Several controversies over the last decades, such as the fatwa against Salman Rushdie (1989), the so-called Danish Mohammed cartoons (2005-2006) or the lecture of Benedict XVI in Regensburg (2006) seemed to illustrate a dichotomy between the West defending the freedom of speech and the Islamic world upholding the sanctity of religion. The Christians of the Middle East are hardly ever mentioned in the (scholarly) discussions of such controversies. These controversies, however, put them in an uncomfortable position and churches in the region have been firebombed. But at the same time, Middle Eastern Christians should not be reduced to a position of passive bystanders. They have unequivocally condemned such alleged offenses out of a genuine rejection of what the West considers instances freedom of expression (for instance their rejection of the film Da Vinci Code). This presentation will offer insight into the perspective of Middle Eastern Christians on such controversies.