The persecution and even genocide of Christians at the hands of radical Islamist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram have seen dramatic growth in recent years. Most days, we need only check social media or open a newspaper to find that yet another atrocity has been committed or inspired by one of these groups. Thanks to President Obama’s visit to Kenya and Ethiopia this month, Africa has been returned, however briefly, to the national consciousness. However, as mainstream media often pull off the journalistic path into a pop culture cul-de-sac, the plight of our persecuted brothers and sisters can easily become just one of many injustices in so much noise. While American Christians look to defend our threatened first freedom here at home, religious liberty has truly become a matter of life and death in other parts of the world. Join FRC and our expert guests as we discuss Islamic extremism and its effects on the body of Christ in the Middle East and Western Africa.
Emmanuel Ogebe is an international human rights lawyer specializing on Africa. The youngest law graduate in his home country of Nigeria, he was exiled to the United States after becoming a political detainee during the brutal years of General Abacha's military dictatorship. In recent years, he has played a role in shaping the U.S. Congress's approach to Nigeria's quest for a stable democracy. He also doubles as special counsel for the Justice for Jos Project, which documents and focuses international attention on the horrific crimes against humanity faced by northern Nigeria's minority Christian population. Ogebe has testified before the U.S. Congress' Africa subcommittee and was instrumental to the International Criminal Court's decision to examine Boko Haram for crimes against humanity. He serves as Nigeria expert and chief fact-finder for the Washington Working Group on Nigeria. Ogebe is a recipient of the President's Bronze Award for Volunteer Service for his work helping NGOs in northern Nigeria.
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, specializing in foreign policy and civil liberties. He also is the Robert A. Taft Fellow at the American Conservative Defense Alliance and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. He served as a Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan and editor of the political magazine Inquiry. He writes regularly on Christian persecution in the Middle East. His articles on a number of domestic and foreign policy concerns appear in such leading publications as Fortune magazine, National Interest, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Times. Bandow speaks frequently at academic conferences, on college campuses, and to business groups. He has been a regular commentator on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. He has written several books, including The Korean Conundrum: America's Troubled Relations with North and South Korea (co-author, Palgrave/Macmillan), and Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World (Cato Institute). He holds a J.D. from Stanford University.
