Cardinal Timothy Dolan has written a powerful call to action on the persecution of Middle East Christianity. Naturally CNN over dramatized it with the headline, “Will this be Christians’ last Easter in Iraq?” But the point of the article is powerful and troubling. Cardinal Dolan writes, “Rarely since the first century has the church in the East faced persecution on this scale.”
It struck me how much time we’ve recently spent debating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. People on both sides are up in arms because they feel threatened. These are important conversations we need have as a nation, but for all the bluster and fury, how can they even compare to what’s happening in the Middle East?
The list of horrors is long and sad. What ISIS is doing in Iraq is abhorrent. Beheading Coptic Christians is obscene. And Nigeria — what a horror to see innocent men, women and children butchered for their Christian faith.
I’m not trying to minimize the importance of issues like RFRA. Should a small business owner be forced to provide services against his/her will? Should an individual be denied services because of his/her values? Tough conversations. It’s not as simple as it seems.
But folks, let’s keep it in perspective. People are being killed for their faith. We shouldn’t be spending our time shouting at each other as the tragedy in the Middle East unfolds. Or for that matter as yet another black man is killed by a police officer. We spend plenty of time defining our differences. We need to spend more time defining our common areas of agreement.