Obama’s Christian Problem – White House Overlooks Christian Persecution While Pandering to Islam

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES – “The Obama administration has been obsessed with Muslim outreach and recently tried to mend fences with the Jewish community. Given the state of the world, however, the White House ought to be focused on helping the world’s oppressed Christians.

The United States has been wary to intervene in matters affecting Christians in the Middle East for fear of validating terrorist narratives that the West is engaged in a new crusade against Islam. The result of this passive policy has been to allow Islamic extremists increasingly to dominate the debate, often with tragic consequences.

On Sunday in Egypt, a clash between Coptic Christians and the military left at least 25 dead. Copts are the largest religious minority in Egypt, representing about 10 percent of the population. Attacks on the Copts have increased since former President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. That the military was involved in this incident was a signal that matters are taking a turn for the worse. The White House issued a lukewarm condemnation noting that President Obama is ‘deeply concerned about the violence in Egypt’ and that ‘as the Egyptian people shape their future, the United States continues to believe that the rights of minorities – including Copts – must be respected.’ In other words, the U.S. government will do nothing about the massacre of Christians.

Smaller Christian communities face even greater challenges. The world awaits definitive news about Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who faced execution for apostasy after converting to Christianity from Islam. Sayed Mussa, an Afghan Red Cross worker who converted to Christianity, faced the death penalty. He was freed earlier this year after his case gained international attention but went immediately into hiding due to the public climate of hostility.

According to the State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report, the last Christian church in Afghanistan has been destroyed. The 500 to 8,000 Afghan Christians who wish to worship publicly can attend services at military bases, Provincial Reconstruction Team facilities and the Italian embassy, but there are obvious risks involved. State’s report says, ‘the U.S. government regularly discusses religious freedom with [Afghan] government officials as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.’ Considering all the aid America has given Afghanistan over the last decade, the State Department should do more than just talk.” Read more.

Obama meets Evangelical leaders, with ‘religious persecution’ as ‘top priority‘ – “Obama met with the Executive Committee of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 45,000 churches from 40 denominations across the United States, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. NAE leaders that attended the unprecedented meeting included Pastor Joel C. Hunter of Northland, A Church Distributed near Orlando, who was a member of the White House’s faith-based initiative advisory committee; Williams Roberts, national commander of The Salvation Army; and Leith Anderson, president of the NAE; among others. The meeting was the first time that Obama accepted NAE’s invitation to meet, Anderson told Religion News Service.” Read more.

‘Meeting’ with evangelical leaders about ‘religious persecution’ is one thing.  Doing something about it is another.  Given Obama’s track record, I doubt very much that anything will come from this, aside form a photo op …