why it is so urgent that they not be eradicated from the birthplace of Christianity: Christians who take their faith seriously are leaven. 

Pope Francis emphasized this as he celebrated morning Mass for the Coptic martyrs: �They were killed simply for the fact they were Christians.� He echoed a theme of his own journey to the Holy Land last year: �The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard.� He went on to say, �It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts, or Protestants. They are Christians!� And he added, �The martyrs belong to all Christians.� 

The Christianity of the men who were martyred for their faith, is �the most important aspect of the story,� said Samuel Tadros, the author of a book on Christians in Egypt, Motherland Lost, and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute�s Center for Religious Freedom. �ISIS gunmen chose these men from among other Egyptians living there because they were Copts,� he said. �This was no random choice. ISIS holds deep hostility to say the least towards Middle Eastern Christians. Its goal is quite simply the eradication of their existence.� 

The evil done to Milad Makeen Zaky, Abanub Ayad Atiya, Maged Solaiman Shehata, Yusuf Shukry Yunan, Kirollos Shokry Fawzy, Bishoy Astafanus Kamel, Somaily Astafanus Kamel, Malak Ibrahim Sinweet, Tawadros Yusuf Tawadros, Girgis Milad Sinweet, Mina Fayez Aziz, Hany Abdelmesih Salib, Bishoy Adel Khalaf, Samuel Alham Wilson, Ezat Bishri Naseef, Loqa Nagaty, Gaber Munir Adly, Esam Badir Samir, Malak Farag Abram, Sameh Salah Faruq, and one other man from the village of Awr is the most important news story of the pre-Oscars week, on a day that included an NBA All-Star game and Saturday Night Live�s 40th-anniversary show. Would we would give it nearly as much attention. God have mercy on us if we don�t. 

� Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online, and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. This column is based on one available exclusively through Andrews McMeel Universal�s Newspaper Enterprise Association.