Christian Leaders in Middle East
Largely Opposed to U.S. Military
Strike in Syria, Says WEA

Christian leaders in the Middle East
believe that a U.S. military
intervention in Syria will have a
"detrimental effect" on Christians in
the region, Geoff Tunnicliffe of the
World Evangelical Alliance said in a
statement to the White House on
Thursday.
Tunnicliffe, who serves as the
secretary general for the global
evangelical group, is currently
attending a conference in Amman,
Jordan, to address the plight of "Arab
Christians," particularly those in
Egypt and Syria. The conference was
convened by Jordan's King Abdullah
II and attended by California's
Saddleback Church pastor Rick
Warren, Christian Hollywood
producers Roma Downey and Mark
Burnett, and several Middle Eastern
Christian leaders.
After speaking at the conference,
Tunnicliffe sent a letter to the White
House and the United Nation's
Security Council saying that the
majority of Christian leaders he spoke
to from the Syria region discourage
military action in their country,
saying such intervention would have
a "detrimental effect" on Christians in
the region.
"I think I can say that there is a major
consensus amongst the Christian
leaders in this region that any
military intervention by the United
States will have a detrimental effect
on the situation and in particular for
Christians in Syria," he wrote, adding
that "Christians have already been
threatened in Syria by some of the
opposition indicating that a post
regime Syria will be Muslim and
Christians will not be welcome."
Currently, the U.S. is considering
whether to conduct a limited military
strike on Syria, claiming it has proof
that Syria's government, led by
President Bashar Assad, is
responsible for a chemical weapons
attack that took place on civilians
near Damascus on August 21, killing
1,429 people, including 426 children.
The Bashar Assad regime has been
involved in a bitter civil war with
rebel forces seeking to overthrow the
president's regime for the past two
years. The rebel forces include a mix
of al-Qaeda-aligned groups hoping
to make Syria an Islamic state and
more moderate rebels hoping to
simply overthrow the Assad regime.
Due to the fact that some rebel forces
want Syria to become a completely
Islamic state, Christian leaders in the
region are concerned that if the U.S.
helps oust Assad from power,
Christians will ultimately face
persecution or be forced out of the
country.


Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said in
a recent interview on NBC's "Meet the
Press" that he opposes U.S.
intervention in Syria because Syria's
President Assad "has protected
Christians for a number of decades,"
and "Islamic rebels" are responsible
for persecuting Christians in the
region.
"I think the Islamic rebels winning is
a bad idea for the Christians, and all
of a sudden we'll have another
Islamic state where Christians are
persecuted," Paul said. The Middle
East is already overwhelmed with an
estimated 2 million refugees from
Syria, who have fled their war-torn
homeland.
The National Association for
Evangelicals, a group representing 40
evangelical Christian denominations
and over 45,000 local churches in the
U.S., recently conducted a survey that
found 62.5 percent of its member
pastors oppose U.S. intervention in
Syria. Leith Anderson, president of
the NAE, said in a personal statement
to the Religion News Service that
there are many different reasons why
the Syria issue is a difficult,
complicated subject for American
pastors.
Anderson does not indicate whether
he is for or against military
intervention in Syria, instead saying
that now is the time for Christians to
pray for the world's leaders: "The
Bible teaches us to pray for our
leaders. This is a week for extra
prayers as our Congress and
President decide what to do about
Syria. And, let's add Syrian leaders to
our prayer list. Our request is that
God will give wisdom to make
choices for a lasting peace in the
region," Anderson stated.
President Barack Obama announced
earlier this week that although he is
in favor of a limited military strike
against Syria that would not involve
"boots on the ground," he would seek
the permission of Congress to go
through with the strike. The majority
of Congress remains undecided on
the issue, although House Minority
leader Nancy Pelosi, a democrat, and
House Speaker John Boehner, a
republican, have both voiced their
support for a military strike.

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