There has been an increase in violence against Christians in Middle Eastern and African countries Like Egypt and Iraq in the last few weeks. It’s interesting that there is very little government concern in those predominately Muslim nations about the “rising tide of Christian-phobia” sweeping the region! In fact authorities in these countries are very hesitant to act in protection of their Christian minorities because they fear popular reaction and that of the religious leaders and clerics.

What we in the west fail to grasp is that in the Islamic world, the separation of church and state simply doesn’t exist. Iraq for example is a theocratic state. To choose another faith, especially Christianity, is not only a religious statement but a statement of political dissent. To attack a Christian, in many Muslim societies, is an attack on the western society. Americans are constantly citing the separation of church and state (usually incorrectly I might add) but to many in countries like Iraq and Iran this distinction simply does not exist. We are all from Christian cultures, therefore we are all Christians.

Western governments have been slow to bring political pressure as well. Strange, given that when a nutty and generally misguided pastor of a tiny Florida church threatened to burn the Koran, all political hell broke loose. Calls came in from far and wide urging the man to release his leather bound hostages and restore world peace. Look I don’t like book burning in any form but how does the empty threat to burn a few texts compare to blowing up a crowd of human beings leaving a church after mass? The loudest protests to this point have come from Italy (Rome) of course, who plans to work to reduce aid to offending nations from the EU and the UN. Pope Benedict has also called on eastern governments to protect their Christian citizens.

Now I will of course offer the standard disclaimer that I’m not talking about all Muslims. Ironically I doubt that as a Christian I would receive the same courtesy in the Muslim world. The fact is, outside the context of Europe and North America, where political correctness reigns, there is an actual religious cleansing going on. But it’s not likely to become a cause celeb given the fact that the victims are Christians. Christianity is of course the only religion / culture that modern political correctness allows us mock, ridicule and generally persecute.