Kirsten Evans, executive director of In Defense of Christians, spoke about the genocide perpetrated against Christians in the Middle East on the Good Friday edition of Breitbart News Daily.
“We’re in a critical moment, a critical situation,” she said.
Evans noted that people in the West sometimes forget “we are all sons and daughters, in some way, of Middle Eastern Christians. Christianity came to us, in the West, first and foremost through the Middle East, through the early Church. The world owes Middle Eastern Christianity for the passing on of the faith, before it became a global community and global faith.”
For this reason, she said the destruction of ancient Christian communities at the hands of Islamist forces, such as ISIS, should be a “concern to all of us, not just from a geopolitical perspective, but also from a very personal perspective – a personal identification with our brothers and sisters in those communities, who are living in a dire situation.”
“Without a doubt, especially with the rise of fundamentalist Islam, and in a very particular way with the rise of ISIS, we’re seeing a very targeted persecution of the Christian community in the Middle East… in particular in Iraq and Syria, but definitely not limited to Iraq and Syria. Of course, we definitely all saw the tragic events in Yemen, with the Missionaries of Charity.”
This was a reference to the massacre of four nuns, plus 12 other civilians, at a retirement home in Yemen earlier this month. As host Stephen K. Bannon observed, ISIS savages murdered the nuns by tying them to trees and smashing their heads in, martyring them “just like in Second Century Rome.”
“They were targeted precisely because of their faith,” Evans agreed, “women who were just doing services, works of mercy to the community, but were targeted because of their Christian identity.” She said the nuns lived, and died, “heroically.”
When Bannon asked where the “outrage” over genocide against Christians might be found, noting that the response from both religious and secular leaders has been strangely muted so far, Evans noted that her organization In Defense of Christians is dedicated to raising awareness of the genocide.
“We’re trying to mobilize the global conscience, but first and foremost, the conscience of the Christian community – expand awareness, and the sense of urgency. Certainly there are people speaking out. Pope Francis has spoken about this, many religious leaders have spoken about this. We’re seeing the Christian community mobilize in aid, and in relief initiatives.”
Bannon acknowledged these responses, and the efforts conducted behind the scenes by figures such as the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury on behalf of Middle Eastern Christian communities under siege, but argued that the world’s response was still much too reserved in the face of “a full-scale, outright focus on the eradication of the Church,” which could change the Christian face forever by destroying “the taproot of our belief.”
Evans agreed that more needed to be done, beginning with Christians demanding a stronger response from their pastors, communities, and church leaders.
“Where we feel like maybe the messaging is weak, where our pastors are silent, let’s ask them to raise their voices,” she urged.
In addition to helping through her own organization and its website, InDefenseOfChristians.org, Evans suggested those interested in standing against the Christian genocide could open their own local chapters, and mobilize their communities to put pressure on political representatives, as well as making donations to groups that are providing aid to displaced Christians from the Middle East.
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00AM to 9:00AM EST.
You can listen to the full interview with Kirsten Evans below:
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