“Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner).

Those four simple words were uttered by President John F. Kennedy on June 26, 1963, against the geopolitical backdrop of the Berlin Wall. Those words represented strength and unity in the face of tyranny and oppression — and they’re as appropriate today as they were 53 years ago.

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Today in Berlin, Cairo, and all across the globe, Christians are crying out for us to stand against their oppressors with the same strength of character our late president showed the world.

But we live in an age of political correctness run amok, in which Christians are hesitant about showing their faith or wishing others a Merry Christmas.

We are expert at ensuring we do not offend — and we change our words to protect the sensitivities of others. We pluck the manger scenes out of our public squares, and even from our churches, as clergy want to avoid offending Muslims or any other non-Christian sect.

After the events of recent days, Americans have the opportunity to say that we, too, are Berliners, and that we will stand up to the assaults waged against our way of life by Islamists who seek our destruction.

Do we have the courage and fortitude to take that stand?

Radical Islam has declared war on Christianity. Those who wish us harm did not pause to ensure that our feelings were protected. They offered no explanations as a church was bombed in Egypt, killing at least 27 worshipers and injuring dozens more. No “pardon me” was uttered as another mass slaughter of Christians at a Christmas market in Germany was carried out by what most certainly is a Muslim migrant.

Instead of offering a message of strength, our response to the murder of our brothers and sisters the world over at the hands of Islam is to hide behind an overweight man dressed in red who delivers gifts. We have allowed an anti-Christ belief system to systematically dismantle our religious observances and push aside the bedrock of our faith — the gift of redemption delivered to us by the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

I came to this country from my homeland of Egypt in 2005 in search of Christianity and a safe place to practice a faith other than Islam. And while I still see traces of the freedoms I found when I arrived, I also see ominous changes taking place from the largest cities to the smallest towns.

Meanwhile, Christians in majority Islamic countries continue to stand boldly in the face of unmitigated persecution. On Dec. 11, Al-Bortosia chapel, the largest Coptic cathedral in Egypt located near St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, was bombed in what has been called the deadliest attack on Egyptian Christians.

Following the explosion, surveillance video shows the callous disregard and disdain by the Muslim population toward their Christian neighbors. Police did not rush in to secure the area or attempt to save any possible survivors in the church, which was littered with the shattered bodies of women and children who had gathered for Sunday Mass. Bystanders, gawkers, and others desecrated the site by walking through the spilled blood and mangled bodies of those so brutally murdered in their holy place just before Christmas.

Egyptian President el-Sisi, in an effort to calm the Christian community in Egypt, declared the impossible a mere 24 hours after the carnage — that the perpetrator had been apprehended. That would have been miraculous, since evidence was callously trampled underfoot. He added that those who had died were martyrs for their faith.

In a prepared statement, he said, “The pain felt by Egyptians now will not go to waste, but will result in an uncompromising decisiveness to hunt down and bring to trial whoever helped — through inciting, facilitating, participating or executing — in this heinous crime.”

And in America, perhaps that would be true. But el-Sisi is president of a predominantly Islamic country, and Sharia is the law. After his well-intentioned but meaningless statement, he was reminded in no uncertain terms by imams who crashed the funerals of the murdered Christians that Christianity is an inferior faith that cannot produce martyrs. The only martyrs in Egypt are Muslim, they raged.

Fast forward a few days to Berlin and its ancient Christmas market. Again, celebrants of Christmas were slaughtered. The message was clear: Islam is superior and Christians are fair game in the quest for the Islamic caliphate.

You see, to a Muslim from the Middle East, the act of killing Christians is sanctioned, glorified, and noble. ISIS has called for the faithful to step up their attacks on Christians everywhere, especially during the holy Christmas season. And the faithful are only too willing to answer the call.

Here in the U.S., where the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade looked more like preparation for an armed invasion, people are becoming aware that they must be informed — and possibly armed, just to do a little Christmas shopping or to enjoy the beautiful lights displays. All this because perhaps we have opened our doors to an enemy who wants nothing more than to see us afraid and ultimately dead.

America is the great melting pot, but most of the newcomers we are welcoming as refugees to our nation aren’t interested in becoming a part of our society. Rather, they are bringing the cultural norms from their homelands of Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, Somalia — and living them out here. And what has the Christian response been? To make them comfortable, even if it means we lose our faith, our traditions, and our very lives.

This must not become the new America. I crossed the vast seas to come to freedom in this land, but I see that the persecution and silencing of Christians has crossed the seas behind me. It is not too late, but we must stand up now and loudly proclaim that our faith, our freedoms, and our traditions are to be respected by all who come to our shores. The Egyptian Christians cannot say it. German, French, and other European Christians are afraid to speak it. And the faint whisper of Americans standing up for their faith is drowning in political correctness and misplaced sensitivities.

I only hope the church in this great nation will embody Ephesians 6:10-11, which says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

What’s at stake? Everything. Merry Christmas.

Mark Christian, M.D., is the founder and executive director of the Global Faith Institute (globalfaith.org) and is an Egyptian émigré to the United States and a convert to Christianity. His father and uncle remain high-ranking leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in his former home of Cairo. (Contributor: by Mark Christian, M.D. for Lifezette)

Thank God for the freedom we have in this country to proclaim His name, and pray for believers to be bold and courageous in sharing their faith.

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:31)