“This is so sick and so dark and so evil”: Johnnie Moore chronicles atrocities in the Middle East

June 12, 2015

Writer

For months, Johnnie Moore, author of Defying ISIS, has been rallying Christians in America to save those being persecuted in the Middle East. He’s heard some disturbing news out of Iraq and Syria, and has chronicled 20 atrocities that have taken place just this week. He shared a few of the stories on radio this morning. Trust us, after this interview you’ll know why Glenn is uniting people to stand for the Christians under attack.

GLENN: We started -- we started the week with a kickoff of something called never again is now. Where we are standing up for the Christians and for the Muslims who aren't Muslim enough and the homosexuals and anybody else that ISIS says we should kill. We're standing up for them. Never again is now. Stop the genocide over in the Middle East. We'll call a spade a spade. It is about Islam. And these Islamists have got to be stopped.

And so we're going to wake up our churches. We're going to wake ourselves up. We're going to wake our neighbors up. And then we'll put our backbones into it, and we're going to send aid over to those guys. Did you hear just yesterday that one of the guys who was just in his church, he was former military, got up and told his preacher, said, I got to do something about it. Went over, signed up, and was fighting with I think the Kurds and was just killed.

But he made a difference. He made a difference. Will we be brave enough to stand? At least stand in our own community and say, enough of -- this is crazy, what we're doing in this country is crazy.

Let's start talking about something that is real. And real injustice. Every life matters. Not black lives. Not white lives. Not blue lives. All lives matter. Young, old. Born and unborn. All lives matter.

Johnnie Moore who is -- put a new book out called defying ISIS. He's currently in Washington, DC, where he'll be speaking at the Coptic Solidarity Conference this weekend. Johnnie, how are you, sir?

JOHNNIE: I'm great, sir. Great to hear your voice.

GLENN: So, Johnnie, you're a millennial who is tired of watching people sit around on their hands and do nothing. Tell me about what you're seeing happening in the country now.

JOHNNIE: Well, it's amazing what's in the last week alone, a lot of people are waked up. It's really, really remarkable. I've been traveling around the country for a solid month just trying to get the temperature of where people are. I've been in places with poor people and rich people. I've been to rural churches and urban churches. I've just been everywhere. And it seems like we've finally reached a moment where this has boiled over enough for people to pay attention. And I think the message that you're sending across the country, that never again is now is something that people are really, really grabbing on to. But we have to do it quickly. Glenn, I just sat down a few minutes ago to write the list of atrocities I've heard this week from Iraq and Syria. Now, my list has about 20 things on it. I mean, it's unbelievable.

GLENN: Give me some of them, Johnnie.

JOHNNIE: Well, one of them, the latest Christian martyr is an 80-year-old lady. So in the Nineveh plain, where we thought there weren't any Christians left, ISIS found one. Because she wouldn't submit to them, they burned her alive. An 80-year-old Christian woman. It's unconscionable.

By the way, in Libya this week, you know, ISIS found a group of Eritrean refugees, like the Ethiopians, and they're mainly Christians. They kidnapped them. They're holding them hostage. We can use our imaginations as to what they aim to do with them. You know, the only church left in Mosul. They had already broken the cross off the church. The church is still standing. So what they did two days ago, ISIS turned it into a mosque. Not only did they turn it into a mosque, Glenn, they call it the Mosque of the Mujahideen. So this is the mosque that is the center of their jihad.

In Egypt, ten Coptic homes were burned to the ground in a single village, and ISIS sympathizers in Sudan, you know, having imprisoned a couple of pastors in Pakistan. They're trying to take land away from a number of churches. The Baghdad municipality in Iraq openly admitted this week that 70 percent of Christian homes in the city have been seized illegally. It's crazy. Then, by the way, we have the special representative of the secretary general of the United Nations. Right? For sexual violence. This is a woman. This is what she does. She faces sexual violence all around the world. So this is from the UN. They tend to not exaggerate. If anything, they try to moderate their comments. And what this woman said was -- she said that ISIS is now selling women on their slave markets for the price of a pack of cigarettes. That's not from some right-wing activist. That's from the United Nations. For a pack of cigarettes. They're advertising in their jihadist literature now that they have new girls. They've kidnapped new girls. So if you come join our fight, for the cost of a pack of cigarettes, you can buy all of them you want. That's this week.

GLENN: This is sick. This is just so sick and so dark and so evil. And evil will grow and grow out of control if good doesn't stand up. But, you know, it's -- I really think that, Johnnie, we can't just -- good is not going to defeat this. God is going to defeat this. This is absolute evil. And, you know, in World War II, we had God. You know, there was God in our country. We have done everything to insult and turn our back on God. And if the people of God -- this is still a country that is 78 percent Christian. At least they claim to be. I would bet you that about 30 percent of this nation is actually Christian. That they -- they're more than just a casual profession of, yeah, I'm Christian. About 30, 40 percent of this country is still, I will stand up for it if push comes to shove. I hope. Maybe it's 10 percent. I don't know. But that group needs to stand up. Be seen. And be doing something. We need to start putting our backbone into what our tongue professes.

JOHNNIE: Yeah, and here's the fact. The fact is, if I could just describe what I just described a moment ago to someone listening to us talk and they call themselves a Christian and it doesn't immediately compel them to do some kind of action, whether that's call a congressman, whether it's provide a donation to help people that are in harm's way, whether it's gather their church community to pray, whatever it is -- if you are not immediately compelled to act, that is your moral compass screaming at you inside of you.

Because here's the difference, Glenn, between what happened in World War II and what happened now. What happened in World War II happened when we didn't have the information age. We didn't have a 24/7 news cycle. We didn't have Twitter and Facebook. This stuff was not in front of our face every day. Not a single person in the world, Christian or otherwise, can say they don't know what's happening in Iraq and Syria. In fact, it's even worse than that. We discovered this week that ISIS had actually self-published their maggot Amazon system. That ISIS had actually gone into Facebook, and they were selling their stolen artifacts on Facebook. They infiltrated our systems. To Amazon and Facebook's credit, they immediately shut it down as soon as they found out about it. This is everywhere. It's on our commercial enterprise. It's on Twitter. It's on Facebook. It's on YouTube. It's in our face all the time. We know what's happening. If you ask yourself why these atrocities happen, they happen for two reasons. There are those willingly to commit them. And there are those willing to remain silent when they do.

GLENN: So, Johnnie, I think, quite honestly -- I mean, I can trace it all the way back to -- to Father Abraham, where good starts, you know, going against evil and trying to wipe out his children. And it goes back and forth and back and forth. And we see the Star of David appear as the sign of the Jew to, you know, to be gathered up and to be put away. Years and years -- centuries before Hitler does. And it always mutates. And it always learns its lesson. But it always has the same marks about it. Evil learns. And it has gone from -- from the Germans. And the German people to the hijackers were from Hamburg, Germany. And it has mutated now. And it has gone to the Middle East. And this genocide is sitting there. And they're not starting with the Jews this time. They're starting with the Christians. They're starting against anything that stands up against them. And what you just said about the -- you know, the internet. I find it -- I find it fascinating that the stakes this time are much higher than they were in World War II. And I mean this. We're still playing for the globe. That's exactly what Nazi Germany was playing for. They were playing for the globe. Global domination. That's the same thing ISIS is playing for. This caliphate is just the beginning. They want global domination. So we're playing for the same thing. But here's -- here's where I up the ante. What you just said, in World War II, we didn't know for sure, you could get away with saying, well, I didn't know for sure. We didn't have that information, did we? Now, every single citizen does. So our souls are in jeopardy.

JOHNNIE: It's a moral issue for each of us as individuals. And, by the way, ISIS doesn't aim to infiltrate our country and the West. They're already here. It's a different game. It's a different game than ten years ago. You know, if you wanted to join al-Qaeda ten years ago, you had to travel to Afghanistan. You had to learn Arabic. You had to live in rudimentary conditions.

Now, in this battle in the last decade, a new battle, you can sit in the privacy of your own home. You get trained and inspired in front of your computer screen, and then you take your American passport and you go over to Turkey and walk over a border or you go across the street. Just stop and think about this for just a minute. Just yesterday, in the United States of America, a 17-year-old kid pleaded guilty in Washington, DC, for recruiting for ISIS. And when he stood in front of the judge, he didn't try to justify it. He didn't say he wasn't guilty. He said unashamedly, he said with more commitment to his hate than most Christians I know are committed to their compassion and their faith, he said without wavering: I am guilty. I aimed to recruit for the Islamic stated.

Seventeen years old, in the United States of America.

GLENN: Johnnie wrote the book Defying ISIS. It's available in bookstores everywhere and also on Amazon.com, but something that everyone should read. And, Johnnie, I sure appreciate everything you're doing. If you want to contact him. He's fantastic at speaking at church and everywhere else. DefyingISIS.com is where they reach you?

JOHNNIE: That's where it is.

GLENN: Okay. Johnnie, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

JOHNNIE: Thanks for having me.

GLENN: If you are moved to action, I would ask that you would do two things: I would ask that you would go to mercuryone.org and you would end the week where we started. And that is, donate your time and anything that you have. If you have five bucks or 100 bucks, we have a 15,000-dollar donation the other day from one of our listeners.

PAT: Nice.

GLENN: And donate to mercuryone.org. We are sending supplies over and we are -- believe me, before we send anything over, we will show you everything that we're doing. We'll show you who our partners are. We're making sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. We're very, very careful on it. I hope to be going over with the donation. But we would like to have a staggering donation to make. And you can help us by going to mercuryone.org. Also, you can change your Facebook photo. You can change your Twitter photo. And grab something from never again is now on mercuryone.org. And then I would ask you that you would join us in this movement.

Now, I have -- I have Martin Luther King's pledge that he had everybody sign when they decided to join him. We have updated it for the times. But we really have changed very little of it. And it's up on GlennBeck.com. And I want you to download that. And I want you to sign it.

I want you -- when you sign up, I want you to sign it and say, you're in. Because what's happening in Birmingham, Alabama, on 8/28 and 8/29 is the beginning of a movement. I talked about it on last night's television show. Somebody said, why don't we just get together? Why don't we all go to McKinney, Texas because there's a march with a whole bunch of -- I said, because we're not ready, that's why. We're not ready. We're not disciplined enough.

There is trouble coming. And we better all stand together, and we better be disciplined enough. So make a donation at mercuryone.org. Decide whether you're in or out. And join us there at mercuryone.org. Consider joining us on 8/28. And 8/29. May I ask that you would join us in Birmingham, Alabama this August 28th and 29th. Be a part of history because I'm telling you, I felt this when we went over to Israel. I felt this when we did Washington, DC. This is historic. Restoring Love, which happened at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Was the largest volunteer event ever in American history. The first time Dallas Cowboys Stadium has ever been sold out for a speaking event. So that was cool history. This, I believe, is like Restoring Honor, this is going to be historic. Bring your family and join me in a historic moment. Never again is now! Mercuryone.org.

What our response to Israel reveals about us

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor | Getty Images

I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

When did Americans start cheering for chaos?

MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND / Contributor | Getty Images

Every time we look away from lawlessness, we tell the next mob it can go a little further.

Chicago, Portland, and other American cities are showing us what happens when the rule of law breaks down. These cities have become openly lawless — and that’s not hyperbole.

When a governor declares she doesn’t believe federal agents about a credible threat to their lives, when Chicago orders its police not to assist federal officers, and when cartels print wanted posters offering bounties for the deaths of U.S. immigration agents, you’re looking at a country flirting with anarchy.

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic.

This isn’t a matter of partisan politics. The struggle we’re watching now is not between Democrats and Republicans. It’s between good and evil, right and wrong, self‑government and chaos.

Moral erosion

For generations, Americans have inherited a republic based on law, liberty, and moral responsibility. That legacy is now under assault by extremists who openly seek to collapse the system and replace it with something darker.

Antifa, well‑financed by the left, isn’t an isolated fringe any more than Occupy Wall Street was. As with Occupy, big money and global interests are quietly aligned with “anti‑establishment” radicals. The goal is disruption, not reform.

And they’ve learned how to condition us. Twenty‑five years ago, few Americans would have supported drag shows in elementary schools, biological males in women’s sports, forced vaccinations, or government partnerships with mega‑corporations to decide which businesses live or die. Few would have tolerated cartels threatening federal agents or tolerated mobs doxxing political opponents. Yet today, many shrug — or cheer.

How did we get here? What evidence convinced so many people to reverse themselves on fundamental questions of morality, liberty, and law? Those long laboring to disrupt our republic have sought to condition people to believe that the ends justify the means.

Promoting “tolerance” justifies women losing to biological men in sports. “Compassion” justifies harboring illegal immigrants, even violent criminals. Whatever deluded ideals Antifa espouses is supposed to somehow justify targeting federal agents and overturning the rule of law. Our culture has been conditioned for this moment.

The buck stops with us

That’s why the debate over using troops to restore order in American cities matters so much. I’ve never supported soldiers executing civilian law, and I still don’t. But we need to speak honestly about what the Constitution allows and why. The Posse Comitatus Act sharply limits the use of the military for domestic policing. The Insurrection Act, however, exists for rare emergencies — when federal law truly can’t be enforced by ordinary means and when mobs, cartels, or coordinated violence block the courts.

Even then, the Constitution demands limits: a public proclamation ordering offenders to disperse, transparency about the mission, a narrow scope, temporary duration, and judicial oversight.

Soldiers fight wars. Cops enforce laws. We blur that line at our peril.

But we also cannot allow intimidation of federal officers or tolerate local officials who openly obstruct federal enforcement. Both extremes — lawlessness on one side and militarization on the other — endanger the republic.

The only way out is the Constitution itself. Protect civil liberty. Enforce the rule of law. Demand transparency. Reject the temptation to justify any tactic because “our side” is winning. We’ve already seen how fear after 9/11 led to the Patriot Act and years of surveillance.

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor | Getty Images

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic. The left cannot be allowed to shut down enforcement, and the right cannot be allowed to abandon constitutional restraint.

The real threat to the republic isn’t just the mobs or the cartels. It’s us — citizens who stop caring about truth and constitutional limits. Anything can be justified when fear takes over. Everything collapses when enough people decide “the ends justify the means.”

We must choose differently. Uphold the rule of law. Guard civil liberties. And remember that the only way to preserve a government of, by, and for the people is to act like the people still want it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stand with Voddie Baucham’s family in this time of loss

In the quiet aftermath of a profound loss, the Christian community mourns the unexpected passing of Dr. Voddie Baucham, a towering figure in evangelical circles. Known for his defense of biblical truth, Baucham, a pastor, author, and theologian, left a legacy on family, faith, and opposing "woke" ideologies in the church. His book Fault Lines challenged believers to prioritize Scripture over cultural trends. Glenn had Voddie on the show several times, where they discussed progressive influences in Christianity, debunked myths of “Christian nationalism,” and urged hope amid hostility.

The shock of Baucham's death has deeply affected his family. Grieving, they remain hopeful in Christ, with his wife, Bridget, now facing the task of resettling in the US without him. Their planned move from Lusaka, Zambia, was disrupted when their home sale fell through last December, resulting in temporary Airbnb accommodations, but they have since secured a new home in Cape Coral that requires renovations. To ensure Voddie's family is taken care of, a fundraiser is being held to raise $2 million, which will be invested for ongoing support, allowing Bridget to focus on her family.

We invite readers to contribute prayerfully. If you feel called to support the Bauchams in this time of need, you can click here to donate.

We grieve and pray with hope for the Bauchams.

May Voddie's example inspire us.

From isolation to connection: Overcoming loneliness

Loneliness isn’t just being alone — it’s feeling unseen, unheard, and unimportant, even amid crowds and constant digital chatter.

Loneliness has become an epidemic in America. Millions of people, even when surrounded by others, feel invisible. In tragic irony, we live in an age of unparalleled connectivity, yet too many sit in silence, unseen and unheard.

I’ve been experiencing this firsthand. My children have grown up and moved out. The house that once overflowed with life now echoes with quiet. Moments that once held laughter now hold silence. And in that silence, the mind can play cruel games. It whispers, “You’re forgotten. Your story doesn’t matter.”

We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

It’s a lie.

I’ve seen it in others. I remember sitting at Rockefeller Center one winter, watching a woman lace up her ice skates. Her clothing was worn, her bag battered. Yet on the ice, she transformed — elegant, alive, radiant.

Minutes later, she returned to her shoes, merged into the crowd, unnoticed. I’ve thought of her often. She was not alone in her experience. Millions of Americans live unseen, performing acts of quiet heroism every day.

Shared pain makes us human

Loneliness convinces us to retreat, to stay silent, to stop reaching out to others. But connection is essential. Even small gestures — a word of encouragement, a listening ear, a shared meal — are radical acts against isolation.

I’ve learned this personally. Years ago, a caller called me “Mr. Perfect.” I could have deflected, but I chose honesty. I spoke of my alcoholism, my failed marriage, my brokenness. I expected judgment. Instead, I found resonance. People whispered back, “I’m going through the same thing. Thank you for saying it.”

Our pain is universal. Everyone struggles with self-doubt and fear. Everyone feels, at times, like a fraud. We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

We were made for connection. We were built for community — for conversation, for touch, for shared purpose. Every time we reach out, every act of courage and compassion punches a hole in the wall of isolation.

You’re not alone

If you’re feeling alone, know this: You are not invisible. You are seen. You matter. And if you’re not struggling, someone you know is. It’s your responsibility to reach out.

Loneliness is not proof of brokenness. It is proof of humanity. It is a call to engage, to bear witness, to connect. The world is different because of the people who choose to act. It is brighter when we refuse to be isolated.

We cannot let silence win. We cannot allow loneliness to dictate our lives. Speak. Reach out. Connect. Share your gifts. By doing so, we remind one another: We are all alike, and yet each of us matters profoundly.

In this moment, in this country, in this world, what we do matters. Loneliness is real, but so is hope. And hope begins with connection.