Holy Innocents

Tomorrow, December 28, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, those children of Bethlehem who were murdered by Herod in his bizarre attempt to thwart God's plan. Matthew briefly describes the event in his Gospel:

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.

Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation: Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more." [Mt 2:16-18]

Slaughter of the Innocents - Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Matthew relates this horror in just three short verses. How many children were killed? Just a few? Less than a hundred? Several hundred? We don't know. Matthew provides no details, and we can be sure that Herod wanted no records kept of this horrendous act. Today, of course, we keep detailed, accurate records of our killing. Since 1973 our nation has allowed the slaughter of over 50 million of our most innocent, our unborn infants. You don't have to believe me. The federal government proudly publishes the abortion statistics every year. 

Herod's killing of the innocents was met with "sobbing and loud lamentation." Today's killings of innocents are met with a collective shrug. As one woman told me after a Mass in which I had preached a pro-life homily, "You and the Church are wrong. I think the girls should have a choice." 

I didn't mind her calling me wrong. Lord knows I've been wrong time and time again. But not the Church, not when it comes to matters of faith and morals, and not about something the Church has taught consistently for 2,000 years. Her words are simply symptoms of the disease that has infected so many of our citizens. It is a most diabolical form of political correctness, a willingness to be completely absorbed by today's culture of death and to condemn those who champion life. It stems from one thing: an especially insidious form of selfishness that declares openly and without embarrassment, "I am the measure of all things." For unless I believe this, how else can I deny God's will in favor of my own?

A few months ago, during a conversation with a friend, who happens to be a Protestant minister, he mentioned a woman who had applied for an administrative position in his church: "She made a point of telling me she was strongly pro-life. Well, as you can imagine, that eliminated her from consideration." I know I should have responded more strongly, and used the incident as a teaching moment, but I was too flabbergasted that he had said this to me. So I just said, "As you know, I'm a deacon in the Catholic Church. And so I, too, am strongly pro-life. Send her to us."

Radical political correctness has also apparently commandeered our State Department. We hear little from our government regarding the growing persecution of Christians throughout the world. Communist governments, steeped as they are in radical atheism, have always persecuted Christians and will continue to do so. Persecution and oppression are the rule for Christians living in North Korea, China and Vietnam. But how often do we hear anything about this from either the mainstream media or the federal government? After all, China and Vietnam are trading partners, and North Korea? Well, we don't want to upset our diplomatic efforts to bring them into the fold of civilized nations. And so the barbarity continues.

And when it comes to the rapidly growing persecution of Christians in Islamic countries, we encounter a special form of political correctness that seems to say: Islam is good, Christianity and Judaism are bad. Well, pardon me! But I'm a Catholic Christian and I simply won't accept that.

This form of PC wants us to believe that the vast majority of Muslims disagree with the Islamist jihadist terrorists, aka Al-Quaida, Hamas, Salafists, the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood, et al. "Don't worry," we're told, "Islam will ultimately reject this aberrant behavior by a few extremists." And yet, as a result of the much praised "Arab Spring," a significant majority of the voters in Tunisia and Egypt voted for these "few extremists" who, among other things, intend to impose sharia law on their nations. It would seem the extremists have now become mainstream. When the governments of other nations with Muslim majorities are overthrown -- Syria, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria... -- we can expect much of the same. Christians in these nations will have few options. They will either leave their homelands or they will suffer increased persecution.

Yes, today's innocents will continue to suffer, right here at home and throughout the world. Pray for them and for their oppressors.

One Egyptian Christian Speaks - Part 2

In a November 20th post I provided a link to part one of an interview with an Egyptian Christian by journalist and author Michael Totten. Totten has since published the second and final part of the interview which is available here: The Christians of Egypt, Part 2. Interesting stuff.

Life and death, Islam and Christianity in Egypt

Burning of a Christian church in Egypt (May 2011)

Yesterday evening, with one eye on Florida State's sloppy and losing performance in their game with Virginia, I used my good eye to read an interview of an Egyptian Christian that highlights the vast differences between the world-view of most Americans and that of Egyptians, whether Muslim or Christian.

Author and journalist Michael Totten spent much of the summer in Egypt observing and reporting on the continuing unrest in the country. He tried, unsuccessfully, to interview Egypt's Coptic leaders, who likely wanted to keep a low profile in the midst of all the turmoil. But Totten was able to interview an Egyptian Protestant, Ramez Atallah, head of Egypt's Bible Society. What Atallah had to say runs counter to what most of us believe about Islam and it's relationship with Christianity, and what it means to be a Christian living in a Muslim country. He also describes the impact of different forms of Islam on the average Muslim. It's really a remarkable interview, one I suspect will challenge your opinions.

I don't agree with some of what Atallah has to say, but that's probably because I'm a Christian living here in the USA while he's apparently come to terms with a life of accommodation in a society that considers him a second-class citizen at best. It would seem he has come to accept his condition, as have many Christians who live in Muslim nations. I'm not real comfortable with that, but then I don't have to live and worship under those conditions. The interview does, however, reinforce my own opinion that, contrary to what many Americans believe, some societies are simply not ready for any form of constitutional representative democracy in which real human rights are protected; and some may never be ready. For many Muslims today, an adherence to Islam does not simply define one's religious beliefs but should permeate every aspect of human life, including the political, through the imposition of Sharia Law. Such a belief is hardly conducive to democracy and looks instead to a strongly authoritative form of government. From the interview it seems many Egyptians, both Muslim and Christian, hope for a benevolent dictator. But the trouble with benevolent dictators is they never stay benevolent.


Anyway, it's an interesting interview and you can read Part 1 here: The Christians of Egypt, Part 1

I assume Part 2 will be available soon.
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Peace is hard when we try to achieve it on our own.

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All the news that fits our agenda

Watching, listening to, or reading the "news" these days can be a frustrating experience. I suppose I'm most bothered by the underlying political correctness in the reporting, occasionally very obvious but more often fairly subtle. Probably the most apparent symptom of this PC reporting is manifest in the news that simply never gets reported or, at best, is under-reported, buried in the back pages of newspapers or given short shrift by news anchors. And in some stories, usually those too big to be ignored completely, certain relevant details are intentionally omitted because they conflict with the media's PC-based agendas.

Let me address a few recent events that received mixed coverage in the news. Had you heard about these events? Did you get the whole story?

Nigeria is the most populous African nation with an area somewhat larger than the state of Texas. A little more than half the population is Muslim and a little less than half is Christian. Most of the Muslims live in the northern part of the country while most Christians live in the south.

A few days ago a radical Islamist group called "Boko Haram" -- a phrase which in the local language means "Western education is a sacrilege" -- armed with guns and bombs went on a killing spree in several Nigerian cities. According to the Red Cross, over 100 people were murdered. What most news stories didn't mention is that among this terrorist group's main targets were Christian churches, several of which they destroyed during their rampage. Although Boko Haram speaks of government corruption (very real in Nigeria and most of Africa) as the reason for these attacks, when you read what the group posts on the web, it's apparent their true motives are centered on the imposition of Sharia Law in Nigeria. Here's a link to a rather confusing blog by a member of Boko Haram: ISLAMIC

Just months ago the people of Egypt, seemingly with the support of the country's military, managed to overthrow the authoritarian regime of Hosni Mubarak. Immediately the country was held up as the poster boy for an "Arab Spring" that would certainly bring democracy and tolerance and moderation to the Middle East.

Unfortunately it looks as if Egypt is moving quickly from spring all the way to winter as the military government reverts back to the Mubarak's repressive tactics. Even worse, though, the military seems to be catering to the Islamists as evidenced by the military's recent attacks on Christians outside the state TV studios. The Christians were protesting the lack of justice because the government seemed uninterested in investigating or prosecuting a recent church burning by Islamists. Since Mubarak's overthrow attacks on Christians and their churches have increased dramatically.

In this latest incident, just a month ago, 28 protesting Coptic Christians were killed and several hundred wounded when government troops ran over many of them with armored vehicles and shot others. As you might expect, the government has completely absolved the military of any responsibility in these deaths, blaming them instead on unnamed third parties. This despite many videos of military vehicles crushing Christian demonstrators. And now the military government responsible for these deaths is bringing charges against -- you guessed it -- the Christian demonstrators. 34 of them are being held in prison before their trails. Many of these defendants are underage or wounded, and all lack proper medical care and food. How much of this did you hear on the evening news?

Don't watch the below video if you have a weak stomach. It is just a one-minute clip, but it's typical of many other videos taken that same evening showing Egyptian Army vehicles running over many other Christian demonstrators.

Egypt, of course, isn't the only North African nation with a questionable future. Libya is no longer suffering under the repressive regime of Colonel Muammar el Qaddafi, but will the next government be an improvement or will it be even more repressive? Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the leader of the National Transitional Council has declared that the new Libya will have as its foundation Sharia Law. In doing so he made specific reference to eliminating interest charges by banks and any restrictions on the number of wives a Libyan man may have. The latter, of course, is no boon to the rights and dignity of women. And, confusingly, the proposed constitution promises non-Muslims freedom of religion, while at the same time fully embracing Sharia Law as the law of the land. Anyone familiar with Sharia Law recognizes the incompatibility here.

Even more problematic is the continued presence of Al Qaeda among the rebels who took part in the overthrow of Qaddafi. One thing we know for certain: any Al Qaeda-connected rebels will never relinquish their weapons. And if Al Qaeda manages to establish a presence in the new government, I would expect them to attempt to seize full power rather quickly. And then imagine this worst case: an Al Qaeda controlled Libya with billions of oil money pouring into its coffers every month.-

Of course Qaddafi would not have been overthrown without the overwhelming support of NATO weapons and air power. NATO planes carried out 26,000 sorties, including nearly 10,000 strike missions. More than 1000 tanks, vehicles and guns were destroyed, along with Qaddafi's command and control network in Tripoli, Bani Walid and Sirte. Without this enormous assistance, Qaddafi would quite likely have wiped out the rebels in a few weeks. But did you know that we also sent in Jihadists to assist the rebels? That's right, according to AsiaNews:

"Making a democratic future that more unlikely is the presence of Jihadist groups sent in by some NATO countries, most notably the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an extremist group led by Abdelhakim Belhaj, a Libyan Berber with a past among the mujahedeen who fought the Soviets in the 1980s in Afghanistan. After his capture in 2003, he became a collaborator of the Libyan regime and now is serving the Americans."

What an intricate web we weave. Let's hope that we don't get caught up in it ourselves.By the way, the Vatican's Apostolic Vicar to Libya predicted worse things to come for the Christians of Libya if Qaddafi were overthrown. I expect we'll soon see how prescient he was.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Colonel Qaddafi was a good guy. Far from it. From all indications he was a murderous megalomaniac who certainly deserved to be removed from power...and I'm happy he's gone.  But when we support such an effort -- and it would not have succeeded without US military and command and control assets -- we should also be certain that those we're supporting won't later present us with an even more dangerous foe.

And then there's the manner of Qaddafi's rather grisly death. The evidence is overwhelming that he was summarily shot by his captors not long after he surrendered. It would seem that the rebels and their fellow travelers have little respect for the rule of law. Given their disparate makeup one might expect this; but I did not expect to hear our Secretary of State declare with delight after hearing the news of Qaddafi's death, "We came. We saw. He died." I expected more of her as the lead representative of the United States in the international community. I suspect she and her boss were relieved that the late dictator would not be given the forum of an international courtroom in the months to come.

I realize a lot of Americans, perhaps even a majority, disagree with me on this, believing that Qaddafi got what he deserved. Well, I suppose that's true from one perspective, but as a military officer I was taught that we had a moral and ethical responsibility to take as prisoners those enemy combatants who surrendered to us. This was something not only required by the Hague and Geneva Conventions, but something we did as law-abiding and moral Americans. Fortunately, in this instance Americans seem not to have been directly involved, but that doesn't mean we should celebrate what would under most conditions be labeled a war crime. Such an act, in which an unarmed prisoner is shot and killed, also violates the most basic principles of Christian morality and can be equated with nothing less than murder.

While discussing this with a friend the other day, he said, "Well, didn't the SEALs do the same thing to Osama bin Laden?" He's right; at least one would think so if you believe what has been stated in the media. The word that was apparently leaked out from certain Washington sources is that the SEALs were given an assassination assignment and simply went in with guns blazing. But the SEALs -- and in the spirit of full disclosure, I will state that I have many SEAL friends and worked with them on a few occasions back in my Navy days -- do not want to be painted as an assassination team, or as "spray and pray" commandos who just blast away at everyone in sight. They state that they intended if at all possible to take bin Laden prisoner but when they entered his room he pulled out a pistol leaving them no choice but to shoot him. The entire remarkable story is in Chuck Pfarrer's new book, SEAL Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama bin Laden. Pfarrer is a former commander of SEAL Team Six and knows all those involved in the mission. It's nice to know that the vast majority of our military still make every effort to work morally as they carry out their difficult and dangerous jobs. 

Enough! I suppose the news is always skewed in one direction or another, depending on its source. But these days the media's peddling of disinformation seems to be more blatant than ever, especially when the story involves Christianity and the Catholic Church. And so, if you want some advice about understanding the news, try this broad generalization on for size: believe nothing written about the Catholic Church in the secular media. I have never read an accurate story about the Church in the secular media. The reason? The media sees everything in political terms, while the Church views all in terms of faith. There's a huge difference.

Support for Sharia Law

There seems to be a widely held belief in the West that only a small minority of Muslims support Islamist terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda or the Taliban, that most Muslims do not want to live under the harsh reality of Sharia Law, and that Muslims are generally respectful of other religions. And yet, when one looks for evidence to support these beliefs, there is little to be found. Perhaps the opinion makers who believe these things speak only with Muslims who not only live in the West but have drunk the Kool-Aid of Western culture. Or maybe they just listen to front organizations like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) who love to tell us what we want to hear. As I stated above, there's little evidence to support these beliefs which are contradicted by the facts.

For example, a series of polls in which Pakistani Muslims were asked about their religious and political beliefs indicated that a solid majority support the idea of "strict Sharia Law" being the law of the land in Pakistan. (See one poll result here: Reuters Cites IRI Pakistani Poll.) There's also widespread majority support among the general population in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other Muslim nations for the strict application of blasphemy laws that call for the death of anyone who violates them. In Pakistan the blasphemy law is actually quite vague and has been frequently misapplied and even used by some to accuse others with whom they might have a dispute. Here's the core of the law as stated in the Pakistani penal code:

Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine." 

Lots of room for misapplication in those words, and many Christians and others have suffered as a result, And yet a vast majority of Pakistanis support the strict application of this law.

Obviously, if a Pakistani Catholic were asked to state the Church's teaching as it relates to Muhammad, and he replied honestly, he would be guilty of blasphemy and risk the death penalty. Indeed, such a law would pretty much preclude any serious religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims, at least inside Pakistan where the law is enforced. Is it any wonder that Christians tend to keep a rather low profile in Muslim nations?

Another element of Sharia Law widely supported in Muslim nations is the prohibition against "apostasy" in which anyone who converts from Islam to another religion must be put to death. In other words, if you convert, you die.

The following video (in German, but translated with subtitles into English) addresses the plight of Egyptian apostates who converted from Islam to Christianity. The Gohary and Hegazy families are living in terror under the constant threat of being killed. Jussuf al Badri, the Egyptian Islamic jurist depicted in the video states that under Sharia “God has commanded us to kill those who leave Islam.” Such is the fragile and tragic plight of apostates in Muslim countries who daily face the threat of vigilantism and death.

Sharia is designed to govern all aspects of life, from relations between the sexes to business ethics. In some nations, aspects of Sharia have become part of modern legal codes and are enforced by national judicial systems, while others are a matter of personal conscience. Entirely secular law is not an option under a classical interpretation of Islam. David Powers, Professor of Islamic Law at Cornell, stated, 'In Islam, there is no separation between the secular and the sacred. The law is suffused with religion.'

The increasing support for Sharia Law among the general population in Muslim countries often puts the people at odds with their political leadership. For example, in Pakistan and Egypt, while those in power have created a division between secular and Sharia courts, the people overwhelmingly favor the idea of Sharia Law as the sole judicial system. In this, then, the people are more in tune with the teachings of Islam then are their leaders. Terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, by strongly supporting the imposition of Sharia Law, have cleverly exploited this disconnect between the people and their current political leadership in some Muslim countries. And although most Muslims reject al-Qaeda and the Taliban and their terrorism, support for them and their policies is growing. The situation doesn't bode well for the future.

News from Baghdad. The Christian churches of Baghdad have called on Iraqi Christians to participate in a day of fasting on December 9 to commemorate those Christians who were killed when al-Qaeda terrorists stormed Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral on October 31. Women, children, and two priests were among the 46 Christians murdered in the attack. Over 70 others were wounded. More information here: IRAQ Churches Plan Day of Fasting. I think it would be a good thing for all of us to join our Iraqi bothers and sisters in the day of fasting and prayer.

Persecution of Christians in...the UK??

We've all read or heard about the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries. I've written about it here on numerous occasions. The governments of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, even Indonesia have either directly participated in such persecution or have turned a blind eye to attacks on Christians living in these nations. Indeed, in some of these countries, apostasy -- i.e., converting to any other faith from Islam -- merits the death penalty in accordance with their interpretations of Shari'a Law.

It seems, though, that such persecution is not restricted to Muslim-majority countries. An acquaintance recently directed me to a documentary produced by the UK's Channel 4 that focuses on persecution in the UK of former Muslims who have converted to Christianity. Admittedly it is non-governmental persecution, but the very fact that some Muslims feel free to openly participate in it is more than a little troubling.

The YouTube version of the documentary includes just the first of four parts. I was unable to locate the remaining three parts, so if you can find them on YouTube or obtain them from another source, please let me know. Part One is about 10 minutes long, but worth viewing.

It certainly causes one to ponder the possible results of allowing Shari'a Law to be implemented in any form in a Western democracy such as the United States. Putting aside its handling of apostasy and conversions, Shari'a Law's treatment of women should in itself be enough to bar it completely from our legal system. I say this because there is a concerted effort on the part of many influential Muslims to allow the application of Shari'a Law in the nations of Western Europe and the United States.

The video is included below...

Today in our parish's Wednesday morning Bible Study, we focused on Matthew 10. After coming home and then hearing about this documentary, I found myself repeating these words of Jesus directed to His disciples:

But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. [Mt 10:17-18]

I suppose that, as disciples of Jesus Christ today, we should not be surprised to encounter persecution from both religious and secular authorities. It sounds as if Our Lord is telling us that it comes with the territory.

Praised be Jesus Christ...now and forever!