JOSHUA ARNOLD
The past week was one of the most fatal for Christians around the world in recent memory. From Nigeria to Ethiopia to Jordan, gunmen slaughtered more than a hundred Christians. The somber news reminds Christians in America of the urgent need our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ face every day. It also accentuates the stakes in Tuesday's election.
On Friday, gunmen attacked a Christian community in northeastern Nigeria, firing on people as they fled into a river. At least 62 people were killed in the attack, 52 were wounded, and thousands fled their homes. In the past decade, Islamist militants have killed tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria.
Also on Friday, three unnamed terrorists opened fire at Christians gathered for a funeral outside St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hmoud, east of the Dead Sea. Jordanian authorities have suspects in custody, making this the only one of the three attacks where government authorities have acted to protect Christians.
On Saturday, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians in the Oromia state suffered a series of attacks in which more than 60 people were killed, including five children, and 20 houses were burned to the ground. One survivor described it as an ambush, in which the attackers surrounded their victims on all sides.
A local official blamed the attacks on a rebel coalition, Alliance for Survival, which includes the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). However, according to Christian Emergency Alliance, "surviving witnesses claimed regional authorities collaborated with Islamist militias to carry out the massacre."
All three attacks came the weekend before International Religious Freedom Day (October 27), and also shortly before the U.S. midterm elections.
Fortunately, international religious freedom still finds supporters in both parties -- far more than pro-life or pro-marriage positions. For instance, a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) passed the Senate unanimously on September 30.
However, the parties do vary in the intensity of their commitment to international religious freedom.
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