In the hustle and bustle of blue state condemnation of extremist christianity, it's useful to sometimes take a look at how it can manifest
Sic gloria transit: sporadic killings of Christians, mostly Armenians, started as soon as the Turks overran it on September 9, 1922. Within days, they escalated to mass slaughter. It did not "get out of hand," however, in the sense of an uncontrolled chaos perpetrated by an uncommanded military rabble. The Turkish military authorities deliberately escalated it. The Greek Orthodox Bishop Chrysostomos remained with his flock. "It is the tradition of the Greek Church and the duty of the priest to stay with his congregation," he replied to those begging him to flee. The Moslem mob fell upon him, uprooted his eyes and, as he was bleeding, dragged him by his beard through the streets of the Turkish quarter, beating and kicking him. Every now and then, when he had the strength to do so, he would raise his right hand and blessed his persecutors. A Turk got so furious at this gesture that he cut off his hand with his sword. He fell to the ground, and was hacked to pieces by the angry mob.
For those who are unaware, the phrase greek church is a synonym for oriental, or Orthodox church. It happens that this is the part of the Church that I belong to (though I am in the minority of it that has patched things up with Rome). It is this sort of martyrdom operation, because it was a martyrdom operation, that sustains the faith. What kind of men can bless those who are in the process of killing them?