The Roman Catholics are getting in on the ISIL-looting story (John Burger, '
FBI asking for help in locating cultural artifacts stolen by ISIS' Aleteia Sep 05, 2018)
After reminding readers about cultural destruction and human rights issues, the author then gets to the main point of his text:
for all their supposed theological purity, there’s a practical side to those who hoped to establish a “caliphate,” as well. Though some of those cultural artifacts might have been the object of idol worship, they could also fetch a nice price on the black market.
Now, months after Iraq and Western allies declared ISIS’s defeat on the battlefield, the battle to reclaim those artifacts is underway. But experts predict that that war might continue for several generations.
In an article at Vice, Kathleen Caulderwood said ISIS is making millions selling antiquities looted in Syria and that the FBI has requested help from museums and antiquities dealers to halt the trade in looted and stolen artifacts from Syria and Iraq.
It may be quite some time before the artifacts see the light of day. Looters and dealers hope that by the time objects resurface, it will be difficult to trace their sales back to those who profited in nefarious ways.
So, I guess good Christians will not be buying antiquities.
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