Young Woman Who Left Islam Killed in Iraq

Outspoken convert was preparing to be baptized.

(Morning Star News) – A young woman preparing to be baptized in Erbil, Iraq last week was instead killed in a possible “honor” killing for converting to Christianity, with Muslim family members reportedly suspected, according to local media. The body of Eman Sami Maghdid, 20, was found on March 7 bound with tape and discarded […]

Morning Star News’ Top 10 Persecution Stories of 2015

Islamic violence accelerates in countries not known for religious conflict.

(Morning Star News) – Islamic extremist violence in countries not known for religious tensions, majority-Christian Kenya and Uganda, topped Morning Star News’ stories in 2015. While the Islamic State terrorized Christians in Syria, Iraq and Libya, and Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria killed innocent civilians in the shadow of Boko Haram, in northeast Kenya Al […]

The Problem of Islam and the Islamic State

An atheist and an Anglican offer bold solutions.

(Morning Star News) – Two remarkable pieces about Islamist violence were published last week in mainstream media – one answering the ambivalence thoughtful people feel on what to do about the Islamic State, and the other answering perplexity on what to do about Islam. They are remarkable first because, unconcerned about political correctness, they strongly […]

The Islamic State: Hastening the Apocalypse?

Motives for unspeakable cruelty lie in Sunni 'End of Days’ teaching.

(Morning Star News) – Since summer 2014, the Islamist terrorist group ISIS – a.k.a. Islamic State – has devastated the political, geographic and combat landscape of the Middle East. At the same time, along with its ominous black banners, it has raised worrisome questions about the true nature of Islam. For the Middle East’s ancient […]

Morning Star News’ Top 10 Persecution Stories of 2014

For once, good news – miraculous righting of horrific injustice in Sudan – tops list.

(Morning Star News) – In a year that saw a new level of cruelty unleashed upon Christians and other religious minorities across Syria, Iraq and Africa, one once obscure case of injustice in Sudan turned into a titanic battle that gripped the world’s attention. The battle appeared to be spiritual as much as legal. 1 – […]

Displaced Iraqi Christians Ponder an Iraq without Christians

Wait out the bloodbath and return home, or end the church’s historic presence?

ERBIL, Iraq (Morning Star News) – As he drove across the bridge, slowly following other cars, the scene unfolding around the pastor was complete chaos. In the distance he could hear mortar rounds hitting their targets as hundreds of other displaced people streamed by one side of his car with whatever they could carry on […]

How to Read a Persecution News Story

Pray – if you can figure out how.

(Morning Star News) – Any of you who regularly follow persecution news may find that it gets hard to read after a while. In response to reader requests on how to deal with so much horrific news – one becomes either despondent or desensitized – I’ll share how I handle it. The horror of some […]

Humanitarian Catastrophe in Mosul, Iraq Demands Response

Severe hardships afflict Christians in Islamist insurgency’s takeover.

(Morning Star News) – Less than a week after Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) described the Islamist takeover of Mosul, Iraq as genocide and challenged the West to counteract it, Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, published a trenchant piece on the Fox News website asserting that ISIS, the Sunni Muslim […]

Christians Not Target of Baghdad Bombings, Iraqi Officials Say

Worshippers unhurt, and victims include Muslims and Christians, they say.

LOS ANGELES (Morning Star News) – Government and church officials in Iraq refuted initial claims by police that bombs in southern Baghdad targeted Christians, saying no worshippers leaving a nearby church were hurt. A car bomb that went off near St. John Catholic Church in the Doura area of Baghdad on Dec. 25 as worshippers were […]

Islamic Extremist Violence Persists in Iraq, Nigeria – and Kenya?

Car-bombings, executions continue in two countries as doubts linger about end of siege in Nairobi.

LOS ANGELES (Morning Star News) – Amid the wave of Islamic extremist bombings that have taken place in Iraq in the past week, one aimed at a Christian member of Parliament went largely unnoticed. Catholic news agency Fides News Agency (Agenzia Fides) reports that an apparent suicide attack by car bomb in Kirkuk on Sunday (Sept. […]