Stephen Herreid is a columnist for CatholicVote and The Stream, where he writes primarily about the plights of the persecuted Church, the unborn, and the poor. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenHerreid.
Recent Articles by Stephen Herreid
Human smuggling: The unintended consequence of EU migration policy
Last Wednesday, the European Court of Justice rejected the “open-door” policy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ruling in favor of the rights of member states to deport migrants back to the countries through which they originally entered Europe. The ECJ decision has been greeted, alternately, as a setback for refugees or a triumph for the sovereignty of European states. But as the two sides exchange rhetorical barbs, it would be wise for them not to lose sight of an important point: The greatest beneficiaries of the decision are the migrants themselves, whose human dignity has been demeaned as they have become the prey of human smugglers – thanks, in no small part, to EU policy.
In August 2015, Chancellor Merkel declared that any migrant who could reach Europe was free to settle in Germany. In retrospect, that only exacerbated the refugee crisis. A record-breaking number of migrants, more than 1.3 million in all, arrived that year, with hundreds of thousands following them in the two following years. The European Union responded by drawing up a quota system, dictating from Brussels how many migrants each of the 28 EU member states were to accept. It also threatened to withhold EU structural...
Book review: 'The Persecution and Genocide of Christians in the Middle East,' by Ronald J. Rychlak and Jane F. Adolphe
The Persecution and Genocide of Christians in the Middle East: Prevention, Prohibition, and Prosecution. Ronald J. Rychlak and Jane F. Adolphe, editors.
Anglico Press, 2017. 406 pages.
A book about religious persecution is perhaps an unusual place to find a call for Western rejuvenation. Yet readers of The Persecution and Genocide of Christians in the Middle East: Prevention, Prohibition, and Prosecution, edited by Ronald J. Rychlak and Jane F. Adolphe, will discover within its many detailed and expert chapters a special call for the West to live up to its own heritage.While the collection of essays addresses the persecution of Christians throughout the world, this review will focus on its Middle Eastern observations, while commending readers to avail themselves of its many other insights into the oppression and persecution of Christians elsewhere.
Christian persecution: Ancient hatred, modern export
In her introductory essay, Nina Shea makes clear that the brutal persecution of Christians in the Middle East began long before the rise of ISIS. Her expert findings are enhanced by the fact that she took pains to seek and report the perspective of local Christian clergy and laity who know the persecution firsthand. Their stories are heartrending, and their...
