Truth has a way of breaking through, even from the most unexpected places. This time it came from Bill Maher, who used his HBO show to call out the world's despicable silence on the ongoing genocide of Christians in Nigeria.
Because there is so much silence about the genocide, it took several weeks for this clip to go viral:
If you don't know what's going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck ... They are systematically killing Christians in Nigeria. They've killed over a hundred thousand since 2009. They've burned 18,000 churches. This is so much more - these are Islamists, Boko Haram - this is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.
They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. Where are the kids protesting this?
Maher is an atheist comedian, not a preacher.
What he was saying is not hyperbole. It's reality. According to Open Doors' World Watch List, nearly 70 percent of all Christians killed for their faith last year were slaughtered in Nigeria.
It's not just torched churches. Entire villages are being erased. Families are being executed for no reason other than bearing the name of Christ. It's one of the most horrifying humanitarian crises of our time, and yet somehow it registers less than a whisper on a near unanimity of Western news programs.
I can think of no other word for the intentional oversight than "shameful." When atheist entertainers have to plead for attention to a Christian genocide, it reveals a pitiful level of moral cowardice plaguing those who otherwise thrive on outrage.
The American media class, so often eager to posture as defenders of the oppressed, suddenly goes silent when the victims don't fit a preferred narrative. If this were happening anywhere other than Africa, if it were happening to any other group besides Christians, the coverage would be wall-to-wall, the protests immediate. But because the victims are African Christians, "sophisticated people" avert their gaze.
You don't have to believe that "silence is acceptance" to appreciate how gross that is.
Maher called the slaughter in Nigeria "a true genocide attempt," and he's right. For fifteen years, Boko Haram and its offshoots have waged a systematic campaign to wipe out Christianity in Nigeria. Surely Western civilization can summon more than a fleeting burst of moral outrage on television.
That likely only happens if ordinary citizens use our own platforms and persuasion to speak, pray, give, and tell the world what's happening. Christ's church in Nigeria is bleeding, and its cries are no less sacred than those from any other corner of the globe.
Bill Maher saw that truth and spoke it. The question is whether the rest of us will have the courage to see it too.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
