The murder of Christians in Oregon and the grim silence of Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations on the same day seem to be unconnected events, but both reflect an old and evil war waged against the Judeo-Christian community by those who hate Jews and Christians, Israel and America, Judaism and Christianity. 

The simmering of this old evil can be seen in the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe.  This evil can be seen in the publication of old libels like The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion and in the selected boycotts of Israel by self-appointed elites in Europe.  The development of nuclear weapons by Iran, the existential threat to Israel of which Prime Minister Netanyahu warned, is an ultimate manifestation of that malice towards Jews.

The simmering of this old evil can be seen in the savage persecution of Christians throughout the world.  The persecution of Christians is not limited to the Islamic world.  Hard-line Hindus in India persecute Christians and murder them.  The Chinese government persecutes Christians.  The same self-appointed elites in the West who boycott Israel viciously mock Christianity. 

All of the totalitarian monsters of the last century despised Christians, Jews, and America.  The Nazi war on Christianity and the Soviet war on Jews tend to be ignored by modern historians, but writers at the time had no doubt at all that the liquidation of all those who were part of the Great Faith, the various denominations of Christians and of Jews, was an absolute and inevitable purpose for these totalitarians.

This common aim of Marxists and Nazis – the practical destruction of all who believed in the Loving God of Jews and Christians – is shared by radical Islam as well, which was supported by the Soviets almost from the beginning of the Evil Empire and was subsidized and glorified by both the Nazis and the Fascists. 

Once we understand that reality, then we can understand why Iran calls America the “Great Satan” and Israel the “Little Satan.”  America has had no involvement with Iran for almost forty years, and Israel has never asked anything of Iran except to be allowed to survive.  Iran fought a brutal ten-year war with Iraq that killed or maimed millions of young Iranian men.  Much of Iran has been occupied by an atheistic Soviet Russia.  In nearby India, several thousand Muslims have been killed by Hindus over the last decade.

Why, then, are America and Israel the mortal enemies of the Iranian regime?  America remains the most religiously serious Christian nation in the world, and Israel remains the homeland for Jews in the world.  Both offer a completely different worldview from what is espoused by the militant, angry voice of radical Islam or Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany or any other similar system based fundamentally on rage and venom.

The battle for the survival of the Great Faith is being waged as much within our nation as without it.  While the murder of Christians in Oregon is an extreme example of that war, the judicial war on public expression of faith, the snickering campaign of the leftist establishment on sincere belief, and the quiet strangulation of religion by the myriad tentacles of an increasingly omnipresent state are all part of this siege.  This is a battle that must be won or all is lost.  We can witness, to some extent, what happens when the militant enemies of the Great Faith confront religiously enemy lands by the slow conquest of Europe by Islam.

This is because without believe in the Loving God of Jews and Christians, those left adrift in a soulless universe will gravitate to some false faith that demands total obedience – the totalitarianism which produce fanatical Nazis and Communists, kamikaze pilots, and Islamic suicide bombers. 

Explicit defense of the Great Faith ought to be a political issue in American politics, because ultimately it is our only defense.  This does not mean any special embrace of a particular faith.  Bahá’í, Zoroastrians, Sikhs are among those other faiths who also want simply to be left in peace, like Jews and Christians. 

Defending the Great Faith does, however, mean directly, boldly, and unapologetically stating that the reason Israel is an oasis of safety, democracy, and liberty is because of its connection to the Jewish people – and that Lebanon, a land once also safe, democratic, and free, has been destroyed because the historic Christian majority there has been driven into exile.

The shadows in our world are growing.  The hour is late.  We need to begin today the peaceful but firm campaign to oppose the looming forces who hate the Great Faith.