Over the weekend I saw a number of posts on Facebook which
claimed that Christian children in Iraq are being beheaded by members of the
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). I even saw one post claim that children
were being buried alive. The potential evil and tragedy of the situation attracted
my attention and made me wonder to what further level is humanity able to still
sink.
But I also know that in our digital age nothing spreads
rumors and misinformation quicker than the internet and especially social media.
So I scoured the various news sites. I performed Google searches and I looked
for some acknowledgement of the tragedy when President Obama announced the US
would be dropping aid to the Yazidis religious minority in Iraq.
But I found no information about Christian children being
beheaded. Consequently, I watched with the hope that it was not true.
And it seems now that my instincts may have been correct. I
read a report on the Gospel Coalition which investigated the claims and has determined
the following:
While it is possible that children are being
beheaded by ISIS in Iraq, there is currently no credible evidence to support
that claim. We should pray this report turn out to be just rumor and that
whatever other crimes are being committed, that God is sparing the children of
Iraq from “systematic beheading.”
As Christians, we have a duty to champion the truth. We
should avoid spreading unsubstantiated claims and inflaming dread and panic by
playing on people’s natural disgust of harm to children. ISIS is an
organization that has committed heinous acts of violence and violated the human
rights of many of our fellow believers. But we must not partake in the
spreading of lies, even if it is against our enemies.
The situation in Iraq is terrible. But we should also be
careful that we don’t do anything that might inflame it. All of the people of
Iraq should be in our thoughts and prayers. But we can best help them by spreading
truthful information about the situation rather than unsubstantiated reports.
It’s easy to believe things about evil people, those we
might consider to be our enemies. But we must also remember not to treat our enemies
in such a way that make them out to be guilty of more evil than they already
are. It becomes very hard to love and redeem one’s enemies when we are actively
spreading misinformation about them that makes them look worse than they
already are.
I close with a quote from C.S. Lewis that was on the Gospel
Coalition site. I think it applies to situations like this one.
"Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then
suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite
true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one’s first feeling, `Thank
God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of
disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the
sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies as bad as possible? If it is the second
then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the
end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was
a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see
grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally, we shall insist
on seeing everything - God and our friends and ourselves included - as bad, and
not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure
hatred." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
What people think about the Bible varies.