Three Easy Things You Can Do Right Now To Help

We have learned that Secretary of State John Kerry is waiting on the results of an “additional evaluation,” but will decide soon whether to declare atrocities committed against Syrian Christians and other minorities acts of genocide. This process has seemed painfully slow and frustrating — Congressman Jeff Fortenberry’s Resolution 75 has been languishing in committee for months — but this is welcome news. We pray that his evaluation will help him render a just decision.

In presenting his question to Kerry, Fortenberry spoke movingly:

“I had the extraordinary privilege of being in the room with Pope Francis when he, in a very powerful moment, was given a small cross, a Christian crucifix,” said Fortenberry. “That crucifix had belonged to a young Syrian man who had been captured by the jihadists, and he was told to choose: Convert or die. And he chose his ancient faith tradition. He chose Christ, and he was beheaded.”

 

See the whole exchange here.

A New Haven Register article notes that the Secretary does, in fact, have a deadline: “Kerry must make a declaration whether genocide is occurring by mid-March because of a provision in the 2016 Omnibus Spending Bill. Kerry is expected to include the Yazidi community in a genocide declaration but has not committed to including Christians.” He needs to know that the people of Connecticut stand behind a commitment to help the genocide victims of Syria.

Three Easy Things You Can Do Right Now To Help

  1. The Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians have a petition addressed to Secretary Kerry. Please sign it — I did.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson is quoted in the same New Haven Register article about the petition:

“Christians in Iraq and Syria have suffered injustice after injustice by being kidnapped, killed, having their homes and churches confiscated or destroyed, and being forced to flee for their lives. Because of hit squads, they fear to enter U.N. refugee camps and, as a result, are then often excluded from immigration to the West.

“After all of this, these people deserve to have the U.S. State Department call what has happened to them by its rightful name: genocide — just as the European Parliament, Pope Francis, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and so many other prominent individuals and institutions have already done.”

2. Use our Action Center to urge passage of Resolution 75 — “Expressing the sense of Congress that those who commit or support atrocities against Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities, including Yezidis, Turkmen, Sabea-Mandeans, Kaka‘e, and Kurds, and who target them specifically for ethnic or religious reasons, are committing, and are hereby declared to be committing, ‘war crimes’, ‘crimes against humanity’, and ‘genocide’.”  It is not enough to wait for Secretary Kerry to act; we must keep this effort alive.

3. Pray! “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

Thank you for your perseverance on behalf of our persecuted brothers and sisters!