We and countless others have written at length expressing outrage over the murderous October 7 attack by Hamas against innocent Israelis. We have also written about the slaughter of Nigerian Christians, asking rhetorically if their lives matter. But that slaughter continues without nearly the attention its victims deserve.

Cultural thinker Peter Heck has noticed this. He begins by expressing gratitude for those who’ve devoted attention to the plight of Israel, as well as recommending the interview with a freed hostage, Mia Schem, that went viral.

I remain both curious and sincerely disappointed, however, that while the horrors of Hamas and the suffering of Israelis has gotten effective media attention, a continuing, gory Christian persecution continues unabated in Nigeria while drawing only the slightest mention in international media, and virtually none this side of the Atlantic.

Bands of armed Muslim men with guns and machetes attacked and killed 198 Christians, and wounded an additional 300.

Both the Guardian and Reuters, covering the massacre, found reason to blame the atrocity, at least partially, on climate change and the competition for natural resources it engenders. Seriously.

In truth, Heck notes, the reason African Muslims are killing Nigerian Christians is the same as the reason Middle Eastern Muslims are killing Israeli Jews — they refuse to coexist and insist that infidels must die.

He puts it in perspective:

We are rightfully stunned at the final death tally out of Israel that shows Hamas butchered 1,139 people in cold blood last October 7th. It was the most traumatizing terrorist attack since the state of Israel was formed in 1948.

Since 2010, nearly 52,000 Nigerian Christians have been murdered because of their faith.

These aren’t “clashes” or “conflicts” as described by disinterested and dishonest media. It’s genocide. Heck concludes:

What happened in the streets, houses, music festival, and kibbutz communities in Israel was appalling and shocking to the conscience. Rational people both understand and support the elimination of the instigating terrorists.

But with 18,000 Christian churches burned, over 2,000 Christian schools destroyed, and thousands upon thousands of believers hacked to death in their homes and places of worship, it’s well past time for the civilized world to offer Nigerian Christians the same support.

Read the whole thing here.