Baylor Hosts Panel About ISIS’ Persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria
By Kristianna Gross
WACO — As world leaders come together to take on the brutality of ISIS, thousands of Christians are fleeing from their homes to nearby countries.
Baylor University hosted a panel discussion on “The Crisis Facing Churches in Iraq and Syria.”
Three professors with close ties to the area talked about their personal experiences and described ISIS’ persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.
Just last month, ISIS captured hundreds of Yazidis and Christians alike and offered them a choice, either convert to Islam or face death.
These kinds of acts are forcing thousands of Christians to seek refuge in nearby countries, like Turkey.
One of the speakers, Ph.D. Abdul Saadi described what he’s been told it’s like to be a Christian in the area.
“Our very existence as an ethnic group in Iraq, which we have been there for the last 7,000 years, we were eradicated; we were kicked out in less than seven hours.”
Saadi went on to say that dealing with ISIS isn’t just a Middle East problem, it’s a global issue.
“It is a problem and a crisis for everybody, not only the Christians in the Middle East, but the Muslims in the Middle East, most of the Muslims in the Middle East, it’s a crisis against the whole entire world.”
Saadi says ISIS should not be dismissed as radical, terrorist group because they are proud to be that.
Each of the speakers emphasized that one way Americans can help is to keep Christians in the Middle East in their prayers and to be a voice for the thousands of Christians who don’t have one.
© Assyrian International News Agency.
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