My Sunday Thought for May 17, 2015: The Testimony of Sister Diana

"As this horror spread throughout the Nineveh Plain, by Aug. 6, 2014, Nineveh was emptied of Christians, and sadly, for the first time since the seventh century A.D., no church bells rang for Mass in the Plain of Nineveh... 

...we, as Christians, do not want or deserve to leave or be forced out of our country any more than you would want to leave or be forced out of yours.  But the current persecution that our community is facing is the most brutal in our history,  I am but one, small person – a victim myself of ISIS and all of its brutality... 

Coming here has been difficult for me – as a religious sister I am not comfortable with the media and so much attention. But I am here, and I am here to ask you, to implore you for the sake of our common humanity, to help us...  

Stand with us as we, as Christians, have stood with all the people of the world and help us. We want nothing more than to go back to our lives; we want nothing more than to go home... I believe that the international community, and especially the good people of the United States, want to see my government fulfill its responsibility to protect, defend, and promote the welfare of all of its citizens,.. I call on all Americans to raise your voices on our behalf so that diplomacy and not genocide, social well-being and not weapons, and the desire for justice, not selfish interests, determines the future for Iraq and all of her children."

-- Sister Diana Momeka, Testifying before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, 5/13/15

The U.S. State Department tried to block Sister Diana's testimony by denying her a visa.  I have to ask each and every one of you to ask yourself: Whose agenda was this supposed to serve?  What sector of the American political system would her not testifying benefit?  We are, by edict, directed to keep our posts on the monastery site non-political so I will leave this for each of you to discuss, or deny, as peaceful Christians and Muslims continue to die at the hands of this evil invading our world under the guise of perverted religious scripture.

Sister Diana Momeka, OP Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, Mosul, Iraq is not a suicide bomber so we can assume sanity.  She is humble and devoted.  She is devoted to her faith and to the people that wish to hear of it, or at least partake of the good works the sisters are doing in Mosul.  She doesn't ask for money from those she tries to help.  She doesn't threaten them if they don't convert, nor does she even ask them to do so.  She doesn't ask them to pack up and leave, nor does she cut the heads off of those refusing to convert.  I can only imagine the horror these sisters must have felt as the children were cut in half for not renouncing their Christian faith.  Each and every one are saints, whether the Vatican chooses to recognize them or not is immaterial; in the eyes of God these children are saints and should go down in Christian history as The Child Saints of Allah.  Allah is God, and Allah would never condone such heresy as the killing of innocence.

I keep referring back to my favorite quote, and bear with me as I go there once again:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist. 

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat. 

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist. 

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew. 

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

-- Martin Niemoller (1892-1984), German anti-Nazi, theologian and Lutheran pastor.

Unlike Pastor Niemoller, here we have a Dominican willing to speak out; willing to go on the offensive.  I offer that any government office seeking to silence such testimony is treading, quite obviously, into the realm of "collusion with the enemy."  As a military man, I despise traitors to my country.  As a minister, I equally despise traitors to humanity.  This woman of faith should be given a medal, which she will refuse, for being courageous enough to speak out against these monsters.

Why are we not all voicing outrage at the treatment of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, at the hands of terrorists?  What at are we doing?  These are questions all people of faith, any faith, should be asking themselves as they sit safely in their homes.  We seem eager to march, riot and protest the killing of criminals on or own streets, yet we let the killing of innocence slide by without a word  Safe in your homes?  Really?  

Who will speak out when they come for you?

For those wishing to read her testimony, I have included this link to the Christian News Wire:  Christian News Wire: Sister Diana Testifies.

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Frank Anthony Villari (aka, Pastor Tony)

Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."