Christians Must 'Get Their Heads Out of the Sand' and Help Persecuted Believers, Says Aid to the Church in Need Chairman (Part 2)
Governments and media organizations in the Western world must stop ignoring the mass slaughter of believers in the Middle East, says George J. Marlin, chairman of Aid to the Church in Need, an organization that provides aid to persecuted Christians.
During an interview with The Christian Post Marlin revealed what he believes to be the only solution to defeating radical Islamic groups such as the Islamic State, whose militants are ravaging the Middle East.
He also told CP that the Western world has been too quiet concerning the hell believers are living in inside Muslim controlled nations, such as Syria and Iraq, and that American Christians need to defend the rights of their brothers and sisters around the world.
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The following is an edited transcript of the The Christian Post's Part 2 interview with Marlin, in which he discusses the actions Western Christians should take in order to help the persecuted Church in the Middle East. You can read Part 1 of CP's interview here.
CP: What can Christians in the West do to help the persecuted Church in the Middle East?
Marlin: Christians have to wake up and start beating the pots and pans to get the West's head out of the sand. There hasn't been enough noise and outrage. [We also] need to provide humanitarian needs that people have. Not just food, but with refugees, facilities where their kids could get educated, get a job and rebuild their lives.
We need a united voice of crying out. The pope and others have made statements, but this has to be constant. This is what Christians ought to be doing.
They're supposed to be [pushing] their congressmen and senators in the U.S. to go out and identify and start reporting this persecution. We should pressure our congressional representatives — when it comes to foreign aid — that if this kind of persecution is going on, let's review and maybe stop foreign aid in these countries. We also need to let Christians in the Middle East know we have not forgotten them.
CP: Why do you think people from the West join radical groups like IS?
Marlin: I'm not sure. It could be that they think it's a great cause. They think it's a cause that's worthy, which is warped thinking on their part. It also says to me that there's a subset of people in the U.S., living in this materialistic society, who are looking for something.
It says something about two generations of people in this country that are starved for some sort of fulfillment and they look to something that is radical, and they think its romantic and gives them a privilege and purpose of being. It's sad, but I think it's a reflection of how bad our secular society is becoming.
