Church World Service

[Dill]

(12-30-2016, 06:29 PM)Mike M (the other one) Wrote: All things considered equal, Refugees from the Middle East where the only difference is Christian vs Muslim.

Zaidi Christian or Muslim?
Russia is not a part of the Middle East.
Christians in Bethleham are prosecuted by both, extremist Jews and Muslims and barely make up 1% of the total population in Gaza, so yes I would welcome them.
The Chaldeans have a strong presence in Iraq, but I don't know much about them.

I didn't know people were fleeing Jordan, Qatar and Lebanon. So were not talking Refugees then are we? Because they certainly are in the OP.

Were you aware that there is an ethnic state called Israel in the Middle East, which calls itself a homeland for the Jewish people? Most of the rest of the world thinks the Jew vs Muslim is a "difference" in the Middle East--the central cause of conflict for the last 68 years.  The establishment of this homeland created millions of refugees, both Christian and Muslim.

ISIS makes the traditional place for Christians in its Islamic state, where they pay a tax. Zaidi, neither Muslim nor Christian, are considered Pagan and killed on the spot, the women enslaved. Shia are considered heretics, and, unlike Christians, must also be killed. Persecution of these groups is not equal.

The question about Russia was a question about principle. If you give preference to Christians because they are a persecuted minority in one case but don't give preference to Muslims when they are a persecuted minority in another case, then protecting minorities is not really the premise of your suggested refugee policy.

Gaza?? There are about 200,000 Christians in Israel, Gaza, and the West bank.  That is quite a number. So-called persecution by Muslims is minimal, hardly the main problem. It wasn't Muslims who drove them off their land and now hold them under military occupation. Every Christian Palestinian I have ever known was very clear about who his/her real oppressor was. They also don't understand why American Christians aren't more sympathetic to their plight.

Yes, there are Christian refugees from Lebanon, though not so many now as there were in the 70s and 80s. I mentioned Jordan and Qatar to establish the Christians are only persecuted minorities in specific places in the Middle East, not everywhere. And I mention Israel to establish that where they are persecuted, it is not only by Muslims.