On April twenty-fourth, nineteen fifteen, in Asia Minor during World War One, the first modern-era genocide began with the deportation of Christian Armenian leaders from Constantinople by the Muslim Young Turks. In May, all Armenians were deported and mass murder of these Christians began. Ultimately, Christian Armenians were completely eliminated from the Ottoman Empire and from all the historic Armenian homelands. Experts believe at least one million Armenians were murdered.

This genocide, not atypically, was about religion. The Christian Armenians threatened the Muslim rule. Annihilation of such threats happens in countries where the rule of law is nonexistent. Dictatorships, totalitarian or socialistic systems cannot tolerate religious freedom. This is yet another sober reminder of how vigilant we must be in protecting our religious freedom.