They Cry in Silence Nov/Dec 2010
On August 6 Afghan police discovered the bodies of 10 Christian-aid workers in a remote village in northern Afghanistan. Six of the slain were Americans. All were members of the International Assistance Mission, a humanitarian group that has brought medical relief to poor Afghans since 1966. Muslim Taliban terrorists quickly took credit for the slaughter, claiming the medical workers were spies attempting to proselytize Muslim Afghans. The claim was nothing more than an excuse to commit the execution-style murders in the name of Islam because the 10 were Christians.
Although there was no public statement from U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, spoke out on the killings.
Mrs. Clinton correctly said, “With these murders, the Taliban have shown us yet another example of the lengths to which they will go to advance their twisted ideology. Their cruelty is well-documented. Members of the Taliban have assassinated tribal elders, thrown acid in the face of young girls on the way to or from school, and earlier this summer, they accused a 7-year-old boy of being a spy and then hanged him.”
Such actions, however, are not the exclusive province of fanatical factions in Afghanistan. World Vision reported that seven of its staff members were killed in Pakistan in March. Its workers were also murdered in Kenya and Sudan and recently were expelled from parts of Somalia by the al-Qaida-related al-Shabab.
“Terror has no religion,” said Mrs. Clinton, “and these acts are rejected by people all over the world, including by countless Muslims here in our country.”
While we agree the type of terror with which Islamists tyrannize Christians in countries the world over cannot be justified by any human standard as consistent with any rational religion, it is true, however, that the Taliban’s atrocities are deeply rooted in its perception of Islam and justified by its reading of the Qur’an. In other words, the conflict is about religion.
Religion is the inhuman driving force behind the compulsion to destroy Israel; bring down the West; defeat Christianity; and establish a global, Sharia-compliant, Muslim caliphate. Unfortunately, because Western politicians, academics, and their ideological cellmates so loathe to consider the religious component, it is ignored completely. Thus we miss the fundamental element we are fighting in this war of civilizations, to the peril of entire cultures.
Consequently, a disturbing refrain is rising that blames Christians for their own deaths by accusing missionaries and humanitarian Christian-aid workers of invading countries where they supposedly have no right to be. Thus the counsel, “Stay out of societies where radical religious fanatics might put a price on your head because you exercise Christian compassion and help the helpless.”
Interestingly, Mrs. Clinton declared that atrocities are rejected by “people all over the world, including by countless Muslims.” If you ran a quick check on how many Muslims, inside or outside America, condemned the murders in Afghanistan, you would come up with an almost blank page. One must wonder where all of the oft-referenced “peace-loving Muslims” have their umbilical cords attached.
