In late February, "unknown persons” invaded Mar Elias, an ancient Maronite church in Bekaa, Lebanon. Along with damaging one of the church’s windows, they destroyed a portion of the flooring, as they dug a large hole near the altar (see pictures below).

According to Maronite Bishop Joseph Mouwad, much of the church’s sacred items were left intact and not stolen. Instead, “they broke the tiles and dug the ground, apparently looking for something, though we do not know what.”

Fingerprints and cigarette butts were found.

On February 17, “unknown persons” set fire to the parked car of Fr. Ayub Yusif, the priest of the Saint George Coptic Catholic Church in the village of Dalga, Minya, Upper Egypt.

By the time authorities put out the fire, the car was completely charred (see pictured).

Dalga has been the scene of many attacks on Christians. For example, back in September 2013, Muslim Brotherhood supporters forced Coptic households to pay jizya, Islamic "protection money" — frequently whitewashed by Western academics — to be extorted from Christians and other non-Muslim subjects of the Islamic state.

Then, Fr. Ayub, the same priest whose car has now been torched, complained of how the Muslim Brotherhood was abusing the Christians of the village.

On March 2, I was interviewed on Issues, Etc., with Todd Wilken. Topics included why the Islamic State hates Christians so, the doctrinal roots of this animus, its appeal, and more. Click here to listen to the 20-minute interview.