{"id":7039,"date":"2014-02-21T09:33:12","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T17:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=7039"},"modified":"2014-02-21T09:33:12","modified_gmt":"2014-02-21T17:33:12","slug":"kidnapped-nuns-no-longer-bear-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/kidnapped-nuns-no-longer-bear-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"Kidnapped Nuns No Longer Bear the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0World Magazine<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A new\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0of the twelve Christian nuns kidnapped in Syria recently appeared.\u00a0 In it, the nuns are taped sitting in a room and being questioned\"SYRIA_-_Maaloula_sisters_n.2\" by an unseen man, presumably a member of the kidnappers.\u00a0 He asks them how they are, if they\u2019ve been mistreated, etc.<\/p>\n

They respond that they are being treated fine, that they very much look forward to being returned to their convent, that they heartily thank the world for its concern, and that they continually pray that God grant peace to all nations.<\/p>\n

Their words say one thing, their expressions and demeanor another.\u00a0 Put differently, as female captives of Islamic jihadis, what else could they say but what they were told to say? \u00a0(See, for example, how the nun in glasses had to be forced to face the camera\u00a0at 1:46.) \u00a0Even if one of them dared to say the \u201cwrong thing,\u201d it naturally would have been edited out.\u00a0 Who knows how many takes it took to get the video\u2014which includes a bizarre clip of the nuns having a snowball fight with their abductors\u2014just right?<\/p>\n

One thing, however, although minor, speaks volumes concerning the nature of their captivity.\u00a0 Although these same nuns, in pictures before they were kidnapped, often appear wearing the large pectoral crosses that nuns often wear, these are all gone in the recent video.<\/p>\n

This is to be expected, considering the \u201cpious\u201d nature of their captors.\u00a0 According to strict Islamic teaching, Christians and other non-Muslims are forbidden to show any signs or expressions of their \u201cpolytheism\u201d (shirk<\/em>\u00a0in Arabic).\u00a0 Indeed, this is spelled out clearly in the\u00a0Conditions of Omar<\/em>, which mainstream Muslim teaching attributes to the second caliph of the same name.<\/p>\n

After the seventh century armies of Islam conquered a particular Christian region\u2014possibly and ironically in Syria\u2014Omar stipulated several conditions for Christians to accept, including \u201cNot to display a cross on them [churches], nor raise our voices during prayer or readings in our churches anywhere near Muslims; Not to produce a cross or [Christian] book in the markets of the Muslims\u201d (see\u00a0Crucified Again<\/em><\/a>, pgs. 24-27 for my new translation of the entire text of the\u00a0Conditions of Omar<\/em>).<\/p>\n

From here we understand the true plight of the captive nuns: to their captors, not only are the Christian women hostages to be used for leverage, but ideologically speaking, they are \u201cinfidel\u201d inferiors\u2014near sub-humans<\/a>\u00a0who are more\u00a0akin to animals<\/a>.\u00a0 Indeed, the same Caliph Omar whom Syria\u2019s jihadis are hearkening to regarding the ban on Christian crosses is also on record saying that\u00a0the life of a non-Muslim is equal to the life of a dog<\/a>\u00a0(Western readers should bear in mind that in Arab\/Muslim culture, dogs are among the lowest life forms.)<\/p>\n

As such, the plight of the kidnapped nuns remains precarious\u2014all their scripted words aside. (See here<\/a>\u00a0for more on the history of Islamic jihad on Christian nuns.)<\/p>\n

As for the effects of removing \u00a0the nuns\u2019 crosses, an Arabic column by one Father George makes an interesting\u00a0point<\/a>\u00a0highlighting the difference between outwardly observant \u201cSalafi\u201d Muslims, presumably like the kidnappers\u2014with their beards and prayer callouses on their foreheads\u2014and inwardly observant Christians like these nuns:<\/p>\n

St Paul says \u201cBut God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world\u201d (Galatians 6:14).\u00a0 You removed the cross from the nuns\u2019 breasts.\u00a0 Remove it!\u00a0 We do not rely on the visible.\u00a0 But know that the cross is firmly planted in the hearts of each and every one of those nuns.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0World Magazine\u00a0 A new\u00a0video\u00a0of the twelve Christian nuns kidnapped in Syria recently appeared.\u00a0 In it, the nuns are taped sitting in a room and being questioned by an unseen man, presumably a member of the kidnappers.\u00a0 He asks them how they are, if they\u2019ve been mistreated, etc. They respond that they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[127,225,33,227],"tags":[366,192,1017,1018],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1Px","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6949,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/kerry-boasts-of-pluralistic-syria-once-assad-gone\/","url_meta":{"origin":7039,"position":0},"title":"Kerry Boasts of ‘Pluralistic’ Syria Once Assad Gone","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, was recently\u00a0interviewed\u00a0about Syria. \u00a0While many of his assertions can be debated, one especially requires a response. 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