Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Two thousand years ago, Christians were thrown to the lions in the colosseum or crucified. Even today the persecution of Christian minorities continues. The Christian minorities are brutalized, dehumanized, raped, and murdered with no consequences. The world silently watches these crimes against humanity. Some organizations and government leaders do raise their voice but fail to get results in most cases due to the lack of strong pro-Christian minority lobbies. It is a solemn duty of the Christian majorities to lobby and persuade their national governments to intervene and stop the persecution of their fellow Christians.
Blasphemy is a capital offence in 71 Islamic countries, including Pakistan. People take advantage of the blasphemy laws against Christians to seek revenge in their personal disputes and convictions are based on flimsy evidence. In 52 AD, Apostle Thomas arrived in India and established six churches. He was martyred in India in 72 AD. Although Christianity has been in India for two thousand years, the present Bharatiya Janata Party’s national and provincial governments claim that only Hindus are “nationalists” and “patriots”. Anti-conversion laws are used to attack churches and persecute Christians. In January 1999, Pratap Chandra Sarangi was chief of the Bajrang Dal in Odisha when Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, aged 11 and 7, were burnt alive by a group of men with links to the Bajrang Dal. In 2019, Sarangi was rewarded with a cabinet position in the BJP’s national government. In Rwanda, Christians took shelter in the UN compound where they were butchered in front of the UN soldiers who did not stop the Islamic attackers because the UN authorities did not want them to intervene. In Nigeria, the terrorist group, Boko Haram, kidnapped more than 300 Christian girls and took them on foot to their shelter in Garissa forest. This involved many days journey. The Nigerian government did not use the air force to stop them.
In May 2019, a report ordered by United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, concluded that the persecution of Christians in some parts of the world was near “genocide” levels. The report stated that the main effect of "genocidal acts against Christians is exodus" and that Christianity faced being "wiped out" from many nations of the Middle East. In 50 AD, apostle Mark visited Egypt and established Christian churches there. Christianity in Egypt predates Islam. Still, the Christians in Egypt continue to face persecution and attacks on churches although the current government led by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi tries to protect them. Chinese President Xi Jinping is tightening control over all aspects of society. So, churches and house churches, not recognized by the Communist government, are closed down and Christians are jailed.
According to a 2016 Pew Research report, Christians were targeted in 144 countries, up from 125 in 2015. Open Doors stated in its 2019 Watch List Report that within five years the number of countries classified as demonstrating “extreme” persecution increased from one (North Korea) to 11. London’s former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks told the House of Lords, “The persecution of Christians throughout much of the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia (and) elsewhere is one of the crimes against humanity of our time and I’m appalled at the lack of protest it has evoked.”
Lord Jesus Christ taught us “God is love,” “Love one another”, and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” Apostle Paul emphasized, “So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God in faith.” He explained that Christians are “many parts, but one body.” He added, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Even though the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, the Christian churches and organizations should form “Help the Christian Minorities” groups to lobby on behalf of the victimized Christian minorities. Prayers backed by strong lobbying do get results. For example, Asiya Noreen of Pakistan, known as Asiya Bibi, is free and living in Canada today. As Christians, we sing, “In Christ, there is no east and west, in him no north and south; but one great family of love, throughout the whole wide earth.” The Christian majorities should care for the Christian minorities, protect, save, and help them. Then all Christians can happily sing, “We are one in the spirit, we are one in the Lord…. And they’ll know that we are Christians by our love.”
Blessing: May God Bless You, Your Family and Friends and Make You A Blessing to Others
Reform Advocate’s World Christians blog appears on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month
Links/Tags:
*** Voice of the Martyrs https://www.persecution.com
*** The Voice of the Martyrs Canada https://www.vomcanada.com/
*** Open Doors www.od.org
*** The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) www.uscirf.gov/
*** US International Religious Freedom Annual reports www.state.gov/international-religious-freedom-reports/
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