Modern Persecutions Of Christians

[MiserereNobis]

I just saw this article on cnn.com:  Christian Woman in Sudan Sentenced to Death for Her Faith

 

Apparently, her father was Muslim and her mother Orthodox and her mother raised her as a Christian.  However, the law views her as a Muslim since that was her father's religion.  Apostasy is a capital offense in Sudan and so she is going to be executed.

 

She was also convicted of adultery (punishment = 100 lashes) because her husband is Christian and the law doesn't recognize their marriage as valid.

 

Sadly enough, the article also says this:

 

Among all religious groups, Christians are the most likely to be persecuted worldwide, according to a 2014 report by the Pew Research Center.

Between June 2006 and December 2012, Christians were harassed by governments in 151 countries, Pew reported. Islam was second, with 135 countries. Together, Christians and Muslims make up half of the world's population, Pew noted.

Jesus did say the world would hate us and persecute us. Let's all say a prayer for this woman and her courage for her faith.

[Mola Ram Suda Ram]

I am afraid we will see more and more of this as time roles on.

[bluebell]

It's a very sad story.

[thesometimesaint]

A sad sick story.

[MiserereNobis]

You know, the constitution of Afghanistan also declares apostasy from Islam as punishable by death. Think about all the American blood that was spilt there, all the US money spent, all of that mess, and we end up supporting with our military a constitution that does not guarantee freedom of religion. It rather bothers me.

[bluebell]

You know, the constitution of Afghanistan also declares apostasy from Islam as punishable by death. Think about all the American blood that was spilt there, all the US money spent, all of that mess, and we end up supporting with our military a constitution that does not guarantee freedom of religion. It rather bothers me.

 

That's fairly par for the course when it comes to other governments which the U.S. puts into power or supports.  Our government has some great qualities, but integrity has rarely been one of them.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

You know, the constitution of Afghanistan also declares apostasy from Islam as punishable by death. Think about all the American blood that was spilt there, all the US money spent, all of that mess, and we end up supporting with our military a constitution that does not guarantee freedom of religion. It rather bothers me.

I served in the Army for eight years, four of those years on the East German border. There was a time when America when we could call and identify our enemies. Now we are afraid to even call our enemies by name...but this has being going on in the Sudan for a very long time. It will continue as long as the world allows it.

[The Nehor]

I am afraid we will see more and more of this as time roles on.

 

Maybe but fortunately its spread is limited at the moment.

 

 

That's fairly par for the course when it comes to other governments which the U.S. puts into power or supports.  Our government has some great qualities, but integrity has rarely been one of them.

 

In a strange way it is integrity, letting those in the nation decide their policy even after we conquered them. If it is a puppet regime it has long strings and some freedom.

 

I still don't like it of course.

[thesometimesaint]

I served in the Army for eight years, four of those years on the East German border. There was a time when America when we could call and identify our enemies. Now we are afraid to even call our enemies by name...but this has being going on in the Sudan for a very long time. It will continue as long as the world allows it.

 

Whose the enemy in Afghanistan? We spend years supporting as our friendly "Freedom Fighters" like the Moudjahidine, and Pashtuns when they were fighting the Russians. Now they're our enemy when they fight us.

[Storm Rider]

The past two years has been very, very hard for our Coptic brothers and sisters; their churches have been desecrated and burned and many Copts have been persecuted for no other reason than they are Christian.  Throughout the Muslim world there is a virulent form of Islam that taints, twists, and magnifies the worst elements of Islam.  Where once it was very tolerant of other belief systems, specifically Jews and Christians, it has become rather intolerant.

 

On the brighter side, in the UAE and in Qatar the national government gives land to Christians to build church buildings.  

 

The woman in Sudan is a terrible example of Islam gone astray.  She, and all other Christians in these countries, is worthy of our thoughtful, diligent prayers.  

[thesometimesaint]

The past two years has been very, very hard for our Coptic brothers and sisters; their churches have been desecrated and burned and many Copts have been persecuted for no other reason than they are Christian.  Throughout the Muslim world there is a virulent form of Islam that taints, twists, and magnifies the worst elements of Islam.  Where once it was very tolerant of other belief systems, specifically Jews and Christians, it has become rather intolerant.

 

On the brighter side, in the UAE and in Qatar the national government gives land to Christians to build church buildings.  

 

The woman in Sudan is a terrible example of Islam gone astray.  She, and all other Christians in these countries, is worthy of our thoughtful, diligent prayers.  

 

Agreed. Unfortunately it is often the rare most bizarre elements that make the rest look  bad. Paraphrasing Gandhi; i like your Christ just fine; It is the Christians  can't stand.

[cdowis]

It is tempting to turn this into a political debate over foreign policy, but I'm sure we can avoid that temptation.

[The Nehor]

Agreed. Unfortunately it is often the rare most bizarre elements that make the rest look  bad. Paraphrasing Gandhi; i like your Christ just fine; It is the Christians  can't stand.

My response to Gandhi would be:

 

"I like Christians just fine; it's racists like you I can't stand."

[thesometimesaint]

My response to Gandhi would be:

 

"I like Christians just fine; it's racists like you I can't stand."

 

The British weren't exactly very nice to the peoples of that subcontinent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/east_india_01.shtml

 

That being said Gandhi was very much a product of his time, and unfortunately racism neither started with nor ended with him.

[The Nehor]

The British weren't exactly very nice to the peoples of that subcontinent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/east_india_01.shtml

 

That being said Gandhi was very much a product of his time, and unfortunately racism neither started with nor ended with him.

 

They were not the best overlords but to be fair they also prevented a lot of atrocities by abrogating India's brutal caste system and their barbarous customs:

 

“Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs.”

 

-Charles James Napier, British Officer serving in India who came across natives about to burn a widow along with the rest of her husband's possessions after he died

[bluebell]

 

In a strange way it is integrity, letting those in the nation decide their policy even after we conquered them. If it is a puppet regime it has long strings and some freedom.

 

I still don't like it of course.

 

If those nations decided on policy that was not beneficial to the United States, the U.S. would intervene faster than we can type the word.  The U.S. wants to have integrity, but we won't sacrifice our own interests for it.

[thesometimesaint]

They were not the best overlords but to be fair they also prevented a lot of atrocities by abrogating India's brutal caste system and their barbarous customs:

 

“Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs.”

 

-Charles James Napier, British Officer serving in India who came across natives about to burn a widow along with the rest of her husband's possessions after he died

 

India wasn't the first to do that. We can only hope that they'll be the last.

[telnetd]

You know, the constitution of Afghanistan also declares apostasy from Islam as punishable by death. Think about all the American blood that was spilt there, all the US money spent, all of that mess, and we end up supporting with our military a constitution that does not guarantee freedom of religion. It rather bothers me.

 

The United States foreign policy is not something to be proud of.

It's no wonder why the world does not respect us like before.

 

Gail

[The Nehor]

The United States foreign policy is not something to be proud of.

It's no wonder why the world does not respect us like before.

 

Gail

 

Hate to tell you this but they never really respected us. They supported us after World War II because we kept out those filthy commies but respect? .......not really.

 

And before the World Wars we were a nobody.

Edited May 17, 2014 by The Nehor

[Tiki]

Hate to tell you this but they never really respected us. They supported us after World War II because we kept out those filthy commies but respect? .......not really.

 

And before the World Wars we were a nobody.

Hardly. France was the first nation to recognize the legitmacy of the United States, because it was at odds with Great Britain. (And which shows how stupid the french monarchy was to recognize a country with a govt granting rights to individuals.) The French Revolution occurred shortly after. Since, the concepts established by the US Constitution has spread worldwide with most countries having their version. Even the former communist countries had constitutions and called themselves Republics as a facade that they were free. The Monroe Doctrine kept European powers out of the Americas and American innovation and inventions have swept the world.

And if America was a nobody before the World Wars then why was it called upon to enter WWI and WWII? The world knew the strength of America. The US was able to fight WWII in both the Atlantic and Asia campaigns and at the same time still able to ships trucks, planes, tanks to reinforce the Soviet Union through Murmansk and Iran. And if your up on your history, you would have learned after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Soviet documents brought to light recorded the Soviet Leaders' amazement that the United States was able to accomplish it.

Not even the Liar below believes America is weak, or he wouldn't be involved in influencing his mortal followers to weaken it.

[The Nehor]

Hardly. France was the first nation to recognize the legitmacy of the United States, because it was at odds with Great Britain. (And which shows how stupid the french monarchy was to recognize a country with a govt granting rights to individuals.) The French Revolution occurred shortly after. Since, the concepts established by the US Constitution has spread worldwide with most countries having their version. Even the former communist countries had constitutions and called themselves Republics as a facade that they were free. The Monroe Doctrine kept European powers out of the Americas and American innovation and inventions have swept the world.

 

It is also reasonable to claim that they were copying us and we copied the British form of government so people respect the British.

 

 

And if America was a nobody before the World Wars then why was it called upon to enter WWI and WWII? The world knew the strength of America. The US was able to fight WWII in both the Atlantic and Asia campaigns and at the same time still able to ships trucks, planes, tanks to reinforce the Soviet Union through Murmansk and Iran. And if your up on your history, you would have learned after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Soviet documents brought to light recorded the Soviet Leaders' amazement that the United States was able to accomplish it.

 

Nations wanting you to join a war in no way means you are strong. Romania and Bulgaria were also coaxed into World War I. Does that make them respected superpowers? The US contribution to World War I was important but hardly a gamechanger.

 

In the interwar years the United States rose to great industrial power because Europe had to rebuild and was suffering from population shortages. The United States was considered powerful in its own sphere but was a relatively minor political power until the war started and the British were desperate for aid. Power does not equal respect. The British war veterans I met while over there respected US strength but still wonder why it took us so damn long to get involved. As to Soviets being impressed by American industrial might that came as a shock to everyone (especially Japan) and including the US. Again, industrial and military might does not equal respect unless one were to operate on the idea that thugs have the right idea and "respect" actually means "being feared for your ability to do violence". If that is the case the US has had a lot of respect since World War II and we are still highly respected. Lately we will take any pretext for a massively unfair fight. Ukraine though.....that would be hard.

 

Not even the Liar below believes America is weak, or he wouldn't be involved in influencing his mortal followers to weaken it.

 

Are you talking about the American Spring folks who recently marched on DC to dethrone the government promising a horde of up to 30 million? The devil sucks at his job. Only a few hundred showed up and they basically had a picnic. Most were overweight and in no condition to run a revolution. Old Scratch is losing his edge.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Whose the enemy in Afghanistan? We spend years supporting as our friendly "Freedom Fighters" like the Moudjahidine, and Pashtuns when they were fighting the Russians. Now they're our enemy when they fight us.

My point is there was a time, we knew who the enemy was, I was one one side of the fence (West Germany with a gun, or helicopter (in my case) and they stood a post on the other side. Now identifying the enemy is not so easy...I am not seeking a make this political, so let's don't.

[thesometimesaint]

My point is there was a time, we knew who the enemy was, I was one one side of the fence (West Germany with a gun, or helicopter (in my case) and they stood a post on the other side. Now identifying the enemy is not so easy...I am not seeking a make this political, so let's don't.

 

I have no desire to make this political either. We both grew up in an era when the US and the USSR were mortal deadly enemies, and both had hair triggers on more than enough armaments to kill every living person on this planet many times over. Afghanistan was never that big of a threat. 

 

Anyway back to the OP. It is a sad fact of life that people of whatever religion, or lack thereof, have been persecuting not only those of a different religion, or lack thereof, but people of the same religion from since Cain and Able times. To me it is cringe worthy that in the year 2014 we still do.