British actor and comedian John Cleese is known for making audiences laugh, but he’s recently emerged as one of the few celebrities speaking out and taking the horrific slaughtering of Christians in Nigeria with the dire seriousness it deserves – but also applying an edge in order to call attention to the ongoing genocide.
“It looks rather as though Black Lives Don’t Matter,” wrote Cleese on X.
You would be forgiven for not knowing that 26 Christians were killed on Easter in the African country located on the Gulf of Guinea. This followed the Palm Sunday massacre of a dozen believers in the mostly Christian city of Jos, located in the country’s north-central region.
The media has been largely silent on the tragedy, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of the nearly 5,000 Christians killed for their faith around the world last year were living in Nigeria.
Wrote Sean Feucht, the Christian music leader and global missionary, “Churches burned. Women and children abducted. The world stays silent.”
Christians in Nigeria are being targeted and murdered by radical Islamic terrorists – including Boko Haram and criminal militant gangs, who rape women and kidnap believers in the hope of receiving ransoms for their return. Many of the thugs carrying out the attacks are believed to have been inspired by ISIS.
In response, the Trump administration has labeled Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” a designation given to nations known for religious persecution. While President Biden and his administration referred to the complexity of the region, President Trump has been far blunter in his assessment. He recently acknowledged the threat, stating, “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”
Some cultural critics have maintained that the violence in Nigeria is driven by crime and greed, not necessarily by religious persecution. Yet, if that’s the case, why are the Islamic terrorists attacking Christian church services, in many cases asking victims their religious affiliation, and calling those who disagree with them “infidels”?
The Boko Haram terrorist group’s stated mission has been to replace the Nigerian state with an Islamic caliphate – a Muslim government based on Sharia law. And what does that even look like? Sharia law prohibits the public display or practice of Christianity and bans any type of sharing of the Christian faith. Muslims who are discovered to have converted to Christianity are to be killed.
As Christians in America, we can understandably feel helpless as our brothers and sisters are killed for their faith around the world. It’s a heavy and ongoing story with so many tragic endings. It’s tempting to try and block it out of our minds, but we must resist the urge to look away.
Our fellow believers in Nigeria are in desperate need of our prayers. We can and should make it a daily practice of lifting their dire situation up to the Lord. He hears our prayers. Wrote King David, “The Lord has heard my pleas; the Lord accepts my prayers” (Psalm 6:9).
In addition, our government can continue to apply diplomatic and political pressure, implement targeted financial sanctions, and tie any aid to the assurance of protection of Christians.
It can sometimes feel as though prayer is the least effective of all the tactics in the toolbox – but we know differently. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working,” wrote James (5:16). May we urgently plead the crisis of our brothers and sisters in Nigeria:
“Lord, hear our prayer!”
Photo credit: Light Oriye Tamunotonye/AFP via Getty Images
