Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace

[panzerfaust]

Source: Guardian (UK)

....Their cathedrals stand silent and their neighbourhoods are rapidly emptying. Now Iraq's Christians face two further unthinkable realities: that Christmas this year is all but cancelled, and that few among them will stay around to celebrate future holy days....

The latest exodus follows a massacre led by al-Qaida at a Chaldean Catholic church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left about 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified. Since then, the terrorist group has targeted Christians in their homes, including family members of those who survived the attack....

Iraq's Christian population has halved since the ousting of Saddam Hussein. But in the past two months, the rate of departure has soared. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is reporting high numbers of registrations by Christians in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. And in Iraq's Kurdish north, the number of refugees is overwhelming.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/23/iraq-christian-exodus-christmas

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? Mission Accomplished

We, the World's Best Christian Nation (being God's New Chosen Nation, in fact), felt free to attack and invade an incomparably weaker Infidel Nation (which just happened to be "swimming in Oil" as one of our leaders put it).

Unsurprisingly, as it turns out, that nation's Muslims are no less intolerant and murderous than Christians. Thus, we now have the, to those of us who do not see by the light of faith, seeming paradox that Christians had more freedom (indeed, the freedom to not only worship, but to be alive) under the Evil Muslim Caliphate Dictator (whom we had kept in power to that point) than under the American Approved Purple Thumb Democracy whose light now shines in the East.

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[Diclotican]

2. panzerfaust

panzerfaust

How tragic. A country who over more than 1800 year have given shelter to a large cristian population in the middle east, in fact it was a cristian place long before Christianity as sustch did it good in Europe and beyound.. And the cristian population in Iraq prospered under the secure hand of the government, bot in Persian time, and after under a couple of Islamic rulers, who often used to employ cristians, becouse they was an educated minority, and often had important contact to the cristian world... The Bysantium Empire and all that stuff...

And now, after been "Liberated" from the evil hands of Saddam Hussain, where cristians had the same rights, and duty's as the rest of the iraqi population, now they have to flee for their life, after been in the area since old times...


Yeah, US indeed liberated Iraq from itself.. First the cristians have to leave, becouse they are the "smallest" minority, but I am afraid they are not alone.. Jews are also a minority who are numerours in the area, and have been there since biblical times..

Democracy my f******** ass its just a small form of dictatorship under different collour... It is not a democracy just becouse they wote a cople of times in the decade... Then Bellarous is a stalemark of a democracy, even tho ordinary have no real power to change the rule, and to wote into office some who are not approved in forward.. In a decade or so, Iraq is either split in many pieces, or under another Saddam Hussain, who would emerge from a rather nasty sivil war who are brewing there, and have been brewing since 2003 when US was occuping the country.. Its 50.000 american soldiers are just keeping a lid on the brewing.. If US are not stay there for the next 200 year, sooner og later it wil explode.. (I just have my common sence to guide me, and some knowlegde about the place)

Diclotican

[SpiralHawk]

3. And this was caused by self-annointed Chickenhawk Republicon Crusaders*

* Crusade for oil profits under the Fox-like guise of the Cross.

[Cutatious]

4. A crusade against Christians

Either the Iraq security can't prevent the Muslim attacks against Christians or they are turning a blind eye to this crusade. I wonder if the Imams have taken a strong stand against these injustices and bigotry?

[SpiralHawk]

9. The invaders are the Crusaders

not the homies.

[Cutatious]

11. Someone is allowing the "invaders" to murder christians

If there were hundreds of Muslims being butchered in the name of Christianity then every Christian church would be saying and doing everything possible to put a stop to it. I'm not hearing where the Mullahs and Imams are preaching 24*7 to stop the hate. Nor does the security apparatus in Iraq appear to spreading a dragnet to end the madness.

[Posteritatis]

12. I dunno about your first point there

Whole lot of crickets from a lot of churches over the course of the Iraq war. A few of the major denominations have been consistently opposed to the fighting, which, let's admit, involves thousands of Muslims being butchered in (according to at least some of the war's advocates) the name of Christianity or similar baggage, but a whole lot of them haven't said much of anything or have actually enjoyed the fact.

I don't know as much about what's being said about it in Iraqi pulpits, though I also expect speaking out too loudly in some parts of the country could be potentially fatal. While I have opinions on what people should be making a stand against there, I waive my own right to how-dare-you people for being intimidated into silence in that kind of situation.

[Hydra]

14. In what world would the Christian voices do such a thing?

More than once I've heard the phrase, "We should just nuke them and be done with it" from the "Good Christians."

The funny thing is that fights are worst against brothers. They worship the same god, but don't tell them that.

[gerenimox]

15. millions of muslims got genocided by the christian crusaders in Iraq and Afgh.

thousands of them got killed in Bosnia, Algeria, Azerbaijan by christians. and I didn`t see any christians preaching to stop the genocide.

[Go2Peace]

17. Not "every" church.

Fundamentalism is what it is, regardless which type. They are all capable of it.

[greyl]

18. Name 100 things every Christian church strives to put a stop to,

and not 1 of them would be destruction of their enemies.

[panzerfaust]

20. "If there were hundreds of Muslims being butchered in the name of Christianity then every Christian

"...then every Christian church would be saying and doing everything possible to put a stop to it"

Historically, this has not been the case.

Even as recently as the Bosnian War Eastern European Christians enthusiastically embraced the 'ethnic cleansing' of the Bosnian Muslims.

Both Christian and Muslim faiths have, over many CENTURIES, shown themselves to be both intolerant and murderous.

To each his own delusion - as long as he does not torture and murder those who do not share it.

Peace on Earth: Sadly, this hope is not one likely to be realized by the practices of any of the Abrahamic religions.

[gerenimox]

16. well said

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

21. Ten years ago, this kind of crap didn't happen there. Tell me, what changed?

[BlueMTexpat]

5. Good one, RW Rethuglicans and Neocons!

By invading and occupying Iraq, until then a pluralistic and generally laicized society, you have turned the clock backwards to the Middle Ages!
Just as happened in the original Crusades, the 21st century "Crusaders" have brought more harm than help to the indigenous Christians.

[Hoyt]

6. Always thought it ironic that we were told Muslims wanted to kill all Christians, yet . . . . .

so many lived relatively peacefully in Iraq before bush's bombs.

[Roy Rolling]

7. flowers

Who will be left to throw the flowers at the "liberators"? :sarcasm:

[JDPriestly]

8. Making a bad situation worse.

That's what happens when you meddle in other people's business.

George W. Bush, the lives of these Iraqi Christians are on your soul.

[Edweird]

10. What's really messed up is that Iraq WAS the most 'liberal' country in the region.

Saddam was a 'lefty' compared to his neighbors. I'm not saying he was a great guy, but he was the least bad. Our 'help' was nothing of the sort.

[Taverner]

13. We seem to have become the homing ground of Xianity

Seriously - Vietnamese Christians came here, Persian Christians came here, Palestinian Christians came here, Lebanese Christians came here, Turkish Christians came here and now Iraqi Christians are coming here.

Not a problem - in that we should accept immigrants who have reason to fear their countries, but this should affect our policy a little more...

[Odin2005]

19. Thanks, Bush!

:grr: