Web letter to Rep. Shuler

I wanted to make sure that Rep. Shuler is aware of how the Christians in Iraq are doing. Here is a recent article about the Christians in the city of Mosul:

Mosul Christian Community Dwindles

They have been threatened because of their Christian faith, their distinctive clothing and their success in business. They have been killed because of a controversy over a cartoon. They have fled to wherever they can find a minimal amount of safety - to Iraqi Kurdistan, abroad to Syria, or just to the countryside outside their city. The Christians of Mosul can recite one horror story after another. Once a solid, middle-class community in this northern city, thousands of them have fled their homes under threat from militants. Their churches have been bombed, their clergy murdered, and community members regularly face threats and kidnappings. The story of Mosul's Christians is not dissimilar to that of millions of other Iraqi citizens who live in a state of fear. But their religion makes them especially vulnerable, in a city where governance and the rule of law are non-existent, allowing criminal gangs and Islamic militant groups such as al-Qaeda to intimidate and kill with impunity.


link:
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=337685&apc_state=henpicr


and here is quote from one Christian in Mosul, in the article cited above:

"Life was better under Saddam," said a 35-year-old Christian businessman in Mosul who asked not to be named because he feared retaliation by militant groups. "I used to go out socially and was well-respected, but not any more. In the past, there was law and order, but now nothing stops the extremists or criminals."

So, thanks to the US invasion and occupation of that country, the Christians living there have had their lives destroyed, and makes them wish Saddam was still around. Now, I believe that no one who is a Christian can engage in killing or revenge. That was NOT the example that Jesus set for us. He did not hang on the cross and advise the early followers to hunt his torturers down and kill them in response. Neither did Jesus advocate a preemptive strike before they came for him.

I have been following Iraq for years and post articles on a blog called Iraq Today (and prior to this blog, I posted on Today in Iraq blog). I think the only thing to do now is to get our troops out of there - they cannot make it better.

I would like to ask Rep. Shuler to cosponsor HR 333 to impeach cheney.

I would like to ask Rep. Shuler to cosponsor HR 508, to fund getting our troops home.

I would like to ask Rep. Shuler to get as many innocent victims in Iraq into the USA as possible, particularly if they helped the US military over there. If we do not get them out, they will be murdered.

I would like to ask Rep. Shuler to act like a Christian and do whatever he can (non-violently) to stop the slaughter there in Iraq, and to stop the US from selling more weapons in the Middle East. Christians do not engage in murder or killing.

I would like to ask Rep. Shuler to act like a real fiscal conservative and stop throwing away our money on war and weapons and violence and torture camps. It is obscene that we are doing this, and we need to STOP.