Wesley Smith wrote a terrific piece today about the Knights of Columbus’ efforts to fight for persecuted and displaced Christians in the Middle East. To call these efforts diligent or persistent would be an understatement.

(And yeah, to repeat what Wesley said: This is the very same charitable and patriotic organization that Democrat Senators Kamala Harris and Maize Hirono, hellbent on applying unconstitutional religious tests for Trump Administration nominees, have hounded and castigated.)

But back to the successes in the Middle East. The bipartisan legislative effort (the “Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act”) discussed in the piece — championed on Capitol Hill by Representatives Chris Smith and Anna Eshoo — had a particular champion in the administration: Vice President Mike Pence. Behind the scenes, he and his staff worked . . . religiously . . . with the Knights and other organizations to promote the bill and change the official take on prioritizing relief for persecuted Christians.

Pence was active publicly too. In May 2017, he addressed the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians and pledged administration efforts on behalf of over 200 million Christians who “confront intimidation, imprisonment, forced conversion, abuse, assault, or worse, for holding to the truths of the Gospel.” From his speech:

President Trump sees these crimes for what they are: vile acts of persecution animated by hatred — hatred for the Gospel of Christ. And so too does the President know those who perpetrate these crimes. They are the embodiment of evil in our time and he calls them by name — radical Islamic terrorists. The suffering of Christians in the Middle East has stirred America to act. President Trump rightly said not long ago that — of the Christian church, “nobody has been treated worse in the Middle East.” He’s made it clear that America will stand by followers of Christ in this hour of need. Our administration is fully committed in bringing relief and comfort to believers not only across the Middle East but across the world. This President knows the terrorists will not stop until we stop them. And, under President Donald Trump, we will stop them.

It’s all very heartfelt by the Veep, and Yours Truly thought a little attention to his role in this fight worth fighting was merited.

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