Saturday, February 21, 2015

Mark Durie's comments on the martyrdom of 21 Coptic Christians

Mark Durie has written a  perceptive  2 part article about the recent kidnapping and beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians.

Dr Mark Durie is a theologian, human rights activist and Anglican pastor.

In his well-researched article, Dr Durie says  I choose to honour [these Coptic Christians] today by writing to acknowledge the truth about why they were killed, and in particular the explanation given by their killers. 
I also wish to record, as a Christian and a pastor, my intense protest at theWhite House official statement of February 15 2015 concerning this event.  This makes no mention of the reason the twenty one were killed: their Christian faith.  This culpable denial dishonours them, as it dishonours me and Christians everywhere.  

The White House statement claimed that “ISIL’s barbarity knows no bounds. It is unconstrained by faith, sect or ethnicity.”  Not true.  The Islamic State’s actions are constrained by its theology, and in this case its targets are also determined on religious grounds; they were Christians.  It is not an endorsement of the killers’ Islamic beliefs to acknowledge that these jihadis follow a form of Islam, and that their sect and faith does constrain their behaviour accordingly. 

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