Canon Andrew White, the Anglican vicar of Baghdad, now forced to live in Israel because of the threats to his life from Islamic extremists, reports on the recent deaths of four children in Iraq. They had been captured with others by ISIS and their captors threatened them with the choice of converting to Islam or death by beheading. The children were all under 15 years of age.
They responded bravely, saying…
No, we love Yesua (the Iraqi name for Jesus), we have always loved Yesua, we have always followed Yesua, Yesua has always been with us.
The Muslim militants threatened them again. But still the children were resolute in their faith. Each one was then decapitated by those who held them captive.
It’s strange how words can be twisted to mean something which is the very opposite to their original definition. From a Christian point of view these four children are martyrs. The Greek word means a witness. They are bearing witness to their faith to the very end. There is no violence in their resistance of evil. Indeed they are weak in the face of evil, but they are not overcome by it.
Yet Muslims use the word martyr to commend those who kill and maim and destroy, using violence to cause death and destruction of others. Those who cause harm to others will be rewarded by the Muslim god.
Nevertheless perhaps in their different applications this word martyr is properly used. You may consider these Christian children to be fools, sacrificing their lives for a myth. But they remained faithful to what they believed whether others believe it or not. Those principles provided steadfastness in the face of their own death. They witnessed to what they believed, which is what martyrdom means.
And Muslims too, wherever they are killing people in the name of Allah today are also martyrs in this sense. They are bearing witness to the principles that drive them. They are testifying to the principles that motivate them to kill others on an industrial scale. Perhaps this is not what they intend. But we see it nonetheless.
At some point they will surely have borne witness enough and even our sleepy British population will understand what drives them. When the next martyrdom operation happens in the UK, as Theresa May warns us it must, then perhaps it will be a martyrdom enough. In Iraq and Syria, unfortunately, the fate of these Christian children continues to be repeated on a daily basis. Who will act for them, if we will not act for ourselves?
Nothing I can add to that horrifying piece Peter, nevertheless thank you for writing it. That picture will stay in my head all day.
Just seemed opportune to flag up a book which dropped through my letterbox a few minutes ago:
‘Getting through’ – How to talk to non-Muslims about the disturbing nature of Islam
Citizen Warrior 2012
Looks like a worthwhile read. Spreading the word is all most of us can do, and whilst it’s always reassuring to rant along with the like-minded, it frequently doesn’t go down well with the bean-peasants and gutmensch. And I have to say, even some members of my own nearest and dearest clearly wish I wouldn’t bang on about the subject. So I’ll stop there ;o)
Thanks for the reference Michael.
The book is available here on Amazon….
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Getting-Through-Non-Muslims-Disturbing-Nature/dp/061569098X
Contrast those children to the Church of England bishop who called for passages of the Koran to be added to the next coronation service to help Muslims feel included.
Sickening.
Incidentally, there’s a great piece on those Anglican dhimmis called “It Pays to be Psycho” at:
http://john-moloney.blogspot.com/2014/12/it-pays-to-be-psycho.html
These awful acts these demonstrations of evil should be seen by our leaders as demonstrations of what will happen all over the western world, if the Muslim menace is allowed to grow in our midst.
Canon Andrew White would be the first to say ‘don’t judge all Muslims by these extremists’. We do need to see that there are honest, God-fearing people living all over our towns, some call themselves Christians, some call themselves Moslems. We would make a terrible mistake to imagine that any of them approve of what is happening in the lands where ISil is doing its massacres.
We would never say that the British National Party represents the whole English population: they are extremists of a different kind..but they don’t speak for us. Nor does ISil speak for the ordinary, peace-loving Muslims.
Unfortunately most Muslims in Pakistan are just like that. And Afghanistan and Iraq. In Pakistan about 80% of Muslims agree that those who leave Islam should be put to death. And most Muslims in the world live in countries where that is the law of the land.
A poll this week found a majority of Muslims in London support ISIS.