Not only is it fatally dangerous to be a Christian in Syria and Egypt, but seventy percent of Christians killed around the world in 2012 died in the African country of Nigeria, where the persecution continues today.According to a Fox News report, in Iraq, which we invaded in 2003 to liberate its people from a vicious dictatorship, "the number of Christian houses of worship there has dwindled alarmingly in the decade since the U.S. invaded and ousted Saddam Hussein from power."There are just 57 Christian churches in the entire country, down from more than 300 as recently as 2003,” Patriarch Louis Sako told Egyptian-based news agency MidEast Christian News. The churches that remain are frequent targets of Islamic extremists, who have driven nearly a million Christians out of the land, say human rights advocates.We hear a lot about Barack Obama's targeted killing of Pakistan's citizens, including innocent civilians, by drones, but you probably have not heard about this:"The destruction a Christian neighborhood suffered on Saturday speaks volumes about growing religious intolerance in the country. An over 3,000-strong mob set ablaze more than 150 houses of Christians in Lahore's Joseph Colony." (The Express Tribune, March 10).Discovering the mortifications and murders of Christians in their own countries reminded me of my brief rush of hope in 1948 when the United Nations suddenly appeared stricken with guilt at the genocide and vicious debasement of Christians and other minorities in their lands.As reported by Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations: "In 1948, the member states of the United Nations General Assembly -- repulsed and emboldened by the sinister scale and intent of the crimes they had just witnessed -- unanimously passed the Genocide Convention.