OPINION: Will America stand idly by as ISIS conducts reign of terror?

Those on the front lines report, “ISIS is brutal beyond words. It is beheading, raping, and selling Christians. Recently a Christian priest was kidnapped, held for ransom, and then chopped into pieces and mailed to his devastated family. American citizens are tortured and illegally imprisoned for their Christian faith.”

For more than a year, ISIS soldiers have been on a bloody rampage, profiting from genocide, and tracking down Christians for sale and slaughter. Daily they kidnap and massacre Christians in the Middle East, in Africa, and in Asia. Yet the American news media continue to close their eyes and plug their ears and refuse to report any of these atrocities. Why is this?

The historical parallel between today and the rise of the Nazi holocaust machine 80 years ago is chilling. So is the silence of many Americans who seem afraid to recognize or stand up against ISIS barbarism. Get involved. Learn the facts. Washington’s attempts to solve these problems through denial and concessions didn’t work 80 years ago with the Nazis and it won’t work now with ISIS.  

Demand that our legislators step up to the plate and take this threat seriously. If we don’t, we may find the words of German Protestant pastor and holocaust survivor Martin Niemoller are true once again…

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Socialist.

“Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out —  because I was not a Trade Unionist.

“Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew.

“Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.” —

Bent is a resident of Whitefish.