This isn’t going to be a long post because I’m on the road again, but it is something that I wanted to quickly say.
A couple weeks ago I told you that I was reading up on ISIS, in particular the rumours I had seen circulating on Facebook. You’ve probably read these rumours yourself, or seen people changing their Facebook profile to this picture as an act of solidarity.
Some of these rumours seemed fishy to me. The one I found particularly disturbing was the account that Muslim terrorists were decapitating children. While trying to fact-check this claim I came across some photos of a decapitated child and was so sickened and angry that I gave up trying to find the truth behind these rumours. Luckily someone else has done so for me.
The Gospel Coalition has taken a closer look at many of these claims and pointed out several holes in these rumours.
For example, one of the most commonly shared photos is most certainly not from Iraq. Instead “the photo originally appeared online April 11, 2014 on the Facebook page of a person from Yemen.”
The photo of the decapitated child, the one that made me so very angry, is more likely from 2013. According to the Gospel Coalition, “It’s claimed she is a Muslim Syrian girl named Fatima Meghlaj and that she was decapitated when Syrian forces shelled her home.”
The thing is, we should care anyways. It shouldn’t matter what their faith is, or how gruesome their death was. We should want to end injustice no matter who perpetuates it.
Would we (Western Christians) have shared those kinds of horrific photos if we had known they were not martyrs for “our team”? Or would we have been silent like we have been towards the persecution of so many others who don’t hold the same beliefs.
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Seriously, seems a bit sick to turn this into a critique of Christians or Christianity. The fact is that one of oldest communities of Christians in the world (the Chaldeans) has been essentially wiped out, men and children in areas killed and woman taken as slaves, plenty of beheadings, people buried alive. these are some if the most brutal and evil people we’ve seen. So what is it in you that wants to make this a critique of Christian hypocrisy?
Hi Ken, I appreciate your point. I’m not by any means saying that I’m not disgusted by the atrocities that are being done by ISIS. That being said, as a member of the Christian community I feel compelled to challenge my community to care about these issues even when they affect those who aren’t members of our community. I couldn’t possible say it better than Gordon does in his response to my post, so please check that out: https://culturewarreporters.com/2014/08/27/re-do-western-christians-want-martyrs-yes-they-do/
I also think it’s important to consider our place in the greater picture. ISIS didn’t arise out of a vacuum. I found this interview with an aid coordinator on the ground in Iraq particularly illuminating: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/current/what-you-need-know-about-whats-happening-iraq-0
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