A bit over a week ago, my friend sent me a message telling me to read an article published by the Olympus called “Christians scream to be heard — but are silenced by the media” by Ramond Yepes. After reading this article, I was baffled by the blatant disregard for fact. It caused me to go and look further into two things:  What is happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and whether Christian musicians are actually underpublicized. Beyond that, there was also an emotional component that I don’t want to disregard, as a Pagan, reading this infuriated me because I felt that it showed a complete disregard for other religions. However, I knew that I didn’t want to write an article that was motivated by my personal opinions and beliefs; I wanted to write something based on fact. I am not ignorant of the fact that this is a response to an opinion piece, but I do think that an informative response was needed since real-life events were used to back up the opinion that Christians are being silenced.

When reading this article, the first thing that struck me was when it said that the 70 people who were beheaded were beheaded “in their own Church purely because of their faith.” After further research into the group that did this, M23, and the DRC’s political chaos as a whole, I found that this statement actually wasn’t true. What happened to these people is something that often happens in the Congo, done by M23 and other groups. In a town called Mayba, a group of 70 people were gathered by M23 soldiers and were forced to go on a nine-day walk to a town called Kasanga. In a church in Kasanga, they were killed. The article mentioned that Fox had covered this topic, and while it is true that they covered it, they also covered it incorrectly. Along with this, describing M23 as an “ISIS-affiliated group” pushes the reader to assume that M23 is an Islamic extremist group that targets Christians; once again, this isn’t true. M23 is a group of people who are a part of an ethnic group from the Congo-Rwanda region, called the Tutsis.

 To further explain who M23 is and what motivates them, a background of the Congolese government is needed. Since the DRC came out of colonial rule in the 60’s, it has been grounds for political mayhem. The government from 1965 to 1997 was corrupt; once their leader died, the Congo went into a state of war. This started with a civil war/genocide that was occurring in Rwanda. This war was started when a group of Rwandan Tutsis started to kill other ethnic groups that occupied Rwanda. As Rwanda became unsafe for the Tutsi group, they fled to the Congo, where they started the Congo’s second civil war. This civil war, however, is way more complicated than one group starting a fight; there are over 100 militia groups in Congo that are currently fighting this war. During this time, the Tutsi group became irrelevant in the war, that is, until the rise of M23 in 2012. M23 is a militia group whose main motivation, like the other militia groups in the Congo, is to have full control of the Congo. They want to be the majority ethnicity in Congo and have control over the government. 

All this to say, M23 didn’t kill those people because they were Christian; it was an act of war. Along with this, because M23 is in the middle of a war, they have made quite a few alliances, one being a branch of ISIS in Uganda known as the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces). Overall, M23 did not kill these people in their own church and didn’t do it purely because of their faith. However, there is something to be said about the lack of media coverage of the DRC. Many social injustices are occurring in the DRC, and they aren’t covered. Or they are covered, and the articles are full of unfactual statements and Western propaganda. 

The article makes an argument that Christians, specifically Christian singers, aren’t represented in the media. Considering that the majority of the population is Christian, a good number of singers are also Christian. Currently, some of the biggest names in the industry are Christian. For example, Kendrick Lamar is a notable Christian. Many of Lamar’s songs touch on his religion and beliefs, often stating that God saved him from the life he was once leading. Another notable Christian singer is the legend, the icon, the Queen B, Beyoncé. Beyoncé not only grew up religious but has involved many religious undertones in her music. Not only are both of these artists Christians, but they are both 2025 Grammy winners. I could go on and on with lists of Christian singers who won Grammys this year and got a buttload of publicity from it. Just because one singer who happens to be Christian didn’t get publicity doesn’t mean the media is erasing Christians. 

Along with that, an argument is made that Zoe Saldana got more publicity for her Grammy win than Christian singer Tori Kelly. The problem with this argument is that Zoe Saldana is also Christian. She is a Catholic who does not regularly talk publicly about Catholicism, in particular she does mention faith often online. Along with that, part of Zoe Saldana’s recent publicity is due to the fact that she is the first Dominican woman, in almost 100 years of Oscars, to win an Oscar. While I am not disagreeing that Tori Kelly shouldn’t get more recognition, I am trying to emphasize that the lack of recognition she gets isn’t due to her religion; it’s due to reasons we will never know. Somehow, some people become more famous than others. Sadly, Tori Kelly is not on the list of those who have truly made it big. 

Before I conclude this article, I do want to acknowledge that hate crimes against Christians are on the rise. Nonetheless, this hasn’t gone unnoticed by the media. Overall, there are over 8 billion people on our planet and around 10,000 different religious groups, it is impossible for all of those people and groups to be on the frontline of every news station. Because of the wide variety of people in the world, even in the US, you are going to need to tailor the news you are digesting to what you believe and are interested in. You have control over the news you receive; make sure you use that power.