The Gospels describe Christmas as a time of great happiness that a saviour has been born. But they also intimate the murderous business through which salvation will come. Not only the star but also the shadow of Herod stands over the place of birth.
This Christmas many Christians in predominantly Muslim nations will also be shadowed by fear.
In Iraq, churches have recently been bombed and Christians murdered. In Pakistan, Asia Bibi (pictured) awaits hanging, accused of insulting the prophet Mahommad. The Pakistan Government has backed off its feeble attempt to provide some measure of justice in the process. Meanwhile the United Nations will consider a resolution that endorses similar laws against religious defamation.
Middle Eastern Catholics have expressed disappointment at the response of Western Christians. This response ranges from helpless and embarrassed attention that quickly modulates into neglect, to an ideological assault on Islam.
The latter sees the sufferings of Christians as the expression of the mortal struggle between Christianity and Islam, and as a demonstration of the innate militancy of Islam towards those whom it classes as infidels.
Neither response respects duly the Christians who suffer. A proper response must consider first the complexity of a situation which cannot be reduced to religious difference. Antipathy to Christianity is fuelled by resentment against Western powers that are identified with Christianity.
This grievance can be traced back to the Crusades. But the militant forms of Islam that have corroded tolerance for Christians in many Islamic societies owe more to contemporary history. Western support for Israel and the humiliation both of the Palestinian people and of surrounding countries have favoured the spread of a more narrow interpretation of Islam.
The United States invasion of Iraq has been catastrophic for Iraqi Christians. Under Sadam Hussein they lived in relative peace. As a result of the invasion, they have been identified both with the United States as Christians and as clients of the Sunni.
The antagonism between Sunni and Shiite and the cooptation by Iran and Saudi Arabia of radical groups has hemmed in the space for happy co-existence.
It is easy for politicians and local landlords to draw on this potent mixture of religion and prejudice to inflame local grievances about property or power. Christians are a convenient scapegoat to focus resentment.
This complexity explains in part why the response of Western Christians is so muted. It shows that they do not have a detached standing point from which to look at