President Assad Visits Christian Maaloula, While The West Turns A Blind Eye

Fox News and others are reporting that President Assad visited Maaloula on Sunday.  This is a village that was attacked and many were slaughtered by rebels.  We found it utterly amazing that it is reported that taking back this village from the Al-Queda affiliated rebels was a prize to the government.  Assad said that he wants to protect Christians, and other religious minorities.  We know Christians were afforded a certain amount of freedom and movement that they don’t have now.  In one rebel held area, Christians have to pay a tax to the rebels, convert or die.  Many media reports from the MSM about Syria are not accurate.   We’ve all seen an realize that.  Here’s an excerpt from Fox News:

President Bashar Assad on Sunday toured a historic Christian village his forces recently captured from rebels, state media said, as the country’s Greek Orthodox Patriarch vowed that Christians in the war-ravaged country “will not submit and yield” to extremists.  Syrian state TV and the country’s official SANA news agency said Assad was in Maaloula, inspecting the damage done in recent fighting to its monasteries and churches.

What do the people of Syria say?  Some say the media reports about Syria are wrong.  Some say that Assad is actually correct in saying this is not a civil war, it’s terrorists.  Some say that the Army and the rebels are both playing games.  Others say that both sides are committing atrocities.  When talking to those who have fled Syria, you get a different picture all together.  While they tell us that Christians had better conditions under Assad, they also say the Government is to blame for the slaughter of Christians, by intentionally moving out of villages and allowing the rebels to take over.  Thus causing the slaughter of Christians.

The Christians in these villages held by rebels have come to rely on the government there for protection. When they leave and allow rebel takeovers, many are killed.  It raises the question, “Is this an intentional cleansing of Christians?”  Syria is not the only place this is happening. It’s happening in Nigeria, the CAR, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other countries.  It is becoming so bad that some call it the next genocide. Yet the Western leaders are either complicit or blinded.  The people of the west hardly raise an eyebrow.  No one is listening.  No one is listening to the heartbreak, the anguish the sorrow of those affected by this.  The survivors, the ones that have fled to safety live every day with the nightmares caused by the evil that is growing there.  It is hard to express in words the evil that is there.  There is no regard for human life, no regard for anything except heinous slaughter.  It is pure unadulterated evil.  Evil that can only come from the bowels of Hell.

That’s not too harsh.  Look at the images coming from these areas, the reports from those on the ground.  The suffering and anguish carried by the survivors.  The faith that those who witness and experience this puts all in the West to shame.  Recently, a Christian facing extreme persecution told us that their faith grows stronger with the persecution.

Look at the recent statement made by Pastor Abidini for Easter.  He lays in a hospital bed in Iran knowing he is going back to prison there, and he’s praying for Christians everywhere—not for himself, but for his brothers and sisters facing persecution.  That kind of faith is monumental.  But do western Christians have that kind of Faith?  Would we have that Faith if we faced what they are facing? Would you, could you? They are an inspiration for our own faith.

As I talk to people and I look around, and listen to the news about the bombings in Abuja, the kidnapping of the schoolgirls in Nigeria, the slaughter in the CAR and Syria, the horrific images of death, starvation, torture, and rape ring in my mind.  Then I ask why, why does the west remain silent.  It’s not too hard to see what concerns them.  Look at the television programs and what’s popular, Naked & Afraid, The Kardashians, the Shopping channels, & other reality shows.  Naked and Afraid is lived every day by those in these area’s.  Starvation, hardships, fear of death, is reality for them.  If you want to watch a reality show, watch the news about Syria, Libya, Nigeria, Yemen, Sudan and others. That is Reality!