At an event held to bring attention to religious persecution in the world earlier this fall, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto in Nigeria, said: "Designating my country, Nigeria, a Country of Concern will only make our work ... harder."
He was referring to the fact that the Biden administration had taken his country off the list of nations with religious-liberty violations. And, so, of course, the Trump administration just redesignated Nigeria as an unsafe zone for religious freedom.
This was part of the bishop's plea: "It will only increase tensions, sow doubt, open windows of suspicion and fear, and simply allow the criminals and perpetrators of violence to exploit. What Nigeria needs now is more vigilance by the organizations such as the ACIN and civil society groups to continue to press for change and to deliberately work to end impunity."
OK. So now we've done it. We may or may not have made the work that the likes of Kukah are doing more difficult. I've been having flashbacks to the so-called Islamic State genocide in Iraq a decade ago. The Christian minority that was already second-class citizens became the target of homicidal maniacs who used their religion to justify the hateful persecution. I've been blessed to get to know Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil (near Kurdistan) and others there who stepped up to provide hope for Catholics who fled Mosul. The Catholic University of Erbil just celebrated its 10th anniversary. While way too many Iraqi Christians have fled, what they've done in Erbil is nothing short of miraculous.
Christmas can be a time of silly, short-lived outrage over taking the Christ out of Christmas. Don't get me wrong; we have secularized the holiday. But it's also not all that important how Starbucks or whoever decides to phrase their advertising. Christians have a lot bigger things to worry about. Religious liberty is not just about your tribe.
I sat with some Jewish friends on Capitol Hill the other night as they asked me what was going on with Catholics. Tucker Carlson interviews a dude who has said Hitler was cool, among other things, and lots of people are defending his right to do so. OK, free speech. OK, standing athwart the mercilessness of cancel culture. But it's not Christianity if it's not looking out for your neighbor. And while it is good that we are telling the truth once again as a nation about what is happening in Nigeria, that also does not get us off the hook. Believers and nonbelievers all need American vigilance, because we've made commitments to God about protecting the first freedom. Remember that as we celebrate Christmas. Remember that as we see the latest horror in Nigeria. Pray and persevere in the priorities of freedom and goodwill to all our fellow men. Including on podcasts and social media and in our daily encounters.
The Nigerians and the Iraqis are in it for the long haul. We must be, too.
(Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review magazine and author of the new book "A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living." She is also chair of Cardinal Dolan's pro-life commission in New York, and is on the board of the University of Mary. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.)
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