Just a couple of weeks into his administration, President Trump has used the G-word – something his predecessor did only reluctantly and the media continue to refuse to do. At the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday, Trump mentioned the threat to religious minorities (Christians) under ISIS and in other Muslim majority nations, calling what’s happening “genocide.” 
“They cut off heads,” he said. “Not since the Middle Ages have we seen this, the cutting off of heads.” Christians face mass displacement, forced conversion, torture, crucifixion and, yes, beheading. On March 17, Obama Secretary of State John Kerry officially declared the persecution of Christians (and other minority denominations) in Isis-held territory a genocide. The networks barely covered the declaration then, and they haven’t mentioned it since. In fact, as MRC research shows, since January 2014, ABC, NBC and CBS have only used “genocide” six times, even when they were reporting on Muslims committing atrocities against Christians.
The media’s willingness to downplay the issue was illustrated in a New York Times article on Jan. 29. The headline stated “Christian Leaders Denounce Trump’s Plan to Favor Christian Refugees.” The truth is that some Christian leaders denounced the plan. There was nothing like consensus among Christian leaders. But any stick will do to beat Trump. According to the Times:
A broad array of clergy members has strongly denounced Mr. Trump’s order as discriminatory, misguided and inhumane. Outrage has also come from some of the evangelical, Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant leaders who represent the churches most active in trying to aid persecuted Christians.
Certainly, Church groups don’t want to go on record as preferring one denomination over another. Just wouldn’t be embracing diversity. And “Islamophobia” is up there next to refusing to play sexually confusing pronoun games as a cardinal sin in our degraded moral climate.
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Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League is one Christian leader who vocally applauded Trump’s action. “Should Christian refugees be given priority status?” Donohue asked Jan. 31, writing on CNS News. “Absolutely. There is one overriding reason: they are the most persecuted people on earth.”
And that persecution, according to a Feb. 2 Fox News report, is growing. Fox cited a study “by the Center for Studies on New Religions that showed nearly 90,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2016 and that as many as 600 million were prevented from practicing their faith through intimidation, forced conversions, bodily harm or even death.”
And the suffering isn’t restricted to Muslim countries. David Curry, president and CEO of the Christian relief group Open Doors USA, told Fox, “The spread of persecution has gotten worse, now hitting nearly every continent in the world. There were 23 Christians killed in Mexico specifically because of their faith.” Open Doors estimates that 215 million Christians around the world are facing some form of persecution.
Christians are suffering genocide in Syria and Iraq and persecution elsewhere, and desperately need succor. (Christian refugees also don’t tend to self-detonate or drive trucks into crowds, making them ideal guests.) But since the only acceptable from of victim right now is Muslim, the Times and the networks would prefer you – and President Trump – look the other way.
