US questions its Christian protection credibility amid Armenian ethnic cleansing, Christian Daily writes
The introduction of H.R. 6534 in the U.S. House of Representatives, a bill proposing the repeal of long-standing restrictions on U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan, raises a question that goes beyond geopolitics and energy corridors. It poses a moral test—whether the United States will remain faithful to its historic mission of defending persecuted Christians and vulnerable religious communities, or it will trade that legacy for short-term strategic convenience, Christian Daily writes.
The publication states that Azerbaijan’s actions in September 2023, resulted in the forced displacement of more than 100,000 Armenian Christians from Nagorno-Karabakh. Ancient churches were desecrated, cemeteries destroyed, and a millennia-old Christian presence erased almost overnight. International observers, human rights organizations, and genocide scholars have described these events as ethnic cleansing.
As noted, if the United States lifts restrictions immediately after this outcome, it sends a devastating message that the removal of Christians from their ancestral homeland carries no consequences.
American presidents routinely speak about the duty to protect Christians in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Armenia and the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are no exception. If anything, they represent one of the clearest cases when a small, ancient Christian community faces systematic pressure from a far stronger state.
Supporters of repealing restrictions argue in the language of strategy, energy security, geopolitics, logistics corridors. But Christian ethics teach that strategy without morality is empty.
“How can the United States credibly speak about protecting Christians in Nigeria, Syria, or Iraq if it is willing to overlook the ethnic cleansing of Armenian Christians for the sake of expediency? Moreover, rewarding Azerbaijan now will produce precedent and teach authoritarian regimes that military force, religious persecution, and demographic erasure are acceptable tools so long as they align themselves rhetorically with U.S. interests,” the publication states, noting that Congress should reject H.R. 6534.
