Iraqi priest shares harrowing experience at the hands of Islamic captors

November 24, 2015

Editor

During his radio program Tuesday, Glenn spoke with Father Douglas Al-Bazi, a priest from Iraq who watched his own church blow up in front of him before being kidnapped and tortured by terrorists. He now hosts hundreds of displaced Christians in a refugee camp he founded in Iraqi Kurdistan, called "The Church of Martyrs."

Father Douglas called for listeners to "please pray for my community" after describing how he is preparing to help many of them leave their homeland and seek refuge outside of the Middle East. These rescue efforts could only be accomplished thanks to the thousands of generous donors to the Nazarene Fund.

"I told the people, I know we're going to start this --- this journey is like Moses," Father Douglas said. "But actually Moses in himself, he believed that 'I'm going to the Promising Land. Even me, I will not see the Promising Land. But I'm going to prepare it for our kids.'"

Tonight on his TV program, Glenn will give a sneak peek at an American Dream Labs (ADL) documentary film about the plight of Christian refugees in the Middle East. Watch a clip of Father Douglas describe how he responded to the torture he endured at the hands of ISIS.

Listen to more of Glenn's conversation with Father Douglas or read the transcript below.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors.

How many ISIS members are Christian? The answer is zero. So how do you know who the good guys or the bad guys are?

Well, you start with the parish priest. You go find one guy. The one guy we found is Father Douglas. This is an amazing man that I want you to meet. He's over in the area right now. He is the pastor of -- you ask him what his church is, it's the Church of Martyrs. The Church of Blood. And he has set up his own refugee camp, and these are the people that we are bringing back in. The Nazarene Fund has raised now $12 million. That money is going to take and rescue many of his people. And he's on the phone with us now. Father, how are you?

FATHER DOUGLAS: Good. How are you? Thank you very much for this introduction of me. I'm just pleased. Okay? Not amazing. Not a hero. Nothing. Okay?

GLENN: Yes, sir.

You are -- A, you're a hard guy to get a hold of because you won't really sit down for an interview or go out to lunch or anything because you've told our team several times, I'm on God's time, I'm on God's work.

Are you in a car right now? Are you in the middle of a surgery for somebody or anything? Because you usually don't set aside a time to --

(laughter)

FATHER DOUGLAS: No. Actually now I'm in my office. I locked my door. I'm locked inside because I want to hear you very well.

GLENN: Okay.

FATHER DOUGLAS: So maybe many people -- kids, they will knock on the door, just to look at where I am. Okay? Yes.

GLENN: Father, would you do us a favor and tell us, you were taken hostage, and it is a pretty harrowing story. Can you tell us that story a bit?

FATHER DOUGLAS: You know, when we talk about a story, we talk always with the beginning and the end. But, you know, when we talk about persecution and pain because there is something we have here actually (inaudible). So we are not talking about the story, we are talking about lives. And we used to -- I'm sorry to say that, but some of the same situation -- and this is actually taken back many centuries.

And me, as the personal, I grew out a lot of events in my life, and they were really horrible events. But when I mention them, I always tell my people when I talk about what happened to me, I don't want you to feel sorry about me. But I want you to just open your eyes to what happened to my people.

Because I often say that, even when I went also to the United States this summer, and before in Europe, I told them, "I know that -- I believe that your kids, they're not going to be a member of ISIS. But there will be -- sooner or later, they're going to be victims by ISIS. So open your eyes and wake up."

What happened to me actually, I survived twice by bombed cars. They attacked my church one time. They blew up my church in front of me. One time, they were a group -- they wanted to kill me, and they shoot me. But they -- I just got shot in my (cut out) by an AK-47, and after that, I was taken up for nine days. Those nine days, of course, I cannot forget them because they were -- changed a lot me, as personal, my ambition, and my ways.

And those nine days there, I went out with completely -- they assault my nose -- by hammer, they broke my -- my cheeks. And also, they picked me -- my back. So that's why I went to -- to have a big surgery in my back because I changed one of the discs in my back. I spent almost one year in bed. And now I'm using actually fake teeth. When I smile, just -- those fake teeth, they're good for, you know, just taking photo. A selfie, you know, on phone or Facebook.

(laughter)

But just to keep my smile, you know.

GLENN: Hang on just a second. Hold on. Hold on just a second. Because I just want to translate in case anybody hasn't been able to keep up with this. He's talking about how, you know, he's humble and he doesn't want anybody to pay attention to what's happening. And he's butchering this story, and we're going to have this tonight on television where we sat down with him. And we have the story. And we reenacted the story. And it is -- I'm telling you, it is hair-raising and terrifying. They took him. They kidnapped him and put him in the trunk of a car. Kidnapped him. Took him out. Beat him with a hammer in the face for nine solid days. Broke his back. Really, really broke him up. But did not break his spirit. In fact, all the way along, he was actually counseling them on how to live their life.

Tell me the story about how they would come to you during the day. At night, they would beat you and torture you. During the day, they would come to you for spiritual advice.

FATHER DOUGLAS: Yeah. During the day, actually even with my eyes, they were covered because it was forbidden for me to see anything for nine days. And also, my hands, they were tied by chains.

But during the day, they used to come and ask me a private question or a general question. A private question, when one of them, he asked -- actually many of them asked me. "I have a question for you. My friends to go away. And I want to ask you a personal question."

Such as, one of them, I remember very well, he asked about, you know, about his wife. And he told me, she's always, you know, picky, demanding, and how can I deal with her? So just imagine I'm this way and tell her -- tell him, you know, "You have to tell her that you really love her. And every day, this is the law. Every day, you have to show the love to her."

And then he asked me another and another. And this happened during the day. But most people, the same people actually, during the night, during the night, they just change from sheep to wolves.

GLENN: How did you --

FATHER DOUGLAS: Yeah.

GLENN: How did you during the day -- must you ever want to say to them, "What is wrong with you, man?"

FATHER DOUGLAS: Speak it again, sir.

GLENN: Didn't you during the day want to point out, "Remember the conversation we were having earlier today when I was a human being, how are you beating me now?"

FATHER DOUGLAS: You mean, how was my day?

GLENN: No. I'm trying to figure out how to explain this.

How did you -- how did you figure out in your own head how there seemed to be two people, sheep and wolves, but they were the same individual. How did you rectify that in your head?

FATHER DOUGLAS: You know, it happened from the first day actually. The first day they asked me -- they told me, this is who we are. We're (foreign language) or (foreign language).

And, you know, a question like that when it's heard, immediately you will lose your life if you just, you know, answer in wrong ways.

So I remember the first day I told them, "Actually, I feel sorry about you because if any one of you has this chance in his life, in all life, to continue the school and to have certificate or degree, so any one of you will be like professor and doctor or, I know, engineer. But because you went to school, for I don't know what the reason, that's why many people will use you and now you are like gangs, but used by religious ways."

And, you know, they were really shocked. And they were, you know, silent. Almost two minutes, three minutes. And they start to talk to me each one what happened to him when he was a child. And so I know that actually, when there is no education, you can control the people. But people when they have really education, knowledge, so they can look nice. But without education, people, they will completely be lost.

And even the people that are not believing God, even if they -- many met them, a lot of Christians, even here in my parish, no one actually has chance to study like philosophy or theology. But, you know, the human thing -- the spiritual thing is love. But most people, really I feel sorry about them. They are completely blind. That's what I'm saying.

GLENN: Father Douglas Al-Bazi.

FATHER DOUGLAS: But when -- during the night, they became wolves because they were happy to obey to another guy. Okay? If they are not going to obey, they will be also killed.

GLENN: Father, how have you prepared your people to be rescued and leave their homeland and leave the church that they've grown up? How have you prepared them for this?

FATHER DOUGLAS: You know, I wish -- actually, I can't believe (inaudible) -- even we are proud because we are Iraqian. But Europe is not proud because we are part of this.

In any case, our land is actually with Jesus. Our land, it is him. So when we have that love and justice, we can create any land to be prepared for our community. And it is easy to us to prepare and build communities again, but to build is the man. To build human people, such as like the people here and around, it's really hard.

But I told the people, I know we're going to start this -- this is the journey, is like Moses. But actually Moses in himself, he believed that I'm going to the Promising Land. Even me, I will not see the Promising Land. But I'm going to prepare it for our kids. So --

GLENN: Will you see --

FATHER DOUGLAS: So to myself, to Father Douglas, I am telling every day to myself, "What are you going to do if it's not a benefit for you, if it's for the next generation?" So we it's tougher on ourselves to make the next generation to be safe. This will be our Promising Land.

GLENN: Father Douglas Al-Bazi, thank you so much. We will talk to you again. And hopefully we will some day get to shake hands and hug and meet one-on-one. Thank you so much. God bless you.

FATHER DOUGLAS: Pray -- please pray for my community.

GLENN: Yes, sir. God bless you.

FATHER DOUGLAS: Thank you. Thank -- thank you, sir. Thank you.

GLENN: More on him in just a minute. And you're going to see an amazing show done. Tonight's broadcast at 5 o'clock was produced by American Dream Labs. And it's a very different episode. And we sent our cameras over to sit with him and he's much easier to understand when you can watch him.

It is one of the most amazing stories you will ever see. And we're going to clip the part of him out of -- it's about four minutes from our visit over with him. And make that available so you can spread that. I mean, it's truly amazing. He prayed the rosary in chains. And he made his chains the rosary. He is a remarkable, remarkable man. I want to watch tonight's really inspiring episode at 5 o'clock on TheBlaze TV.church on martyrs. Church of Martyrs.

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

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What our response to Israel reveals about us

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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.