Members of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Isis have one thing in common: religious fanaticism. Its what motivates them to attack and slaughter anyone they consider to be infidels. Heaven awaits those who, like suicide bombers, willingly sacrifice their lives for the cause.

Afghan minorities who identify as Christians, Sikhs or Hindus have always practiced their religion under the threat of persecution. Afghan Christians have especially been targeted because they are mostly converts from Islam, and no person is reviled more by an Islamist than an apostate.

As long as the America military kept the Taliban at bay in Afghanistan, religious minorities managed to survive. Now that the Taliban has conquered virtually all of the country, these minorities know that they face persecution; a fate that has included flogging, beheadings, amputations and public executions by immolation or crucifixion.

Christians are desperate to leave Afghanistan, but who will help them? The U.S. State Department has been scrambling to save not only Americans, but also Afghans who have helped the occupiers. Visas have been issued to translators, journalists, academics, embassy workers and other U.S. allies at risk of persecution by the Taliban.

At the airport, State Department officials have given a P-2 designation to high priority evacuees, and over 100,000 have been safely flown out of Kabul. Unfortunately, Christians and other religious minorities are not high priority.

When it became clear that Christians did not qualify for evacuation by the U.S. government, the call for help went out to non-governmental organizations. Among those who have responded to the call is conservative radio talk show host Glen Beck of The Nazarene Fund, a non-profit group that has raised more than $28 million to evacuate Christians from Afghanistan.

Another is Nadine Maenza of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. She reports that her organization has had to run operations against our own government to get people into the airport.

In an interview on Fox News, Beck said that in spite of difficulties, his organization had 20 planes flying in and out of Kabul, and had managed to evacuate 5,100 Christians. It hasnt been easy, Beck added.

At one point, he had 500 Afghan Christians inside the airport and ready to board when they were ordered back outside the gates by officials. They may have been among those who were killed in the suicide bombing. Beck blamed the State Department.

The Biden Administration has been urged to broaden its P-2 designation to include religious minorities. As of this writing they have yet to face the consequences of Bidens decision to pull all American troops out of Kabul on Aug. 31.

Let us pray for the Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and all those left behind.

Milots Musings is written by Claude Milot, a resident of Perquimans County.

Thadd White is Group Editor of the Bertie Ledger-Advance, Chowan Herald, Perquimans Weekly, The Enterprise & Eastern North Carolina Living. He can be reached via email at twhite@ncweeklies.com.

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