Amy Mek
In just over a century, the Near and Middle East have undergone a dramatic transformation, and not quietly. At the start of the 20th century, 1 in 4 inhabitants of the region was Christian. Today, only 11 million Christians remain among 320 million Muslims—a striking reminder of the deep-rooted Christian histories in these lands, from Syria to Iraq to Egypt, which stretches back thousands of years. But today, the situation is drastically different. Christianity has been reduced to a mere fraction of the population, now just 1 in 30.
This isn’t just a matter of population shifts. It’s a testament to the brutal expansion of Islamic dominance and the systematic destruction of religious diversity in lands once shared by multiple faiths. From the mass exodus of Christians from Iraq following ISIS’s rise to power to the brutal crackdown on Coptic Christians in Egypt, the examples are endless. In 2014, entire Christian villages in Iraq were wiped out, and in Egypt, Copts have been repeatedly targeted with church bombings, kidnappings, and murders—all with little to no protection from the state. The rise of Islamic terror, combined with state-sanctioned oppression, has squeezed the Christian population into the margins, driving millions to either leave or face persecution, violence, or death. Once-vibrant Christian communities in cities like Aleppo, Baghdad, and Cairo are now shadows of their former selves, reduced to ruins, with churches bombed, homes confiscated, and families forced into exile.
The rapid expansion of Islam has been marked not only by demographic takeover but by the terror it instills in those unwilling to conform. Sharia-inspired laws across the region have institutionalized the persecution of Christians. In places like Iran and Saudi Arabia, conversion from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death, while in countries like Pakistan, blasphemy laws are used as a tool to target religious minorities, often leading to mob violence and executions. Christianity, which had flourished in the region for millennia, is being erased—deliberately, methodically, and violently. This isn’t peaceful coexistence; it’s the result of forced submission, systemic oppression, and an ideology that, when in power, leaves no room for anything other than Islamic dominance.
The decline of the Christian population in the Near and Middle East isn’t just a statistic—it’s a harrowing signal of what happens when Islam takes root and exerts its full strength. It’s the culmination of centuries of conflict, from the Armenian Genocide, where Christian minorities were systematically killed by the Ottoman Empire, to the ethnic cleansing campaigns in places like Syria, where even today, Christians are hunted by Islamic terrorist groups. History proves that where Islam expands, other religions face two grim choices: submission or death.
The fact that Christianity has dwindled from 25% of the population to a mere fraction in such a short span of time serves as a grim warning to the West. If Islam can erase such deeply entrenched Christian communities in its heartlands, it raises an alarming question: what will happen to the rest of the world when it gains strength?
Christians make/made the same mistake with Islam as our Pagan ancestors did with rabid Christians.
They mostly tolerated them and to their own detriment, because when their Leader noticed that Christianity is a perfect political tool for absolute power, they converted and used it to subdue their own people through fire and sword.
Now it’s Islam, an entirely ruthless ideology and political tool, since there is no interpretation, debate or changes allowed. Islam is now being used to eradicate our people and cultures by those in Power.
It’s already past 12.00h and any peaceful solution is decades past.