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Douglas Murray

ByDouglas Murray, Douglas Murray

Analysis

Playing down the differences in our multi-cultural world is giving the fundamentalists the advantage

In Acton, in West London, there is a church which has bucked the Western European trend. The number of worshippers is increasing all the time. Sadly this is not a success story but rather the result of a historic tragedy.

July 28, 2016 09:52
The scene on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice following the deadly attack a fortnight ago
5 min read

In Acton, in West London, there is a church which has bucked the Western European trend. Its congregation has not just grown, it has grown so many times over that it has had to move into a larger building. The number of worshippers is increasing all the time. Sadly this is not a success story but rather the result of a historic tragedy.

The Syriac church in London is largely populated by those who have fled the ethnic religious cleansing in Iraq and Syria. At least 70 per cent of the current congregation has come to Britain in the last decade, and especially in the last few years, as ISIS has been on the rise.

To speak to the congregants after Sunday service is to hear stories which seem almost impossible in the age of iPhones and the internet. Families who had lived next door to their Muslim neighbours for centuries suddenly find their neighbours turning on them, and even taking over their houses as they flee. Telephone calls from ISIS inform them that they can either convert, flee or die.

Christians have to choose what to do with elderly or disabled relatives as ISIS moves into their town. Fleeing for sanctuary in a monastery buys a few days before ISIS finds their way there too. You hear similar stories from Christians across Africa, the Middle East and Far East.