(CNN)Christianity was born in Bethlehem, in what's now the West Bank. It took root among people like the Assyrians, who flourished in ancient Mesopotamia. It soon found a home in places like modern-day Turkey. In other words, Christianity traces its past squarely to the Middle East. But do Christians have a future there? Recent headlines provide ample evidence for skepticism. It's hard to ignore the depravity of ISIS beheading 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya. Nor can one shake off stories of women and children among the 262 Christians captured by ISIS in Syria, one of several horrors faced by Christians in that nation and neighboring Iraq.
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Christianity has long roots in the Middle East, starting with the birth of Jesus
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Expert: Their numbers have fallen in recent decades and should continue to fall
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There are exceptions, like migrant workers flooding Gulf states like Saudi Arabia
All this strain, all this chaos has shrunk the percentage of the Middle East's once-sizable population of openly practicing @placeholder.
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