Time To Speak Out Mr. President

In one of those events that seem impossible to most Americans, Libya has arrested about 100 Egyptians in an around Benghazi.  The Egyptians are all Coptic Christians and they are accused of proselytizing Muslim Libyans and other heinous crimes like having Bibles and pictures of Jesus in their possession.  According to local reports, the Christians were not actually proselytizing at all; rather, they were merely working in the area.  In the new Libya, and particularly in Benghazi, one cannot safely be a Christian.  According to the Egyptian news reports the Libyans used acid to remove various tatoos of crosses that the arrested Egyptians has on their bodies.  They also had their heads shaved and were otherwise tortured.

There is no indication that the government of Egyptian president Morsi has protested the arrests with the Libyan authorities, although one would not expect Morsi to protect Christians even if they are Egyptian.  Nor is there any indication that the United States has expressed any interest in this blatant persecution of the Christians.  Of course, since the American ambassador to Libya was killed last September when the Obama administration was too busy with the campaign to defend the embassy, America has only a small presence in Libya today.

Despite the apparent lack of interest from Egypt, it is imperative that the United States speaks out about what is happening.  I know that we will not do anything, but that does not justify being silent.