Ted Poe: “There is a cultural and religious cleansing sweeping across the Middle East. ISIS has made it clear that there is no…”

“There is a cultural and religious cleansing sweeping across the Middle East. ISIS has made it clear that there is no compromise on religion. It is intolerant of any religious belief different than its own. If a person is not a Muslim, they are forced to pay a tax, convert, or be executed. In the face of this ugly terrorist group that preaches hate, Christians are persecuted. But ISIS is just one example of groups that are intolerant of Christians. Egypt is a hotbed of persecution of Coptic Christians. Some people thought after the fall of Mubarak, things would get better, but that hasn't been true for Coptic Christians. A schoolteacher told a Coptic teenager to hide his cross that was on his necklace. He wouldn't do so, so the teacher encouraged the class to punish the boy to protect the name of Allah. His classmates beat him to death. He died because he was a Christian. A mere rumor that a Muslim girl was dating a Christian boy led to church burnings and a curfew for Christians. Since 2011, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has deemed Egypt a ``country of particular concern.'' In 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood blamed Coptic Christians for the downfall of President Morsi, even though it was the majority of the Egyptians that were tired of Morsi's oppressive rule. So Muslim mobs battered their way into an Orthodox church south of Cairo, tore down the cross, and torched the building.…”