Christian values

Why does the slaughter of 68 shoppers in Kenya by Muslim terrorists merit seven times more coverage in The Scotsman than the slaughter of 78 Christians in Pakistan by Muslim terrorists?

The ruthless persecution of Christians in Muslim majority countries is grossly under-reported and ignored by statesmen.

Britain supports regimes and revolutionaries that are pushing Middle Eastern Christian communities to the brink of extinction, and has failed to prevent the continuing appalling persecution of Christians in Iraq and Afghanistan. What is needed is proper systematic reporting, not just picking an incident here and there from the constant stream of atrocities. Governments should take it seriously, despite the Christians not controlling oil fields or threatening terrorist retribution in Western nations. And the media should make space for rigorous open debate about the central teachings of Islam, instead of focusing on trivia such as face coverings.

Richard Lucas

Edinburgh