Being christian is a death sentence

Persecuted Christians are fleeing from the Middle East in increasing numbers. The United States should open its doors to them as a guaranteed safe haven. -SNIP- The Christian population in Iraq is one of the most at risk. Around half of Iraqi Christians have fled the country since 2003, and those who remain expect growing challenges, given the U.S. military pullout. Christians have suffered periodic waves of violence, including bombings, assassinations and church burnings. When Iraq’s government said in 2010 it would issue a license to carry firearms to any Christian family that wanted one, it was simply acknowledging the reality that followers of the faith had to arm or die. -SNIP- Pakistan’s 20 million Christians face a variety of threats, including forced conversion and attacks on churches and worshippers. The Pakistan Christian Congress has appealed to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to award them refugee status, but the U.N. so far has been reluctant to recognize there is a crisis. -SNIP- Christian refugees from Muslim-majority countries who can reach the United States should be given the same special status that asylum-seekers from communist countries were accorded during the Cold War. Precedent exists: The definition of a “refugee-escapee” in the 1957 Immigration and Nationality Act included not only those who had fled “from any Communist-dominated, or Communist-occupied area” but also those “from any country within the general area of the Middle East, and who cannot return to such area, or to such country, on account of race, religion or political opinion. ” Christians and other religious minorities are increasingly unwelcome in the Muslim world; they should be given sanctuary in America. (Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com …