http:\/\/www.deseretnews.com\/article\/865681212\/Do-US-efforts-to-help-persecuted-Christians-around-the-world-help-or-hurt.html<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Incidentally \u2013I may have made this comment before, but, in this context, I feel like making\u00a0it again \u2014 while living in Egypt (for four years) immediately after our marriage, my wife and I had a very close Egyptian Christian friend. \u00a0He told me once of how often he had been asked, by\u00a0American and European Christians, who it was that had converted his family. \u00a0Was it the English, they asked, or the French? \u00a0To which he typically responded that it was St. Mark the Evangelist, in the first century. \u00a0Christianity, you see, didn\u2019t start in Rome or Canterbury or Wittenberg. \u00a0It started in Palestine. \u00a0It\u2019s been a Middle Eastern religion from its very beginnings. \u00a0Jesus was Middle Eastern. \u00a0The twelve apostles were Middle Eastern. \u00a0They spoke Aramaic.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anyway, that\u2019s an important thing to keep in mind.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lately, for example, I\u2019ve had a couple of people assure me that it\u2019s Islam, as such \u2014 not an aberrant form of Islam, and not merely an intolerant radical sub-sect of Islam, but Islam itself \u2014 that is killing Christians in the Middle East, because Muhammad and the Qur\u2019an commanded that all Christians should be murdered.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But this is historically absurd.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Islam has dominated the Middle East since the seventh century AD. \u00a0If Muhammad and the Qur\u2019an really command that Muslims should kill all Christians, why are there still Christians in the Middle East? \u00a0(Of course, the more fundamental question would be, if Muhammad and the Qur\u2019an really command that Muslims should kill all Christians, why is no such command to be found in the Qur\u2019an or the sayings of Muhammad? \u00a0But that\u2019s not today\u2019s topic.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps one explanation might be that Christianity only arrived recently in the Middle East. \u00a0Perhaps with Billy Graham. \u00a0That\u2019s why anti-Christian Islamic activity has spiked in the past few years. \u00a0But any such notion is\u00a0historically false. \u00a0(To be generous with it.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, we know that Egypt, for example, converted very gradually to Islam, requiring several centuries after the Arab conquest of the mid-seventh century before it attained to a Muslim majority. \u00a0There has never been a government-sponsored campaign of anti-Christian genocide in Egypt or anywhere else under Islamic rule.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So the claim that Islam, as such, is the problem, when (a) the current problem is only a few years old and (b) Islam has dominated the region for something on the order of seventeen centuries, fails the test of obvious, basic logic.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 This topic isn\u2019t receiving nearly enough attention: \u00a0 http:\/\/www.deseretnews.com\/article\/865681212\/Do-US-efforts-to-help-persecuted-Christians-around-the-world-help-or-hurt.html \u00a0 Incidentally \u2013I may have made this comment before, but, in this context, I feel like making\u00a0it again \u2014 while living in Egypt (for four years) immediately after our marriage, my wife and I had a very close Egyptian Christian friend. \u00a0He told me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
"Christian harassment is on the rise. Can you do anything to stop it?"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" This topic isn't receiving nearly enough attention: \" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Christian harassment is on the rise. Can you do anything to stop it?"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" This topic isn't receiving nearly enough attention: \" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-03T15:22:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-03T15:23:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/04\/662px-Cairo_-_Coptic_area_-_Hanging_Church_from_courtyard.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"Christian harassment is on the rise. Can you do anything to stop it?\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-03T15:22:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-03T15:23:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" This topic isn't receiving nearly enough attention: \",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Christian harassment is on the rise. Can you do anything to stop it?”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Christian harassment is on the rise. Can you do anything to stop it?\"","description":" This topic isn't receiving nearly enough attention: ","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Christian harassment is on the rise. Can you do anything to stop it?\"","og_description":" This topic isn't receiving nearly enough attention: ","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2017-06-03T15:22:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-03T15:23:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/04\/662px-Cairo_-_Coptic_area_-_Hanging_Church_from_courtyard.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html","name":"\"Christian harassment is on the rise. Can you do anything to stop it?\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-03T15:22:16+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-03T15:23:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" This topic isn't receiving nearly enough attention: ","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/06\/christian-harassment-rise-can-anything-stop.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Christian harassment is on the rise. Can you do anything to stop it?”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42552\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Al-Muallaqa\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/04\/662px-Cairo_-_Coptic_area_-_Hanging_Church_from_courtyard.jpg\")
<\/a>