The Imperiled Palestinian Christians
Though reports indicate an alarmingly indiscriminate approach by Israeli Defense Forces, a presenting pattern of Christian targets is suggestive that Christian sites are actually being targeted by Israeli forces.
Melkites Caught in the Middle
The regional and religious ties that Melkite Catholics have to the Middle East make the Israeli-Palestinian war even more difficult to process than it already is.
With Burning Concern
Recently the nonagenarian environmentalist, Sir David Attenborough, familiar to viewers of BBC America over many years for his nature shows, warned in bloodcurdling terms that it was almost too late to save the world from the horrors of the “climate crisis.” I remember as a child watching similar warnings during the early 1970s, of the … Read more
The Paradox of Persecution
It is a widely held belief, at least in these United States, that the greatest preacher of the 20th century in the English language was Fulton J. Sheen. Certainly, Archbishop Sheen was one of the greats—not to mention a pioneer of televangelism. Notwithstanding, the finest preacher of the century was, in fact, an Englishman, Monsignor … Read more
New Film Documents the Persecution of Christians
A young boy, 10 years old or so, faces the camera. Like many young boys he is happy to be interviewed. This is war-torn Iraq, however, so he tells of the day ISIS came to his village. What took place, horror after horror, he starts to recount. It is hard to accept that one so … Read more
Epiphany Brings Thoughts of Christian Persecution in the East
Being a New Yorker, I only go to the top of the Empire State Building about once every thirty-five years, and I have been to the Statue of Liberty just twice. Merely once in my life have I welcomed the new year in Times Square, and I had the impression that I was the only … Read more
The Migrant Crisis: Compassion and Common Sense
Other than the large numbers involved, one of the most striking features of Europe’s migrant crisis is the level of discourse surrounding it. There is an emotionalism about the subject which doesn’t seem quite appropriate to the gravity of the situation. Momentous issues are being decided on the basis of what Peter Hitchens calls “an … Read more
Middle Eastern Christians Face Calamity
The Middle East is embroiled in chaos and what little remains of the ancient Christian communities there are being destroyed with the latest tragic turn of events in Iraq. The barbarism of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that began a military and terror campaign from Syria swept into Iraq to capture numerous … Read more
Christians Suffer as U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East Flounders
President Obama these days looks like a homeowner paralyzed in shock as he sees his house ablaze from across the street. The White House is fine, but the president’s foreign policy in the Middle East is going up in smoke. As Egypt implodes with escalating violence and the Syrian civil war rages into a second … Read more
Obama Ignores the Fears of Middle Eastern Christians
President Obama loudly proclaims his enthusiasm for democracy in the Middle East as he did in his second inaugural address: “We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom.” But those … Read more
Afghanization: A Half Year Plan
President Barack Obama’s five-point plan for turning the war back to the Afghans is designed to cover the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces and “forge a just and lasting peace.” What does the plan involve, and can it work? Here are the five points: Making Afghans responsible for their own security within two years … Read more
We Do Not Seek; We’re Found
On the Solemnity of the Epiphany, I heard a sermon—a rather well-delivered one at that—about the Magi as religious “seekers.” The same note, I’ll wager, was struck from pulpits and ambos across the country, perhaps across the world. But isn’t there something a bit askew here? Isn’t the point of Matthew’s tale of the “wise … Read more
Should We Get Realist About the Middle East?
The first round of Egyptian parliamentary elections has taken place, and the winners were two Islamist parties. The Islamists themselves are split between more extreme and more moderate factions, but it is clear that the secularists who dominated the demonstrations and who were the focus of the Arab Spring narrative made a poor showing. Of the three … Read more
Is America Losing Control?
“Events are in the saddle and ride mankind.” In describing 2011, few clichés seem more appropriate. For in this past year, we Americans seemed to lose control of our destiny, as events seemed to be in the saddle. While President Barack Obama maneuvered skillfully to retain a fighting chance to be re-elected, the economy … Read more
Iran: How to Lose
Once again, tensions between Iran and the international community are on the rise as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, released a new report that warns of concealed attempts by Iran to produce an atomic bomb. How should one respond? The 19th-century Prussian general and philosopher Carl von Clausewitz, the … Read more
Democracy Is Impossible
After Moammar Gadhafi’s downfall as Libya’s tyrannical ruler, politicians and “experts” in the U.S. and elsewhere, including French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, are saying that his death marked the end of 42 years of tyranny and the beginning of democracy in Libya. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Gadhafi’s death represented an opportunity for Libya … Read more
Georgetown’s Catholic Apologist for Islam
A non-Muslim activist lawyer has filed charges of discrimination against the Catholic University of America with the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights (OHR). The university is discriminating against Muslim students, he contends, by “forcing” them to conduct Islamic prayer services in rooms filled with crucifixes and other symbols of the Catholic faith. The … Read more
Henry Hyde Was Right, G.W. Bush Was Wrong
Events unfolding in the Middle East are proving that Henry Hyde was right and George Bush was wrong on the wisdom of a foreign policy focused on promoting democracy. When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared in Hyde’s House International Relations Committee on Feb. 16, 2006, she presented written testimony touting Bush’s messianic policy. “In … Read more
India, Pakistan, and Unintended Consequences
When you get into discussions about the Middle East with certain people, you start hearing that the great mistake was the partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. If that had somehow just not happened, you hear, everything would be all right. That’s not my view. I think the … Read more
Inflation: Fuel, Food, and the Fed
As Americans increasingly feel the pinch of higher prices for food and fuel, the Federal Reserve’s QE2 policy of creating more money has been called into question. Asked if the Fed bore some responsibility for these vexing price increases, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke essentially replied, “It’s not our fault.” Instead, Bernanke blamed the price … Read more