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The Persecuted Church
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Out of interest PDN, when did evangelicals begin to operate in Orissa -- opening evangelical or missionary churches and that kind of thing?
I don't know when it started, but the major boom in evangelical Christianity occurred in the 1950s when large numbers of outcasts and low-caste Hindus converted to Christianity. This led them to demand basic human rights, democracy etc. which had always been denied to them under the caste system.
The present violence has a political dimension to it. The Brahmins and other high caste Hindus want these people to reconvert so they will revert to their former low station in society. I guess it's like white South Africans who see blacks 'getting above themselves' and long for a return to apartheid. So, while it manifests itself as anti-Christian violence, the roots are more complex.0 -
Interesting -- any idea of percentages?I don't know when it started, but the major boom in evangelical Christianity occurred in the 1950s when large numbers of outcasts and low-caste Hindus converted to Christianity.
As indeed do most (all?) religious conflicts. The BBC picked up on that story yesterday evening:The present violence has a political dimension to it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7214053.stm
It seems that the reports of an attack by christians on a local Hindu holyman which sparked the unrest were entirely fabricated. The BBC also reports that christians responded in kind, with one mob razing a Hindu village to the ground.0 -
Interesting -- any idea of percentages?
The only statistics I have seen are census figures that lump all Christians (evangelical & catholic) together. In Orissa state as a whole only 2.4% of the population are Christian. However, in regions with large number of outcastes, such as Kandhamal, the figure is close to 20%.
Yes, such violent retaliation is, while maybe predictable, extremely depressing.It seems that the reports of an attack by christians on a local Hindu holyman which sparked the unrest were entirely fabricated. The BBC also reports that christians responded in kind, with one mob razing a Hindu village to the ground.0 -
A Christian pastor in Laos has been describing how he was arrested, imprisoned without trial, beaten almost to death – and told to sign a document renouncing his religion. He refused, preferring to remain in jail rather than give up his faith.
A Release International investigative team travelled to the communist nation of Laos and discovered that Christians are regarded with suspicion and treated with brutality.
A new video report on Laos has just been posted on the Release International website: www.releaseinternational.org In it Pastor Khamxay describes how he was arrested for bringing foreign religions to Laos, a largely Buddhist country.
He told Release: ’They asked me to sign a piece of paper that said that I would not be a Christian because Christians are not good and not right for the Lao people. I didn't sign it because of my faith.’
Instead, he shared his faith with the other prisoners in the cell. Five of the eight became Christians. When the guards found out, they beat him almost to death.
‘After I shared Christ they took me to interrogate one more time. They said I was paying money to people to become Christians and be against the government. I said, “No, I didn't do that. It is not against the government.” And they hit my head, they kicked my shoulder, my bottom and my chest.’
He says the guards beat him until he passed out and almost died. Today his memory has been permanently affected by the kicking to the head he received.
Laos is one of the world’s few remaining communist nations. It embraced communism when its North Vietnamese neighbour defeated America to unite the country under the hammer and sickle.
Like Vietnam, the authorities believe the United States is supporting Christians as a way of continuing its campaign against communism.
So some Christians - especially those who obey Christ’s command to lead others to the faith - are regarded as enemies of the state.
In prison Khamxay and the other prisoners were shackled and unable to move. They were forced to defecate where they lay in the stifling heat.
‘The jail was a very small, dark room with no air inside,’ says Khamxay. ‘There was very, very bad smell because it was like a toilet in there. When we lay down we could not sleep.’
Khamxay, who is in his 50s, has been jailed three times for refusing to stop sharing his faith. He used to be an animist, who believed in the spirit world. When ten of his 15 children died, he believed they'd been killed by spirits. But after a Christian pastor prayed for his family the sickness and the dying stopped, and Khamxay became a Christian.
Now he prays for the sick and they get better. Ill people seek him out to pray for them and to find out about Jesus. Today Khamxay travels on foot to care for 18 house churches with more than 500 members.
It is dangerous work. There are spies in every village. The government requires the village leader to report on anything suspicious. And that includes Christian services. Khamxay often travels by night to avoid their watchful gaze.
He says many Lao people are becoming Christians because Jesus is healing them of their diseases. ‘Many people are seeing that Jesus is the true God, and many people want to become Christians and accept Jesus as their God,’ he says.
Khamxay tells his story in the latest edition of the World Update on the Persecuted Church, by Release International, which can be seen on www.releaseinternational.org
Release, which serves persecuted Christians in 30 nations, is supporting the families of prisoners of faith in Laos. It is enabling wives to visit their husbands in jail, and providing much-needed medical care for when they are eventually released.
‘Please pray for Khamxay and the Christians of Laos, that God would strengthen them, increase their faith and the power of their witness,’ says Release International’s CEO, Andy Dipper. ‘And pray that the communist government would realise that Christians who love God will serve their nation, too.’
The Lao authorities recently arrested 15 Christian families from the Hmong tribe. Many of the 58 men, women and children are thought to have fled persecution in neighbouring Vietnam. If deported they are likely to face brutal treatment - even death.
The authorities have also sentenced nine Hmong church leaders to 15 years’ in jail because their ministries were deemed to have grown ‘beyond acceptable levels.’0 -
A Christian pastor in Laos has been describing how he was arrested, imprisoned without trial, beaten almost to death – and told to sign a document renouncing his religion. He refused, preferring to remain in jail rather than give up his faith.
A Release International investigative team travelled to the communist nation of Laos and discovered that Christians are regarded with suspicion and treated with brutality.
A new video report on Laos has just been posted on the Release International website: www.releaseinternational.org In it Pastor Khamxay describes how he was arrested for bringing foreign religions to Laos, a largely Buddhist country.
He told Release: ’They asked me to sign a piece of paper that said that I would not be a Christian because Christians are not good and not right for the Lao people. I didn't sign it because of my faith.’
Instead, he shared his faith with the other prisoners in the cell. Five of the eight became Christians. When the guards found out, they beat him almost to death.
‘After I shared Christ they took me to interrogate one more time. They said I was paying money to people to become Christians and be against the government. I said, “No, I didn't do that. It is not against the government.” And they hit my head, they kicked my shoulder, my bottom and my chest.’
He says the guards beat him until he passed out and almost died. Today his memory has been permanently affected by the kicking to the head he received.
Laos is one of the world’s few remaining communist nations. It embraced communism when its North Vietnamese neighbour defeated America to unite the country under the hammer and sickle.
Like Vietnam, the authorities believe the United States is supporting Christians as a way of continuing its campaign against communism.
So some Christians - especially those who obey Christ’s command to lead others to the faith - are regarded as enemies of the state.
In prison Khamxay and the other prisoners were shackled and unable to move. They were forced to defecate where they lay in the stifling heat.
‘The jail was a very small, dark room with no air inside,’ says Khamxay. ‘There was very, very bad smell because it was like a toilet in there. When we lay down we could not sleep.’
Khamxay, who is in his 50s, has been jailed three times for refusing to stop sharing his faith. He used to be an animist, who believed in the spirit world. When ten of his 15 children died, he believed they'd been killed by spirits. But after a Christian pastor prayed for his family the sickness and the dying stopped, and Khamxay became a Christian.
Now he prays for the sick and they get better. Ill people seek him out to pray for them and to find out about Jesus. Today Khamxay travels on foot to care for 18 house churches with more than 500 members.
It is dangerous work. There are spies in every village. The government requires the village leader to report on anything suspicious. And that includes Christian services. Khamxay often travels by night to avoid their watchful gaze.
He says many Lao people are becoming Christians because Jesus is healing them of their diseases. ‘Many people are seeing that Jesus is the true God, and many people want to become Christians and accept Jesus as their God,’ he says.
Khamxay tells his story in the latest edition of the World Update on the Persecuted Church, by Release International, which can be seen on www.releaseinternational.org
Release, which serves persecuted Christians in 30 nations, is supporting the families of prisoners of faith in Laos. It is enabling wives to visit their husbands in jail, and providing much-needed medical care for when they are eventually released.
‘Please pray for Khamxay and the Christians of Laos, that God would strengthen them, increase their faith and the power of their witness,’ says Release International’s CEO, Andy Dipper. ‘And pray that the communist government would realise that Christians who love God will serve their nation, too.’
The Lao authorities recently arrested 15 Christian families from the Hmong tribe. Many of the 58 men, women and children are thought to have fled persecution in neighbouring Vietnam. If deported they are likely to face brutal treatment - even death.
The authorities have also sentenced nine Hmong church leaders to 15 years’ in jail because their ministries were deemed to have grown ‘beyond acceptable levels.’
We had a guy Wilfrid Wong, in our church not so long ago talking about this. When we read this stuff I think we can dismiss it quite easily, but when we hear it from someone who's been there n' has the T-shirt, it really brings it to life and makes us squirm a bit to think this sorta thing is happening now in 2008-sadly though it is...0 -
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The extent of anti-Christian feeling in Indonesia has been brought into sharp focus by a report documenting church closures.
Some 110 churches were shut down by Islamist extremists and local governments between 2004 and 2007, according to the report by a broad alliance of religious and human rights organisations. The report's contributors include moderate Muslims.
The report concludes that, in several instances, extremist groups coerced local government officials to send letters to churches prohibiting any further worship activities.
It notes that Islamist radicals are exploiting legislation which makes it virtually impossible for small churches to gain an official permit. The Joint Ministerial Decree, revised in 2006, dictates that a church must have at least 90 adult members and written endorsements from 60 neighbours – which poses a huge challenge in mainly Muslim neighbourhoods.
Ifdhal Kasim, head of the Indonesian Human Rights Commission, is now urging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to speak out against church closures.
* Pray for all those congregations which have been forced to shut their churches in recent years, due to pressure from Islamist radicals.
* Pray that President Yudhoyono will intervene to stop further church closures.0 -
A spate of recent arrests in Xinjiang suggests that China will not easily be cowed by international pressure to clean up its religious rights record before the Olympics.
As the world trains its sights on Beijing, one Xinjiang Christian is facing the prospect of being executed – and many others are being thrown into jail.
The case of Alimjan Yimit, a house church leader and ethnic minority Uyghur, is arousing particular concern. Alimjan, a young professional and father-of-two, has been accused of ‘illegal religious activities’, ‘subversion’ and ‘endangering national security’, a crime which can carry the death penalty.
It’s believed that Alimjan has been targeted because of his faith. A verdict on his case is expected imminently, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
Concern is also growing for another Uyghur Christian, Wusiman Yiming, who is serving two years’ ‘re-education through labour’ after being convicted last September of ‘divulging state secrets’. The outcome of his appeal, scheduled for mid-April, has not yet been made public but Wusiman is known to be suffering from malnutrition and a serious hand injury.
And in Kashi city, officials rounded up 46 Christians at a Bible study in a private home on April 13. Most of the group were freed the next day: two were detained for a fortnight.
Meanwhile, in Beijing, bookstore owner Shi Weihan who was held for more than a month for publishing Christian literature last year has been rearrested. The 37-year-old, whose bookshop is near the Olympic village, has been denied family visits. His wife Zhang Jing is particularly concerned as Shi has diabetes.
Pray: Ask God to build the faith of Uyghur Christians in Xinjiang. And thank Him that the Uyghur church is reported to be growing. Pray particularly for the release of Alimjan Yimit and Wusiman Yiming – and for Shi Weihan in Beijing.
Act: Write a polite letter to the Chinese authorities, expressing concern over recent arrests of Uyghur Christians generally and of Alimjan Yimit and Wusiman Yiming in particular. The Chinese ambassador for Ireland is: Mr. Liu Biwei, 40 Ailesbury Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland0 -
On July 4, 2008 in Jining City in Shandong reeducation-through-labor management committee issued a written decision sentencing Zhang Zhongxin to two years re-education through labour. Zhang will start the re-education through labor program July 4, 2008 and is scheduled to be released June 5, 2010.
Authorities accused him of cult participation in the "the whole scope of
the Church", organized "Sunday School" training courses, preaching the
Gospel to the northwest, Tibet and other places for missionaries, and
pioneers sermons. Since 2005, he established the "Rainbow Missions
Fellowship in Jining of Shandong" and "Timothy Bible training school",
training ministers and presented graduation certificates.0 -
President of Chinese House Church Alliance Forced to Live on Streets For
meeting with American Congressional Delegation
On July 6, 2008 Pastor Bike Zhang, chairman of the Federation House Church and his wife, Xie Fenglan, were forced to leave their home in Chaoyang District by Beijing PSB officials.
The couple was able to find shelter in the home of a friend, Niu Bei until
officials again found the home and forced the Zhangs to leave. Zhang and
his wife were forced to move into a hotel in Guo Xian town, Tongzhou
District, and were allowed extended residence by the owner. At 16:00 on
July 14 Tongzhou PSB officials threatened the owner of the hotel to evict
the couple or face incarceration. The couple then decided to find residence
in Changping, but were stopped by police officials while on their way and
taken to the Town Government office. Police proceeded to interrogate the
couple rotating them on a one on one basis without food, drink, or rest. At
6:00am Xie Fenglan collapsed due to the stress of the torture but was not
taken to the hospital until 11:00am. The couple was released from the
government office and stopped at a local hotel on their way out of town.
While local police officials again drove the couple out of the hotel and
forced them to leave. After a short while of living in Tongzhou, the couple
were again accosted by local police and forced to move. Zhang begged the
PSB officials to allow his sick wife to stay in the location and rest
overnight. The officials rejected this plea and forced Zhang to send his
wife to her sister’s residence in Sanhe, Hebei for recovery, while Zhang
found residence in a local hotel. On July 16th, while going out to buy
medicine for his wife, local police officials followed Zhang and forced his
wife to move out from her sister’s home.
Both Zhang and his wife are now forced to live on the streets and are not
able to find shelter. When asked why the couple was being expelled from
Beijing, officials responded, “Because Bike Zhang met the Americans, and
destroyed the harmony of the Beijing Olympic Games.”0 -
PDN, I notice that China is now allowing a limited amount of Bibles to be freely distributed in the country.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4175389.ece
Coincidentally such relaxation in the law just happens to coincide with the Olympics coming to town. Cynic that I am, I'm guessing that the shoddy façade of religious tolerance will fall off soon after the athletes have done their thing and the media toddle off. Am I being too cynical here? Or could the Olympics be - in the most literal sense - a blessing in disguise?
::EDIT::
Do you ever get updates on these stories?0 -
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Fanny Cradock wrote: »PDN, I notice that China is now allowing a limited amount of Bibles to be freely distributed in the country.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4175389.ece
Coincidentally such relaxation in the law just happens to coincide with the Olympics coming to town. Cynic that I am, I'm guessing that the shoddy façade of religious tolerance will fall off soon after the athletes have done their thing and the media toddle off. Am I being too cynical here?
Not at all. Theyre just trying to look tolerant because of the large amount of criticism they have been recieving in the run up to the Olympics.0 -
hmmmm0
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Double post0
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Care to elaborate?Not at all. Theyre just trying to look tolerant because of the large amount of criticism they have been recieving in the run up to the Olympics.
I guess this also means that 'fragrant meat' is temporarily off the menu.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7501768.stm0 -
They are changing a lot of policies (I'm willing to bet temporarily) including their views on religious freedom, pollution, tiger bone medicine, policing and Tibet to name but a few.0
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They are changing a lot of policies (I'm willing to bet temporarily) including their views on religious freedom, pollution, tiger bone medicine, policing and Tibet to name but a few.
Sorry for the confusion, Galvasean. I was actually addressing womoma's rather cryptic 'hummm' remark. Never mind! I have a feeling there a whole lot of substance behind it :pac:0 -
INDONESIA
Hardline Islamic groups are wielding ever-increasing influence over
Indonesia' spolitics, according to a new report.
The International Crisis Group study considers why the authorities in
Jakarta have issued a decree freezing the activities of a minority Muslim sect, the Ahmadiyah. And it concludes that hardliners have
leaned on government officials to sideline the Ahmadiyah, who have
lived in Indonesia since 1925.
ICG sees the decree, which orders Ahmadiyah to stop practising their
faith, as a worrying development for non-Muslims as well as for any
Muslim not conforming to conservative orthodoxy.
Hardline Muslims have campaigned for the Ahmadiyah to be outlawed for
decades so the timing of the government decree is seen as
significant. One of the main catalysts for the decree is the huge
influence of the Islamic Scholars Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia or
MUI) over President Yudhoyono's administration.
Ultra-conservative Islamic groups are not well represented in
parliament but this is no obstacle to their political ambitions. ICG
claims these groups have close links with certain officials and are
using other radical groups at grassroots level to lobby for policy
reform.
ICG also says that, in the run-up to next year's national elections,
President Yudhoyono will not want to risk upsetting the coalition of
Islamic parties which helped him win the 2004 ballot. Recent polls
suggest he is losing ground to his main political rival, former
president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
(Sources: BBC, International Crisis Group, Spero News)
" Pray that the democratic process would prevent unelected Muslim
clerics from gaining further influence over the current Indonesian
administration.
" Pray for Christians in Indonesia, increasingly sidelined under the
growing influence of these clerics.0 -
Avoiding parochiality, lets not forget atheists too. One of whose number was in Jakarta last year during Ramadan and Idulfitri and consequently, not only had a hard time avoiding adhan, the muslim call to prayer, but an even harder time finding a beer.Pray for Christians in Indonesia, increasingly sidelined under the growing influence of these clerics.0 -
http://www.fresnobee.com/651/v-printerfriendly/story/814813.html
AKARTA, Indonesia — Hundreds of Christian theology students have been living in tents since a mob of angry Muslim neighbors stormed their campus last month wielding bamboo spears and hurling Molotov cocktails.
The incident comes amid growing concern that Indonesia's tradition of religious tolerance is under threat from Islamic hard-liners.
In talks since the attack, the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology has reluctantly agreed to shut its 20-year-old campus in east Jakarta, accepting an offer this week to move to a small office building on the other side of the Indonesian capital.
"Why should we be forced from our house while our attackers can walk freely?" asked the Rev. Matheus Mangentang, chairman of the 1,400-student school.
The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which relies on the support of Islamic parties in Parliament, is struggling to balance deep Islamic traditions and a secular constitution. With elections coming next April, the government seems unwilling to defend religious minorities, lest it be portrayed as anti-Islamic in what is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
The July 25 attack, which injured 18 students, was the culmination of years of simmering tensions between the school and residents of the Kampung Pulo neighborhood.
Senny Manave, a spokesman for the Christian school, said complaints were received from neighbors about prayers and the singing of hymns, which they considered disturbing evangelical activity.
Several neighbors refused to comment, saying they feared that could further strain relations. A prominent banner, signed by scores of people, has been hung over an entrance to the neighborhood.
"We the community of Kampung Pulo demand the campus be closed and dissolved," it says.
The assault began around midnight, when students woke to the crash of stones falling on their dormitory roof as a voice over a loudspeaker at a nearby mosque cried "Allah Akbar," or "God is great" in Arabic.
The unidentified speaker urged residents to rise up against their "unwanted neighbors," said Sairin, the head of campus security, who goes by a single name.
The attack followed a claim that a student had broken into a resident's house, but police dismissed the charge.
Uneasy relations date to 2003, when neighbors began to protest the school's presence. Last year, residents set fire to shelters for construction workers to try to stop the campus from expanding deeper into the neighborhood. Some also questioned the legality of the school's permit.
Christian lawmaker Karol Daniel Kadang accused property speculators of provoking last month's incident to clear the land for more profitable use, after the school refused to sell out.
He also blamed the government for failing to build interfaith relations, which he and others believe are beginning to fray.
"People are still tolerant, but there is a growing suspicion among Muslims of others," said Prof. Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Jesuit priest who has lived in Indonesia for half a century.
He added that the police have failed to prevent both attacks on minorities and the forced closure of Christian churches and nontraditional mosques by mobs incited by radical Muslims.
"The state has some responsibility for this growing intolerance, namely by not upholding the law," he said.
A mob stormed a church service last Sunday in another east Jakarta neighborhood, forcing dozens of Christian worshippers to flee, said Jakarta Police Chief Col. Carlo Tewu. No arrests have been made.
Since being driven from campus, nearly 600 female students have been sleeping under suspended tarps at a nearby scout camp, where they had to dig trenches to keep water out during downpours. Classes are held with megaphones in the sweltering summer heat, under trees or the tarps. A similar number of male students live in a guesthouse. The remainder have returned to their families.
Food, water and school supplies are donated by church groups and community charities.
"We feel like refugees in our own country," said Dessy Nope, 19, a second-year student majoring in education. "How can you study here? I only followed 20 percent of my last lesson. It's difficult to concentrate."
Christians have not been the only targets for Muslim hard-liners, who this year set fire to mosques of a Muslim sect, Ahmadiyah, that they consider heretical.
In June, the government ordered members of the sect to return to mainstream Islam, sparking concern among activists who fear the state is interfering in matters of faith and caving in to the demands of radicals.
"We're living in a country where there are many religions, but the government cannot prevent the actions of fundamentalist groups," said Manave, the school spokesman. "The government cannot protect minorities."0 -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7679212.stmTaleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP that they killed Ms Williams "because she was working for an organisation which was preaching Christianity in Afghanistan".0
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This happened to a young woman who entered a religious order in America, leaving her Muslim family in Australia to do this.
The family help her cousin hostage, threatening to kill her unless M returned and married the man they had chosen for her.
Which she had no real choice but to do.
It happens time and time and time again,.
PDN; you are doing a great work here.
For many of us who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, "the Church" means the heart and soul and mind of every person who knows and loves Jesus and strives to live their life according to His commandments.
The Church is persecuted loudly in this thread.... sad to see that
Blessings
SisterLawyers in Pakistan say that a growing number of young Christian girls are being abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married to Muslim men.0 -
I think it's great that you have an area where you can offer support to those not free to follow thier faith.
Perhaps you could also offer prayers for the following:
Those resticted in freedom of worship in Afghanistan. Things have moved on a little with teh overthrow of teh Taliban but we should never forget the evil and pointless dessecration ond destruction of ancients sites such as Bamyan
Nor should we forget the extensive restrictions placed on our brothers in Israel. Braving gunfire for your faith must be the ultimate test and thankfully they have men of teh cloth willing to stand up for what they (literally) believe in
This story is a couple of months old but it's our old friend China, up to her usual tricks. Tighter than ever restrictions on any visible show of faith and a belief that the regime is tightening an already tight grip. I doubt that things have changed vastly in teh month since that story broke.
And in America - of all places! - somewhere where freedom of religion is supposed to be sacrosanct a local is quoted as exulting "I felt we needed to protect our property rights, and we couldn't have done it if we hadn't banded together" Had they blocked a brothel? A casino? No, a house of worship. Disgraceful.
Keep up the good work - after all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (people) do nothing0 -
I would ask Christian posters to pray for Gao Zhisheng, a Christian human rights lawyer in China. He was arrested nearly a year ago, but his family have been unable to visit or even contact him. Now the authorities claim that he is 'missing' - supposedly while out taking a walk (laughable to anyone who knows anything about the Chinese prison regime).
http://www.chinaaid.org/qry/page.taf?id=105&_function=detail&sbtblct_uid1=1374&month=01&year=2010&_nc=364161d085b3c7051a31fa30ee3d23fd
There appears to be a general crackdown on the Church in China at present. Several of my friends in Henan Province have been arrested in the last few weeks. Also, a western colleague of mine was recently arrested when trying to enter China, kept overnight in a cage, and then deported the next morning and banned from entering China for 5 years due to "participating in illegal religious activities".0 -
There appears to be a general crackdown on the Church in China at present. Several of my friends in Henan Province have been arrested in the last few weeks. Also, a western colleague of mine was recently arrested when trying to enter China, kept overnight in a cage, and then deported the next morning and banned from entering China for 5 years due to "participating in illegal religious activities".
Hey PDN, have a question for you.
I have asked and re-asked you many times about various forms of persecution and other unpleasant activities carried out by Christians in Asia and you haven't denounced them, yet when Christians are on the receiving end you are not only highly vocal in your protests but you are the one actively bringing it up here.
Why is so so important to 'look out for your own' but not for others ?
You and I both know that the lunatics carrying out these persecutions against Christians and the 'Christians' carrying out persecutions, among other things, are not reminiscent of the religions as a whole and yet you seem to be completely against one group, the Muslim/other crazies, but apathetic when its the Christian crazies. Why ?0 -
Monosharp, I have consistently condemned any kind of persecution, irrespective of who carries it out. I support freedom and human rights for Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, voodo practitioners, homosexuals etc.
I have also consistently condemned 'Christian' crazies such as Fred Phelps etc. who are hateful to others.
The Bible instructs us, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:10).
Therefore it is entirely right and proper for Christians to pray for, and to draw attention to, instances where their Christian brothers and sisters are being persecuted.
I strongly advise you not to attempt to drag this thread off topic.0
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