I'm proud that our church prayed for Pakistan today, and had our kids sent letters to imprisoned believers.
Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 29, 2013, at 14:33, [email protected] wrote: > > Has Barack Hussein Obama made even one public statement on the subject of > persecution of Christians? > > Has Boehner? Romney" McCain? > > We all know the answer. Next question: Why not? > > Billy > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > Daily Beast > A Global Slaughter of Christians, but America’s Churches Stay Silent > > by Kirsten Powers Sep 27, 2013 5:45 AM EDT > Christians are being singled out and massacred from Pakistan to Syria to the > Nairobi shopping mall. Kirsten Powers on the deafening silence from U.S. pews > and pulpits. > > > Christians in the Middle East and Africa are being slaughtered, tortured, > raped, kidnapped, beheaded, and forced to flee the birthplace of > Christianity. One would think this horror might be consuming the pulpits and > pews of American churches. Not so. The silence has been nearly deafening. > > As Egypt’s Copts have battled the worst attacks on the Christian minority > since the 14th century, the bad news for Christians in the region keeps > coming. On Sunday, Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 85 worshippers at > All Saints’ church, which has stood since 1883 in the city of Peshawar, > Pakistan. Christians were also the target of Islamic fanatics in the attack > on a shopping center in Nairobi, Kenya, this week that killed more than 70 > people. The Associated Press reported that the Somali Islamic militant group > al-Shabab “confirmed witness accounts that gunmen separated Muslims from > other people and let the Muslims go free.” The captives were asked questions > about Islam. If they couldn’t answer, they were shot. > > In Syria, Christians are under attack by Islamist rebels and fear extinction > if Bashar al-Assad falls. This month, rebels overran the historic Christian > town of Maalula, where many of its inhabitants speak Aramaic, the language of > Jesus. The AFP reported that a resident of Maalula called her fiancé’s cell > and was told by member of the Free Syrian Army that they gave him a chance to > convert to Islam and he refused. So they slit his throat. > > Nina Shea, an international human-rights lawyer and expert on religious > persecution, testified in 2011 before Congress regarding the fate of Iraqi > Christians, two-thirds of whom have vanished from the country. They have > either been murdered or fled in fear for their lives. Said Shea: “[I]n August > 2004 … five churches were bombed in Baghdad and Mosul. On a single day in > July 2009, seven churches were bombed in Baghdad … The archbishop of Mosul, > was kidnapped and killed in early 2008. A bus convoy of Christian students > were violently assaulted. Christians … have been raped, tortured, kidnapped, > beheaded, and evicted from their homes …” > > Lela Gilbert is the author of Saturday People, Sunday People, which details > the expulsion of 850,000 Jews who fled or were forced to leave Muslim > countries in the mid-20th century. The title of her book comes from an > Islamist slogan, “First the Saturday People, then the Sunday People,” which > means “first we kill the Jews, then we kill the Christians.” Gilbert wrote > recently that her Jewish friends and neighbors in Israel “are shocked but not > entirely surprised” by the attacks on Christians in the Middle East. “They > are rather puzzled, however, by what appears to be a lack of anxiety, action, > or advocacy on the part of Western Christians.” > > As they should be. It is inexplicable. American Christians are quite able to > organize around issues that concern them. Yet religious persecution appears > not to have grabbed their attention, despite worldwide media coverage of the > atrocities against Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle > East. > > It’s no surprise that Jews seem to understand the gravity of the situation > the best. In December 2011, Britain’s chief rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, > addressed Parliament saying, “I have followed the fate of Christians in the > Middle East for years, appalled at what is happening, surprised and > distressed … that it is not more widely known.” “It was Martin Luther King > who said, ‘In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the > silence of our friends.’ That is why I felt I could not be silent today.” > > > > Yet so many Western Christians are silent. In January, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) > penned a letter to 300 Catholic and Protestant leaders complaining about > their lack of engagement. “Can you, as a leader in the church, help?” he > wrote. “Are you pained by these accounts of persecution? Will you use your > sphere of influence to raise the profile of this issue—be it through a > sermon, writing or media interview?” > There have been far too few takers. > > Wolf and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) sponsored legislation last year to create a > special envoy at the State Department to advocate for religious minorities in > the Middle East and South-Central Asia. It passed in the House > overwhelmingly, but died in the Senate. Imagine the difference an outcry from > constituents might have made. The legislation was reintroduced in January and > again passed the House easily. It now sits in the Senate. According to the > office of Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the sponsor of the bill there, there is no > date set for it to be taken up. > > Wolf has complained loudly of the State Department’s lack of attention to > religious persecution, but is anybody listening? When American leaders meet > with the Saudi government, where is the public outcry demanding they confront > the Saudis for fomenting hatred of Christians, Jews, and even Muslim > minorities through their propagandistic tracts and textbooks? In the debate > on Syria, why has the fate of Christians and other religious minorities been > almost completely ignored? > > In his letter challenging U.S. religious leaders, Wolf quoted Lutheran pastor > Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed for his efforts in the Nazi resistance: > “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not > to act is to act.” > > That pretty well sums it up. > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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