Disrupting the Narrative of the New Left, its allies in Academia, Hollywood and the Establishment Media, and examining with honesty the goals of cultural Marxism and the dangers of reactionary and abusive political correctness.
THE NARRATIVE AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen.”-George Orwell
Call this a contrast of leadership. In a meeting today with a delegation from the Church of Scotland, who traveled to the Vatican on an ecumenical visit, Pope Francis decried the slaughter of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt by Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Speaking in his native Spanish, the pontiff used the ecumenical audience of Presbyterians to declare that the Copts were martyred for their faith - the faith of all Christians. They died "only because they confessed Christ," Pope Francis emphasized, and their "testimony cries out to be heard":
I would now like to turn to my native tongue to express feelings of profound sorrow. Today I read about the execution of those twenty-one or twenty-two Coptic Christians. Their only words were: "Jesus, help me!" They were killed simply for the fact that they were Christians. You, my brother, in your words referred to what is happening in the land of Jesus. The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard. It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ. As we recall these brothers and sisters who died only because they confessed Christ, I ask that we encourage each another to go forward with this ecumenism which is giving us strength, the ecumenism of blood. The martyrs belong to all Christians.
Now, the point that the 21 men were beheaded for their faith isn't exactly a subtlety in the ISIS propaganda video. The video title calls it "A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross." After beheading the Coptic Christian hostages, the Islamist terror leader threatens to "conquer Rome":
After the ISIS leader finishes speaking, his fellow terrorists then commence the beheading of the 21 Egyptian Christians. "And we will conquer Rome, by Allah's permission, the promise of our Prophet, peace be upon him," The militant leader says after his comrades slaughter the Christian hostages.
Get the point? Most did, but not so much the White House.
The White House couldn't offer even a single instance of recognition about the victims slaughtered, even though they bravely met their fate without retreating from their faith. This may or may not be worse than the strange dance that the White House has been doing ever since Paris to avoid noting that victims in the Kosher deli there were targeted for their Jewish faith ("randomly selected"), but it's cut from the exact same cloth of denial. It would appear that their ISIS-doesn't-represent-Islam-but-today's-Christians-own-the-Crusades narrative is a little more precious to Barack Obama and his team than in acknowledging the obvious - and paying at least momentary homage to the courage displayed by these Christians who called on Christ in their last moments.
Pope Francis is right - theirs is "testimony that cries out" to the world. Maybe the world will listen, eventually.
While President Obama has demonstrated an eagerness to offer an opinion on local police matters, he’s been reticent to opine on the destruction and bloodshed inflected on Egyptian Christians by members of the Muslim Brotherhood. If his silence befuddles Americans, it appalls Egyptian Christians.
In the face of the violence, Obama's focus has been on gun control executive orders that will do nothing and Obamacare, which will bankrupt the nation. Father Rafic Greiche, the chief spokesman for the Catholic Church in Egypt, wants to know why the president is ignoring the matter, according to CBN News.
The full article excerpted above includes a link to the following article but I want to highlight it with its own excerpt. Radicals in Western countries such as England and the United States are in the habit of claiming that they are being "persecuted" for being Muslims. This, of course, is self-serving nonsense. If they want to see what actual religious persecution looks like then they need look no farther than places like Egypt. What is being done to Egypt's Christian minority is what actual persecution looks like.
"The Islamists", one resident said, "burnt and destroyed everything. Their goal was to erase all the traces of a Christian presence; even the orphanages were looted and destroyed."
After storming the Prince Tadros el-Shatbi Church, the armed Islamic extremists turned their attention to two homes for disadvantaged children located near the parish church, residents said.
They stole church offerings, clothes, and children's games before torching the entire building. The fire lasted over 5 hours.
"Fortunately," the source said, "the children were taken to safety before the arrival of the Islamists."
Like other Christians sites, the two homes that housed hundreds of orphans are now a pile of rubble.
The news coming out of Egypt is staggering. USA Today reports that "forty churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged" in one week. According to the Coptic Orthodox and Catholic churches in Egypt, 160 Christian-owned buildings have also been attacked.
In one town, Islamists paraded three nuns on the streets like prisoners of war after burning their Franciscan school. The attackers tore a cross off the gate of the school and replaced it with an Islamist flag. The New York Times described hundreds of Islamists in one attack, "lashing out so ferociously that marble altars were left in broken heaps on the floor."
Two security guards working on a tour boat owned by Christians were burned alive. An orphanage was burned down. The Catholic Bishop of Luxor told the Vatican news agency Tuesday that he has been trapped in his home for 20 days by Islamist mobs chanting "Death to the Christians!" "People who reside in the villages of the area that have nothing because food supplies are running out and people are afraid to leave the house," he said.
For the first time in 1600 years, prayers were not held in the Virgin Mary and Priest Ibram Monastery, which includes three churches, one of which is an archaeological site. According to the local priest, they were destroyed by supporters of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. On one village street, Islamists painted a red X on Muslim stores and a black X on Christian stores, so attackers knew where to focus their rage. On Tuesday, there were reports that the Brotherhood declared Friday prayers to be held in an evangelical church in the town of Minya that has been converted to a mosque.
A Brotherhood spokesman dismissed the wave of attacks as being perpetrated by "foolish boys" and alleged a conspiracy against his organization. But the Facebook page of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party is rife with false accusations meant to foment hatred against Copts, including the absurd claim that the Church has declared "war against Islam and Muslims" and justified the attacks by saying: "After all this, people ask why they burn the churches." Then came a threat: "For every action there is a reaction."
Please be sure to read the whole article. It is well worth it. And so is the article below, written from the perspective of a Muslim who laments the damage done to his beloved Egypt by the hate-filled Muslim Brotherhood.
Mohamed Elhariry, a young businessman in Cairo, reveals the on-the-ground reality of life in recent months in Egypt. The young man says the Muslim Brotherhood "have lied to everyone, they never wanted a democratic state. The real Egypt is multi-denominational."
All of us Muslims were impressed by the attitude of Catholics, Coptic Orthodox and Protestant victims of the violence of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Christians did not ask for help from other countries of the same religion, instead they believed in themselves and in the Egyptian people. Everything that is happening in Egypt remains in Egypt. In contrast, the Muslim Brotherhood has made the rounds of the various Departments of State and put pressure on the interim government chosen by the various components of the Egyptian society.
We Muslims offered to protect churches and religious buildings, but our Christian brothers and sisters said: "Do not waste your souls, they are so precious to us. We have closed these buildings for now. Together we will rebuild our churches once we have eradicated terrorism." I am convinced that what is sacred to one of my neighbors is also sacred for me. I have respect for him and his free will.
