Iraq’s Christians need help now

Ecclesiastes says there is a time for war and a time for peace.

If Christianity is to survive in the Middle East, the time for war may have come. You’ve probably heard by now that President Obama has asked Congress to authorize military force against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

The decision to go to war should never be done lightly. In fact, we should drop to our knees right now and pray for our elected officials, as well as our armed forces, as they prepare to take action.

The measures President Obama is proposing go beyond the air-strikes he’s already ordered. This time, boots on the ground are a possibility. And that’s understandably a tough sell for war-weary Americans. But, Islamic extremists seem determined to force our hand as they butcher and burn their way across the Middle East, leaving entire communities in ashes. And the brutal executions of 21 Egyptian Christians (not just citizens) — put ISIS’ evil on full display for the world.

Someone must confront these barbarians — especially in light of what they’ve done and are doing to Iraq’s Christians. Ever since ISIS crossed the border, they’ve been leveling the homes of ethnic and religious minorities, including some of the world’s oldest Christian communities.

In the process, they’ve massacred civilians, torched historic churches and mosques and dragged women and girls into sex slavery.

“We don’t have much time left as Christians in this region,” said Bashar Warda, an Archbishop of the ancient Catholic Chaldean Church.

In a plea to British lawmakers recently, Archbishop Warda insisted that western nations must forcibly intervene against ISIS if the region’s religious and ethnic minorities are to survive.

“As a Catholic,” he admitted, “I find it hard to say, but I want military action. There is no other way now.”

He’s not alone. Retired Rep. Frank Wolf, recently helped establish the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, an advocacy group for global religious freedom.

Recently, a delegation of the Wilberforce Initiative issued a grim report. “A decade ago, Iraq’s Christian population numbered 1.5 million,” said the group’s president, Randel Everett. “Today, roughly 300,000 remain, and most have no jobs, no schools and no places of worship.”

And with last summer’s conquest of Mosul by ISIS, the historic home of many Kurds and Christians, refugees are running out of refuges.

As ISIS tightens its noose, vulnerable groups left in the region face nothing less than complete “extinction.”

“If the Islamic State is not defeated and ultimately destroyed,” said Congressman Wolf, “there will be no future for these ancient faith communities.”

Baghdad’s Canon Andrew White heads a team bringing relief to those who’ve chosen to flee rather than to die. His tender words put a human face on the misery in Iraq:

“The situation…remains terrible,” wrote White on his blog recently. “The refugees displaced from [their] homes and towns have been suffering so much in the cold of winter. Our team up there has been doing a great job continuing to provide food and warm clothing to the hundreds in distress.”

To refuse to act now and abandon Christians who have lived and worshipped there since before our nation existed, is unthinkable. Folks, there is a time for war. And as Congress decides whether this is that time, we need to pray — not only for our leaders’ wisdom and our troops’ safety, but for those on the edge of extinction — our brothers and our sisters in Iraq and other Middle East nations.