When War Harms Christians Pocketbooks

The New York Times ran an article "For Iraqi Christians, Money Bought Survival" that brings to light the lesser known ways of Christians during the most violent times of the Iraq war: they were persecuted by a special tax Muslims have traditionally placed on Jews and Christians.

"The tax was called a jizya — and that is the name with which the
insurgents chose to cloak extortion, Mafia-style, from Christians.

"Officials say the demands could be hundreds of dollars a month per male
member of a household. In many cases, Christian families drained their
life savings and went into debt to make the payments. Insurgents also
raised money by kidnapping priests. The ransoms, often paid by the
congregations, typically ran as high as $150,000, several priests and
lay Christians said.

"In a paradox, this city, long the seat of
Iraqi Christianity, also became known as the last urban stronghold of
Sunni insurgents. Another, more painful, paradox is that many of Iraq’s
remaining 700,000 Christians paid to save their lives, knowing full
well that the money would be used for bombs and other weapons to kill
others."

One of the reasons the Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was killed is that after the violence decreased in Iraq, he refused to keep on paying.  In an act of bravery, Bishop Rahho opened his cell phone while he was tied up in the back of the getaway car, his kidnappers in the front, and called his congregation to tell them to never pay the ransom, that no more money should go to perpetuating more violence.

Let us pray for our Iraqi brothers and sisters in Christ, who’s population has "fallen to roughly 700,000 today from a prewar estimate of 1.3 million, that they may give glory to God in all things.

For more on the way war harms Christians see When War Harms Christians and When War Harms Christians Continued.