If you haven't seen the roughly 30-minute video of Mia Schem documenting precisely what happened to her as an Israeli woman held captive by Hamas, you should.
Not because it paints the state of humanity in a good light, but because it reminds us that there is real evil in the world, and that respectable people have a moral responsibility to out it, oppose it, and defeat it.
I'm extraordinarily thankful for Elon Musk's X platform allowing these types of videos to go viral and spread. In far too many places they are manipulated, edited, or censored for one reason or another. I'm also appreciative of the several mainstream media pundits, most of them Jewish, who have relentlessly followed and documented the October attacks by Hamas, and their aftermath. Jake Tapper has been outstanding in his coverage.
I remain both curious and sincerely disappointed, however, that while the horrors of Hamas and the suffering of Israelis has gotten effective media attention, a continuing, gory Christian persecution continues unabated in Nigeria while drawing only the slightest mention in international media, and virtually none this side of the Atlantic.
Bands of armed Muslim men with guns and machetes attacked and killed 198 Christians, and wounded an additional 300.
Both the Guardian and Reuters, covering the massacre, found reason to blame the atrocity, at least partially, on climate change and the competition for natural resources it engenders. Seriously.
Those who work closely with persecuted Christians around the world, like Benedict Kiely and his Nasarean charity, expressed the thoughts of the sane in response to such claims:
This is the narrative of the post-Christian globalist West. How could they dare admit there is a genocide going on in Nigeria perpetrated by Muslims against Christians - it would demand action. I remember hearing the words of the Bishop of Ondo in Nigeria last year, when more than 40 of his people were killed at Pentecost Mass - he said, "40 of my people were not killed because of global warming, but because they were Christians."
One of the elements often cited regarding the Hamas-Israeli horror is the perpetual nature of Hamas attacks. They do not believe Israelis have a right to live in peace and that they must be totally eradicated. It's an integral part of the puzzle to acknowledge if there is any hope of ultimately ending the conflict. The same can be said of what is happening in Nigeria. So why isn't it?
Consider:
- We are rightfully stunned at the final death tally out of Israel that shows Hamas butchered 1,139 people in cold blood last October 7th. It was the most traumatizing terrorist attack since the state of Israel was formed in 1948.
- Since 2010, nearly 52,000 Nigerian Christians have been murdered because of their faith.
- Outrage ensued when corrupt and compromised media began victim-blaming Israelis for the Hamas attack, offering up a standard "both sides are to blame" defense of Hamas' exploits.
- Similarly, the ongoing slaughter in Nigeria is persistently described by international news agencies as "clashes" and "conflicts" between opposing groups. Joseph Fidelis, who has been monitoring the situation for years puts it bluntly: "It is not a clash, it is a slow genocide."
What happened in the streets, houses, music festival, and kibbutz communities in Israel was appalling and shocking to the conscience. Rational people both understand and support the elimination of the instigating terrorists.
But with 18,000 Christian churches burned, over 2,000 Christian schools destroyed, and thousands upon thousands of believers hacked to death in their homes and places of worship, it's well past time for the civilized world to offer Nigerian Christians the same support.
