The silence of our friends--the extinction of Christianity in the Middle East:

[dimbear]

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/09/the-silence-of-our-friends-the-extinction-of-christianity-in-the-middle-east/
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The most outspoken British religious leader has been Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and the debate brought to mind something Rabbi Sacks recently said about Middle Eastern Christians, comparing their fate with those of the Jews in Europe, and quoting Martin Luther King: ‘In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’
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[JI7]

1. is it really comparable to what happened to Jews in Europe ?

[cbayer]

3. There does seem to be something akin to extermination going on,

with little international attention, as the article points out.

[dimbear]

4. The European catastrophe for the Jews began slowly, with vandalism, legal restrictions, and

barriers of association. It was years later when it turned to concentration camps and extermination.
At first Jews could flee reasonably easily, at the last not at all. Comparable? Only those who know the future can say.
Horrid situation.

[hrmjustin]

2. Over the course of many centuries it was gotten worse for Christians.

During the early years of Islam Christian centers of learning in present day Iraq and Iran flourished. Over the course of time Christians were forced to convert, leave, or were killed.

[cleanhippie]

5. Christians treated people this way for centuries too.

The entire history of Christianity is rife with accounts of this same kind of persecution towards others.

Does not excuse what is happening now at all. I think that it is the worst kind tragedy when humans treat each other this way because of differences in their religious beliefs.

[skepticscott]

6. It is in the nature of religious beliefs

to cause people to act that way. Thinking that your god and your beliefs are real, but not the other guy's, that your moral view of the world is the only correct one. Absolutism, fanaticism, fundamentalism are inevitable consequence of religion.

[el_bryanto]

9. Than how do you explain religious folks or religions that aren't particularly

absolutist, fanatic, or fundamentalist? I mean I don't know all the religions of the world but I can think of plenty that seem like generally good neighbor and tolerant of others. And plenty of believers who aren't fanatics for that matter.

Bryant

[hrmjustin]

7. This is true. Not very Christ like of those Christians.

[pinto]

8. The recent Christian immigrants from the middle east I know said they felt

increasingly marginalized and at risk. While immigration to the US offers greater opportunities, they cite the risk situation as an important factor as well. And some are bluntly anti-Muslim. It all seems intractable and the history of some peaceful cohabitation in their native countries seems to have broken apart.