...and the Coptics?...

"That’s good sauce for a goose, it must be good for a gander."

1670 J. Ray English Proverbs 98

This week we witnessed the Middle East becoming a boiling cauldron once again. This was because six months ago someone in this country, using the First Amendment privilege, made a tasteless fourteen minute video considered disrespectful to Islam. I understand why this would be bothersome - Christians daily watch their faith dragged through the mud by not only other radical religions, but secular forces in this country also. I don't think I need to remind anyone of a Crucifix dropped into a jar of urine. As offensive as this was, somehow it was considered art, and our First Amendment protected it.

Let us now forget the hurtful words and images. Rather, let us talk about something far more sinister. Christians, mostly Coptic that reside in Egypt and Nigeria, continue to suffer at the hands of Islamists. In Egypt, Muslim mobs have rampaged through Coptic villages, while in Nigeria, the radical Islamist terror group, Boko Haram, have blown up churches and slaughtered Christians in their homes. The outrage from the Middle East as well as the rest of the world? Forget it - not there. In fact, both the Obama Administration as well as the State Department continue to blame the violence on poverty and social inequality rather than condemn Islamic supremacy for persecuting Christian minorities.

In fact despite the insistence by the White House that the violence is all about social justice, Boko Haram is crystal clear why Christians need to be killed:

“The Nigerian state and Christians are our enemies and we will be launching attacks on the Nigerian state and its security apparatus as well as churches until we achieve our goal of establishing an Islamic state in place of the secular state.”

Since the the attacks by Boko Haram began in 2009, over 1,000 Christians have been murdered in their homes or in their churches. Dozens of churches, and many hundreds of Christian homes, have also been destroyed. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with about 150 million people. It is 51 percent Christian and around 45 percent Muslim. What gives Boko Haram the right to think that Nigeria is a Islamic country and Christians deserve to be exterminated?

By the way, this inequity does not end with the Coptics. When I worked at a church, one of the youth director was leaving to go on a mission trip to the Baltics. Since he was going to a Muslim country, we needed to misspell his name on the church internet. This was just in case someone in the country he was visiting did a Google search on him. He was concerned if he was identified with a Christian religion, his life could be in danger. In fact, any Christian caught trying to convert a Muslim could be convicted of a crime and put to death on the spot.

Where is our outrage for people being butchered in their homes or in a house of worship? Is it okay to force one faith on a population over another? People in Egypt deserve better; people in Nigeria deserve better; people anywhere in the world deserve better. When many blame this senseless violence and murder on a fourteen minute, six month old, poorly made video, I will change the conversation to the treatment of the Coptic Christians. My response to religious intolerance and persecution will always be "What is good for the goose is also good for the gander - and both deserve to live in peace."