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A. CHRISTIAN VAN GORDER, BOARD OF CONTRIBUTORS: IT'S HIGH TIME AMERICANS RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE 100 YEARS AGO
Waco Tribune-Herald, TX
Feb 13 2015
A. CHRISTIAN VAN GORDER Board of Contributors Waco Tribune-Herald
Adolf Hitler, before launching the Holocaust against Europe's Jews,
asked, "After all, who today speaks of the Armenians?" One hundred
years ago this year, more than 1.5 million Armenian Christians were
massacred by agents of the Turkish government.
Men of all ages were shot, crucified, stabbed; women and girls of
all ages -- often in front of their husbands and families -- were
raped before being killed. Even children were tortured and murdered
in every barbaric way imaginable. People were set on fire and forced
to eat their own body parts. Tens of thousands of Armenians were sent
to the desert to starve.
Armenian Christians today are at the forefront in speaking up for
their Syrian and Iraqi sisters and brothers suffering at the hands
of terrorists who murder in God's name. Their Christian compassion
springs from the searing memories of their own horrific experiences.
They know what can happen when Christians are abandoned and forgotten
while surrounded by neighbors who hate them simply because of their
faith. We are so blessed with many precious freedoms here in America.
People of all faiths in America need also to offer more vigorous
support for the persecuted Christians of the Middle East. We cannot
blindly look the other way while our dear sisters and brothers are
suffering.
Armenians formed the first Christian-led kingdom on earth. Yet
their contributions to the world's artistic and intellectual riches
across three millennia have been largely forgotten. Today's Turkish
government has sought to erase Armenians from the pages of their
history, yet these ghosts and legacies will not quietly vanish. Why
do we tolerate our government's tepid unwillingness to confront these
bigoted genocide denialists?
Before becoming president, Sen. Obama publicly pledged that, if
elected, he would recognize as fact the 1915 killing of 1.5 million
Armenian Christians as an act of genocide. President Obama has yet to
keep this promise. The Turkish government, to this day, has denied that
a genocide took place. Now is the time for the United States to join
dozens of other nations (France, Canada, etc.) who have acknowledged
the Armenian genocide. It is the morally right thing to do.
The facts of history should not become political footballs to be
rationalized away by those who deny these killings as a byproduct of
war among rivals when, in fact, it was a war of extermination. Why
does our nation prevaricate in the face of Turkish denials of these
hellish atrocities? Because Turkey is a major American military ally
who hosts a huge air force base in Turkey.
None of us can solve all of the nightmarish problems of the world,
but each of us can make some concrete contribution for change. All
of us can pray and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Write, call or email your representatives as well as Obama. Support
organizations are helping persecuted believers worldwide -- and
especially the plights of Christians, Yazidis and the Baha'i --
who are suffering and dying for their faiths in Syria, Iraq and
other Muslim-majority nations. Remember the genocide of 1.5 million
Armenian Christians and insist that those who deny the grim facts
of their genocidal history are held to account. Do something. As
Theodore Roosevelt challenged, "Do what you can where you are with
what you have."
A. Christian van Gorder, an associate professor of religion at Baylor
University, is an ordained pastor with the American Baptist Churches
and served as associate pastor in Burton, Michigan, and interim
pastor in Conneaut, Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books,
including "Islam, Peace and Social Justice," "Violence in God's Name:
Christian and Muslim Relations in Nigeria" and "No God but God:
A Path to Muslim-Christian Discussions About the Nature of God."
http://www.wacotrib.com/opinion/columns/board_of_contributors/a-christian-van-gorder-board-of-contributors-it-s-high/article_5a74a89b-6634-5b7b-9e37-1152c1bc745b.html
Waco Tribune-Herald, TX
Feb 13 2015
A. CHRISTIAN VAN GORDER Board of Contributors Waco Tribune-Herald
Adolf Hitler, before launching the Holocaust against Europe's Jews,
asked, "After all, who today speaks of the Armenians?" One hundred
years ago this year, more than 1.5 million Armenian Christians were
massacred by agents of the Turkish government.
Men of all ages were shot, crucified, stabbed; women and girls of
all ages -- often in front of their husbands and families -- were
raped before being killed. Even children were tortured and murdered
in every barbaric way imaginable. People were set on fire and forced
to eat their own body parts. Tens of thousands of Armenians were sent
to the desert to starve.
Armenian Christians today are at the forefront in speaking up for
their Syrian and Iraqi sisters and brothers suffering at the hands
of terrorists who murder in God's name. Their Christian compassion
springs from the searing memories of their own horrific experiences.
They know what can happen when Christians are abandoned and forgotten
while surrounded by neighbors who hate them simply because of their
faith. We are so blessed with many precious freedoms here in America.
People of all faiths in America need also to offer more vigorous
support for the persecuted Christians of the Middle East. We cannot
blindly look the other way while our dear sisters and brothers are
suffering.
Armenians formed the first Christian-led kingdom on earth. Yet
their contributions to the world's artistic and intellectual riches
across three millennia have been largely forgotten. Today's Turkish
government has sought to erase Armenians from the pages of their
history, yet these ghosts and legacies will not quietly vanish. Why
do we tolerate our government's tepid unwillingness to confront these
bigoted genocide denialists?
Before becoming president, Sen. Obama publicly pledged that, if
elected, he would recognize as fact the 1915 killing of 1.5 million
Armenian Christians as an act of genocide. President Obama has yet to
keep this promise. The Turkish government, to this day, has denied that
a genocide took place. Now is the time for the United States to join
dozens of other nations (France, Canada, etc.) who have acknowledged
the Armenian genocide. It is the morally right thing to do.
The facts of history should not become political footballs to be
rationalized away by those who deny these killings as a byproduct of
war among rivals when, in fact, it was a war of extermination. Why
does our nation prevaricate in the face of Turkish denials of these
hellish atrocities? Because Turkey is a major American military ally
who hosts a huge air force base in Turkey.
None of us can solve all of the nightmarish problems of the world,
but each of us can make some concrete contribution for change. All
of us can pray and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Write, call or email your representatives as well as Obama. Support
organizations are helping persecuted believers worldwide -- and
especially the plights of Christians, Yazidis and the Baha'i --
who are suffering and dying for their faiths in Syria, Iraq and
other Muslim-majority nations. Remember the genocide of 1.5 million
Armenian Christians and insist that those who deny the grim facts
of their genocidal history are held to account. Do something. As
Theodore Roosevelt challenged, "Do what you can where you are with
what you have."
A. Christian van Gorder, an associate professor of religion at Baylor
University, is an ordained pastor with the American Baptist Churches
and served as associate pastor in Burton, Michigan, and interim
pastor in Conneaut, Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books,
including "Islam, Peace and Social Justice," "Violence in God's Name:
Christian and Muslim Relations in Nigeria" and "No God but God:
A Path to Muslim-Christian Discussions About the Nature of God."
http://www.wacotrib.com/opinion/columns/board_of_contributors/a-christian-van-gorder-board-of-contributors-it-s-high/article_5a74a89b-6634-5b7b-9e37-1152c1bc745b.html