Written by Don Byrd
Iraq is becoming even more frightening for Christians. What officials initially tried to explain as a one-time violent event has turned into a “campaign of violence” against them, resulting in a flood of Christian Iraqis leaving their homes. Today’s NYTimes has more:
Those who fled the latest violence — many of them in a panicked rush, with only the possessions they could pack in cars — warned that the new violence presages the demise of the faith in Iraq. Several evoked the mass departure of Iraq’s Jews after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
“It’s exactly what happened to the Jews,” said Nassir Sharhoom, 47, who fled last month to the Kurdish capital, Erbil, with his family from Dora, a once mixed neighborhood in Baghdad. “They want us all to go.”
This is, obviously, horrible news all the way around. Not only does it mean the violent persecution of a minority faith is on the rise in Iraq, but it is also a clear sign that peace and freedom are not at hand in that country.
Religious freedom is an essential right for all people, and the best way for a country to enable peace and stability amid cultural diversity. Until citizens of different faiths are able to live together respectfully, progress in Iraq will remain incomplete. That kind of true freedom isn’t just a sign of peace, but would be its catalyst as well.
