Oct. 11, 2013 9:52pm
The “war on Christianity” is being
ignored by the mainstream media and the Obama administration, Sen. Rand
Paul (R-Ky.) charged Friday, addressing the global attacks on Christians
around the world.
“From Boston to Zanzibar, there’s a
worldwide war on Christianity,” Paul said to applause Friday when
speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C.
“Christians are being attacked around
the world, but you won’t hear much about it on the evening news because
the answer’s not convenient,” Paul continued. “It doesn’t fit the
narrative we have been told about radical Islam. The president tries to
gloss over who’s attacking and killing Christians. The media describes
the killings as sectarian. But the truth is, a worldwide war on
Christians is being waged by a fanatical element of Islam.”
Paul, an expected contender for the
2016 GOP presidential nomination who has been a strong opponent of too
much foreign intervention, also praised the Muslim world’s historic
achievements and said it can again promote modernism by policing their
radical elements.
“For centuries, the Middle East was
home to cultural and intellectual centers of ancient world. Math and
science flourished in the Middle Ages. Tolerance and sophistication were
the norm at one time in the Middle East,” Paul said. “Islam carried the
light of learning for centuries. They paved the way for our
enlightenment. This history needs to be brought back to life again.
Innovation in Muslim communities developed the magnetic compass, pens
and printing.”
But he faulted U.S. policy – specifically aiding the Syrian rebels with links to Al Qaeda.
“Elsewhere in Syria, Islamic rebels
have filmed beheadings of their captives,” Paul said. “They’ve filmed
themselves eating the heart of their enemy. Two Christian bishops have
been kidnapped, and one priest was recently killed. These rebels are
allies of the Islamic rebels that President Obama is now arming. We are
now arming Islamic rebels who are allied with Al Qaeda that attacked us
on 9/11. Does that make any sense at all?”
The audience responded, “No.”
“American tax dollars should never be
spent to prop up a war on Christianity,” Paul continued. “But that’s
what’s happening now across the globe. As Christians, we should take a
stand and fight against any of your tax dollars funding any persecution
of Christians.”
Paul cited a poll by Pew Research that
found 21 percent of Egyptians, 15 percent of Jordanians, and 13 percent
of Pakistani Muslims find terrorism acceptable.
“It’s a minority to be sure, but if
you add up the numbers in just three countries…over 40 million Muslims
sympathize with violence against Christians,” Paul said.
“Radical Islam will end only when
Islam begins to police itself,” Paul added. “Only then will knowledge
[and] enlightenment begin to glow and grow – [and ] religious violence
will recede.”
Here’s Paul’s complete address; his remarks about the war on Christianity open his speech:
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