An Orthodox theologian from France claims that Christians in the Near East are being massacred because of their religion, 20 Minutes reports.
Jean-François Colosimo, author of the book “Unwanted Men: The Curse on Eastern Christians,” says that ISIS uses Christians of all denominations — Coptic, Armenian, Orthodox, etc. — as scapegoats.
“They want to increase ethnic tensions in the region,” he told 20 Minutes. “They say Christians are agents of Europe — even though they have lived in the region long before Islam came — and use them in order to provoke Western powers and therefore fuel their own animosity towards Christians.”
“Islamists want religious uniformity in the region,” he continued. “Today’s Eastern Christians are like 19th-century Jews in Europe: in minority, stigmatized, without international protection or national territory.”
However, unlike his fellow country man and member of the French Academy Jean d’Ormenson, Colosimo does not want to use “genocide” to describe the dire situation. “A genocide is mass killings that require a plan, like the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Such is not the case right now.”
He adds that the killings also affect Muslim Shiites — the minority among Sunnite Muslims — so that everything that disagrees with the Islamic State is taken care of. “These massacres are a stain on civilization,” adds Colosimo.