Qur'an 2:256 says "there is no compulsion in religion." There are, however, innumerable means of coercion intended to make life so inconvenient, unpleasant, intolerable, and dangerous as to wear down unbelievers over time into converting or abandoning their ancestral homes. That strategy is enshrined in Qur'an 9:29, which offers non-Muslims conversion, subjugation, or war.
Muhammad wished for the Arabian peninsula to be purged of non-Muslims (Sahih Muslim 19.4366). To borrow a term from modern real estate, this vision stands as the "model community" of Islam's aspirations for the future even outside of that area in places like Iraq and beyond. The institution of dhimmitude is intended first to contain non-Islamic belief, and secondly, and consign it to a slow, quiet death as it is marginalized and expunged from the broader society.
Where dhimma laws are relaxed and fall into disuse (as inherently illogical, unnatural laws often do), unbelievers must nonetheless live in apprehension of the day that fervor for Islamic law renews hostility against them. And compliance with one's dhimmi status is always in the eye of the oppressor/beholder, leaving the dhimmi to wonder which innocent "provocation" or rumor (rumors of desecrated Qur'ans or "blasphemy" are wildly popular), will create a pretext for renewed abuse.
In Iraq, that time is now, as it also is in Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, to name a few. The common thread in all of them is, again, an increased fervor for Islamic law, which, one might have noticed, never brings an increase in tolerance or protection of civil liberties. Funny how that keeps happening.
"Time is Running Out for Iraq's Christians, Says Archbishop," from Assyrian International News Agency, March 19:
Iraq's ancient Christian community has run out of time and will disappear soon, a senior Iraqi churchman has said.
Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil made his alarming prediction at a press conference for the launch of the Aid to the Church in Need report on oppressed Christians abroad, Persecuted and Forgotten?
Speaking in Westminster yesterday, alongside Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop Warda said that there were fewer than 200,000 Christians left in Iraq and "the time for waiting" was running out.
Declaring that figure to be "optimistic", he said: "From what we have seen so far our people have lost patience. The past is terrifying, the present is not promising. All is left is the very limited choice of emigration, to Jordan and Turkey."
He cited Mosul, one of the most dangerous cities in the world to be a Christian, where hundreds were driven out in October 2009, saying: "In 2003 there were 4,000 Chaldean families, 1,000 Christians from other churches, and 11 active Chaldean churches. Now six churches have been closed, and if it goes this way, it won't be this long before certain areas of Iraq are evacuated.
"We have freedom of worship, but not freedom of religion, that is not allowed, in any Islamic state."
The 41-year-old archbishop was previously rector of St Peter's Chaldean Catholic Seminary in Dora, a Christian neighbourhood of Baghdad before the 2003 invasion. The seminary had to move to Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, last year due to violence. Islamists have cleansed Dora almost entirely of Christians. The archbishop plans to build a Catholic University and Church-run hospital in Erbil, which will be open to all.
He described how many Christians in Baghdad and Mosul had received warnings through text messages or bullets, sometimes delivered by policemen. Some clerics received three bullets, one representing murdered priest Fr Ragheed Ganni, another for the murdered Archbishop Rahho, and another for the intended victim.
He said that, although Christians were safer in the Kurdish-controlled regions of northern Iraq, they still lacked economic security and were so impoverished some had resorted to prostitution. Some 5,000 Christian families had fled to the Kurdish-controlled region and yet, he said, the Iraqi Government cared so little for them that they had demanded European governments paid for their resettlement.
"It was a strange statement," he said of the Government's demand: "They are not some group who have emigrated from Europe. They do not come from Europe!"
Aid to the Church in Need's report found that persecution was intensifying in two thirds of the worst countries, and that many Christian communities in the Middle East faced extinction within a generation. Archbishop Warda thanked the charity and asked Christians in the west to raise awareness and making politicians aware of what was going on.
"We need to bear the cross," the archbishop said, "but it is getting heavy."
"Muhammad's wish was for the Arabian peninsula to be purged of non-Muslims"
This is true, nonetheless, 14 centuries have passed and Islam wasn't able to achieve this "complete extinction" of Christians in this part of the world. Not even in Saudi Arabia. Here is what a prominent muslim sheikh had to say about the growing Christianization threat in Afric and Asia:
(English, french translation as well as the original arabic transcripts of the interview available for download here)
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2010/05/dying-islam-lislam-mourant.html
While Muslims,who migrated to western Christian countres DEMAND all the facilities and we are so generous in granting them what ever they want,they are so hard heartened as to oustout all Christians from Muslim countries like Pakistan,Iraq, Indonesia,Egypt and Arabia.
Countries like Syria,Lebonon,Egypt,and Iraq were once Christian countries,and the greedy Arabs just conquered them by sword and bloodshed. Western countries like Amercia,Canada,Australia,and Europe should stop importing these trouble creating Muslims and instead, get all these suffering Chrsitians from Pakistan,Iraq,Egypt and other Muslim countries as refugees. These people will be greatfull and faithful to our countries,and will not crfeate terror problems like the Muslims. But will leaders like Obama agree for such a thing,as he is more interested in winning the hearts and minds of Muslims(which is never ever going to happen).They just swollow our tax money and cry out "Death to gret satan Amreeka".
Islam has shown itself to be the worst protagonist of racism in modern times, with its leaders making a concerted effort to rid the world of everyone who doesn't think like they do. This is happening right now by brutal force across the entire Middle East, and by stealth around the rest of the world. And yet anyone who simply points out the facts is branded a racist themselves. Just look at the outcry against the King enquiry, which was handled with such caution as to be virtually meaningless. Are we really so stupid as to allow this self-destructive Catch 22 situation to continue?
They might immigrate to Jordan, Syria and Turkey - not exactly ideal countries. My nation is so lost.
The western world is a pecuiliar world. Not only does it hate it's own culture via "multiculturalism" (AKA anything-native-is-racist-culture) over the vastly inferior "culture" of rape, thievery and murder of Islam, but it also hates their Eastern Christian brethren who would fit in. Alas, the sissiness of the western world demands it gives into the revisionist history of Islam (like the idea that Assyrian and Chaldean Catholic Christians are a foreign European entity) and prefers to pamper to violent brigands than fight it.
Maybe Keith Ellison could shed a crocodile tear or two? If the western world won't help my people, then let them at least be wary and draw lessons from this.
The Washington elites could not care less about the Christians that are being displaced by Muslims in the Middle East. The prevailing attitude among the elites is that Christians should not be there and that the Middle East is a Koran only area.
How long will it be until the Muslims declare the USA to be a Muslim country and will the elites give a hoot then?
Our government is willing to employ our military resources to assist Libyan muslims
with their "revolution," but won't raise a voice or a lift a finger for muslim-persecuted
Christians. The Obama agenda: Twisted priorities, shameful apologies, unprecedented weakness, incalculable damage...
I point the finger at John McCain, William Kristol, and the rest of the pro-intervention, pro-Arab democracy racket. They helped make all of this possible. And learning nothing of the wave of chaos and violence they helped unleash, they are now pushing for more of the same in Libya.
"We need to bear the cross," the archbishop said, "but it is getting heavy."
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It doesn't seem that many are ready to try to help these people—even *acknowledging the problem* is rare enough...
Our church is preparing to receive a family of Chaldean Christians who have fled Iraq to Syria. We expect them in the next few months! Every church should be doing this!
Sadly it is all about OIL and who's got it. Personally I think we should be the one's benefiting from Iraq's oil reserves, but no, those dummies in Washington are just panting to get out after spending Trillions..with what? Not a damn thing but debt and dead soldiers.
We can look at the history of The Catholic Church in England (and for that matter the USA) and see the same principle that was used to try and stifle the Catholic faith of the people in the times 1500 -2011.
John Spielman wrote:
Our church is preparing to receive a family of Chaldean Christians who have fled Iraq to Syria. We expect them in the next few months! Every church should be doing this!
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Good for your church, John!
Do you really think it's just about the oil, CLL? If it were, wouldn't we be reaping that benefit from the price we've paid in blood and treasure in Iraq--and I agree with you that that should be the case. But of course we've stayed too long at the party and somewhere in there we morphed from liberators into occupiers.
My take is that our imam-in-chief and his cronies (can you say 'Hillary?')think they're winning-over the muslim world by supporting these "freedom fighters" against their tyrannical dictators. And what will the world get from this? More--and quite possibly much more egregious--tyranncial, dictatorial islamic regimes!
I'm saying that Obamanation and Co are naieve, not savvy, easily out-smarted and out-manuevered by their erstwhile muslim "friends." They are sheep in the lions' den. They don't get it that muslims CAN'T be muslims and still be their friends! And they certainly won't stand-up for persecuted Christians for fear of alienating the muslims they're so vigorously courting. That's what I mean by twisted priorities.
It's going to take years, maybe DECADES, to repair the damage that useful dhimmi idiot Obama and his minions are wreaking today...