by Joe David
Throughout history, Christians have been slandered and slaughtered for their beliefs. It makes you wonder why they are so despised, especially by self-righteous Muslims, for simply maintaining a particular religious view. Although there are theological similarities between the two religions[1], it is their differences that concern many Christians, specifically, those passages in the Quran which encourage Muslims to eliminate infidels.
To understand what is happening today, one needn’t step back very far in history. The pattern, which has been evident for centuries, has become quite obvious in the past 100 years.
While greed and ambition drove Europeans to kill each other with bloody and deadly skill (during World War I), the Ottoman Turks used this moment in history to cleanse their empire of non-Muslims. What makes their action noteworthy is that the leaders in Constantinople, the Young Turks, were secularists, educated in Europe, and their ally was the Christian Germans. From the beginning of the war, the Turkish leaders showed no religious motive for the genocide. Their plan was simply to revive the dying Ottoman Empire and free it of any ethnic or religious impurities that might cause problems for them later.
Although the Christian countries in Europe were aware of what was happening to the Armenians in Turkey (which they referred to as “The Armenian Question”), they were helpless at doing anything about it while engaged in a war[2]. The Young Turks, aware of this advantage, used it to rid their empire of Christians without the worry of any European interferences. Since they were convinced that their ally, the Germans, would win the war, they felt no fear of repercussions for their actions even after the war.
Although the Turks weren’t as self-destructive then as jihadists today who turn themselves into human bombs to kill the enemy, they did conceive of some effective ways to cleanse Turkey of Christians – and simultaneously amuse themselves. One way was through forced deportation; they would deprive the Christians of water, food, and clothing, and drive them like herd south to the desert where they were left to die from exhaustion, heat, and malnutrition.
Like Hitler’s execution team during World War II, the Turks approached the murders with imagination. In an article, “Rethinking Dehumanization in Genocide,” the author, Henry C. Theriault, described many of the killings as “festivals of cruelty that involved rape and other forms of torture.” According to reports it was common practice to systematically dismember their victims, brutally club them, and even gang rape young girls in front of their family or their villagers. If they survived, they would often slit their throats and let them die slowly. It didn’t take long, after the campaign began, for Talaat Pasha, Turkey’s Minister of Interior, to tell the German ambassador, “the Armenian question does no longer exist.” Nearly three quarters of the Christian population in Turkey were dead.
Some historians claim the Germans masterminded this jihad. Documents being uncovered in Germany are shedding some light on this possibility (www.armenocide.de). Regardless of who was responsible for plotting this outrage (the Turks or the Germans) certain facts have been documented. Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted a “place in the sun” (i.e., a euphemism for his foreign policy for territorial expansion). For this reason, he had a special interest in Turkey; it was the gateway to Asia. This might explain why he worked cooperatively with the Turks against the Christians. Both empires had imperialistic goals. If the slaughter of Christians by Muslims would help them achieve these goals, then that was what they had to do.
In the 100 years since World War I, the attacks of jihadists have spread beyond the borders of the Muslim world, and they have become international in scope, aimed at Western and American interests. Commercial airplanes have been hijacked; night clubs, restaurants, and embassies have been bombed, and non-Muslim men and women throughout the world have been raped and surgically dismembered. On American soil, radical jihadists staged 9/11, the 2009 mass murder at the Texas military base, and, most recently, the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings. One of the most embarrassing jihadist’s actions for the Obama administration has been in Benghazi, which led to the grotesque rape and murder of America’s Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. Under questioning during the Senate Benghazi Hearing, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton damned herself forever with her infamous statement, “What difference at this point does it make?”
To downplay the terrorist act in Benghazi with such a flippant remark and to shift attention in another direction, as Clinton had done during the senate hearing, is an absolute outrage against America. The truth of the matter is what occurred in Libya does make a difference, a big difference. Anyone with even a sophomoric awareness of history realizes that. Western Civilization is facing an undeclared war against an enemy determined to shred it. If anyone examines the sensitive areas in Asia and North Africa (and even Europe) today, they will discover that it covers much of the area that was once controlled by the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Does this mean the Muslims are uniting and are using their foothold in different parts of the world as a military advantage to conquer the West? If so, how could such a group of insurgents (like today’s radical jihadists) be so successful at stirring so much chaos without being crushed by the West? Is it the will of Allah, or is it the will of key international leaders?
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) raised his concern about what’s happening around the world on CNN by stating: “Across the globe Christians are under attack almost as if we lived in the Middle Ages or we lived under early pagan Roman rule.” Accuracy in the Media went a little further and reported that Christianity in America is being seriously marginalized while Muslim religious interests are dramatically expanding. Many political pundits and prominent Christian leaders are also making similar statements. But only a few are willing to delve much deeper into the subject. When they do, they are often accused of being insensitive toward Muslims – despite the outrageous behavior and vitriolic words and actions of jihadists around the world toward the West.
Why is this the case? Why is the West’s powerful government and media so reluctant to confront the subject in depth? Is it because their liberal tenets won’t permit them to take any moral stance on the issue, or is it because they have a hidden agenda, which they aren’t ready to disclose?
Perhaps the best answer to those questions can be found by asking and answering another question: Who will benefit from the demise of the West?
The obvious beneficiaries are the Russians (who are successfully indoctrinating Americans with their Marxist’s ideas), the Chinese (who are gluttonously buying up U.S. production and land), and the Saudis (who are using their petrodollars to support militant groups). If you add to this list such rogue nations as Iran and North Korea and you review the actions of President, Barack Obama at dealing with world leaders[3], you quickly realize what the West faces is larger than any religious conflict.
How will all of this unfold in the future can only be conjecture at this time. But one thing is becoming obvious, the victims are not just the Christians, but the entire civilized world. The enemy is not just the Muslims (who are being played like puppets by their leaders), but instead political tyrants with global ambitions.
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Joe David is the author of six books. His controversial novel, The Infidels, which examines the Assyrian Genocide, is available by visiting www.bfat.com. His first novel, The Fire Within, published in the early 1980s, received national attention when it was first published; the paced and provocative story identifies the U.S. government’s role in the corruption of America through its education system.
[1] Some obvious religious differences: The Muslims show their faith by following the five pillars of Islam, and the Christians by the seven holy sacraments; the Muslims believe Jesus was not crucified, and the Christians believe He was. The Muslims have only one God, and the Christians believe God is three persons in one. The list of such theological differences are many, and they are insufficient to cause either religion serious concern. There is, though, one issue that does worry Christians, and for good reason. The Quran specifically calls upon Muslims to take action against non-believers. For centuries, these passages have been used by radical Muslims to justify jihad –whenever opportunity permitted it.
[2] After the war, when the Europeans were addressing war crimes, the Armenian Question only received minimal attention; the allies were too busy seeking land settlements and lucrative reparations in Europe to give any noteworthy attention to some religious issue in the Middle East!
[3] He has not hesitated to befriend America’s enemies and offend its long-time friends?
