Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

The long Civil War in Syria may have officially ended in December, but the bloodshed continues.

According to Newsweek and several other outlets, over a thousand civilians, including women and children,

have been slaughtered in Syria

in just the last few days. The details are still emerging, but what's known is horrifying.

Many of the dead are members of the Alewite community, a Muslim sect that dominated Syrian

politics for decades, that is, until the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad last year.

The new government regime is carrying out these revenge killings to eliminate all pro-Assad remnants.

One doctor quoted by the Washington Post described, quote, entire families were being wiped out.

They entered homes and carried out mass killings of all al-Awhites, end quote.

And according to reports, many Christians are

being caught in the crossfire, if not being directly targeted. Some believers are fleeing south with

the alowites to areas where the Israelis have established a protected zone for the Druze.

That's another ethnic group in danger there. One young Christian woman put it this way, quote,

the current conflict in Syria does not concern me, but we are its victims. I feel a mix of both

fear and anticipation for what lies ahead in Syria, but I feel certain that migration is the only

option, end quote. In the wake of the killings, Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Shara, has called for unity and promised justice against the murderers.

But he's been linked in the past with groups associated with al-Qaeda, so he's not highly trusted by the minorities.

And even more concerning is just how common it is for feuds like these, especially in Muslim-controlled lands like Syria, to bring opportunistic

persecution of Jews and Christians. It's not entirely clear in this case whether the Christians

are being intentionally targeted because they're Christians or just because they're there.

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