An Iraqi dressed as Santa Claus or Father Christmas rings a bell as children dressed in Christmas outfits wave Iraqi flags during a pre-Christmas celebration organized for the Iraqi Christian community by the Interior Ministry in Baghdad on Dec. 20, 2008ec. 20, 2008
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin. Around 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq at the time of the US-led invasion of 2003, but the number has since shrunk by around a third or more as members of the minority community have fled the country, according to Christian leaders. (AFP/Getty Images)

There are just so many questions that come to mind when looking at this photo. The most pressing: Christians do Santa AND Christ Jesus’ birth? Also, isn’t that the Jehovah Witness Jesus portrayed in that mural behind them? This reminds me of that commercial from the Holy Land in Orlando, Fla., in which the announcer asks – “Do you look like Jesus?” …This is probably why the LORD our GOD forbade the Hebrews from making images of anything they could imagine seeing in heaven.

Also, I find it interesting that the official agency caption omits exactly why the number of Iraqi Christians have shrunk since the U.S. invasion. Yes, it’s related to the reasons why Iraq’s numbers dwindled in general. But.

Christians, as perhaps anyone not practicing an “official” state form of Islam, are specifically being persecuted in Iraq — and I won’t be surprised if attacks increase as Christmas draws closer. So this little “celebration” the government is “allowing” the Christians to have to acknowledge Christmas is a joke.

As recently reported by Reuters:

Iraq is now one of the most dangerous places on earth for religious minorities, a U.S. government commission said on Tuesday, accusing Iraq’s leaders of tolerating attacks on Christians and others.

The very existence of these groups in mainly Muslim Iraq is now threatened, said a new report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a body appointed by Congress and the president.

The report comes after 1,500r 1,500
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
 

WP-Bible plugin Christian families fled attacks and intimidation in the northern city of Mosul in October. The city’s Christian archbishop was kidnapped and murdered this year. U.S. military commanders have blamed Sunni Islamist militants for the violence.

The bipartisan commission recommended that Iraq be designated a “country of particular concern” as a consequence of what it called the Iraqi government’s tolerance of severe abuses of religious freedom. (Read the rest…)

And also consider this excerpt from CNSNews.com:

The Bush administration has “turned a blind eye” to the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said Tuesday at an event sponsored by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Wolf blamed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and even Christian churches in the United States for not coming to the aid of people in Iraq who are fleeing the country by the thousands to avoid torture and even death because of their allegiance to non-Muslim faiths.

“We are spending billions of dollars and have shed the blood of some of this country’s finest, and the U.S. government has not done a darn thing to protect the freedom and safety – forget freedom – the safety of Christians in Iraq,” Wolf said. “Secretary Rice has failed when it comes to this point.

“When I talk about it, I get mad,” Wolf said. (Read the rest…)

One more excerpt, this from Christian Today:

Christian in Iraq remain under siege, said the head of the North American branch of Open Doors on Monday.

Open Doors, which serves the international persecuted church, is one of a handful of Christian agencies working with vulnerable communities in Iraq in spite of widespread instability.

While there were around 550,000 Christians in the country prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein, Open Doors said it was difficult to determine how many were still there today as a succession of attacks targeted specifically at Christians has prompted many of them to leave. (Read the rest…)

So… just about everyone knows Iraq is persecuting Christians, but apparently everyone is too busy to really do anything about it. This is a nation the United States occupies (and likely “owns”), yet the U.S. can’t do anything to ensure religious freedom? Talk, talk, talk… just as effective as President Bush’s statements while in China for the Olympics over the summer. We will have a lot to answer for in judgment, as will the many nations who sat idly by as satanist Hitler methodically murdered Jacob’s children.

Please, while you’re unwrapping your gifts by the fireplace and sipping on eggnog this season, remember to ask the LORD our GOD for HIS continuous grace and mercy on our persecuted brothers and sisters across the world.

Resources:

Christians Of Iraq| Voice of the Martyrs