The horrible plight of Christians worldwide is downright sickening! What will WE do to ease their plight?

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Here are a couple of videos of how the Christians in Pakistan suffer. Unfortunately, the Pakistani Christians are not alone. Many Christians gain the glorious but excruciatingly painful title of martyr in many parts of the world! Others lose their family members, still others have their churches burned down, often with people worshipping inside! :(:mad: What will WE do to ease their plight??? Have we done enough??? I don’t think we have! There is still FAR too much work to be done!

youtube.com/watch?v=vQg8N4ydIfM

youtube.com/watch?v=K3xOf_Fki94

youtube.com/watch?v=1DgvigPJCPE

youtube.com/watch?v=sSvZYxlFzhQ

Now that you see how they suffer, what do you think we should do in addition to what we already do? I believe we should:


  1. *]Pray for them.
    *]Send them donations of food, clothing, water, and other necessities.
    *]Donate to charities that help to build decent housing for them.
    *]And work to end their persecution once and for all!

    Of course, those aren’t really in any specific order. I just came up with them off the top of my head and typed them out as they popped into my head. Please, you may not be able to do much as far as finances and donations go but remember that prayers can work miracles. Our brothers and sisters in Christ need us and they need us now! They are continually suffering horrendous things! Yet many of them remain cheerful for they know that blessed are the persecuted for Christ’s sake!

    "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
    (Mat 5:11-12 RSV)
 
Holly3278 said:
Here are a couple of videos of how the Christians in Pakistan suffer. Unfortunately, the Pakistani Christians are not alone. Many Christians gain the glorious but excruciatingly painful title of martyr in many parts of the world! Others lose their family members, still others have their churches burned down, often with people worshipping inside! :(:mad: What will WE do to ease their plight??? Have we done enough??? I don’t think we have! There is still FAR too much work to be done!

youtube.com/watch?v=vQg8N4ydIfM

youtube.com/watch?v=K3xOf_Fki94

youtube.com/watch?v=1DgvigPJCPE

youtube.com/watch?v=sSvZYxlFzhQ

Now that you see how they suffer, what do you think we should do in addition to what we already do? I believe we should:


  1. *]Pray for them.
    *]Send them donations of food, clothing, water, and other necessities.
    *]Donate to charities that help to build decent housing for them.
    *]And work to end their persecution once and for all!

    Of course, those aren’t really in any specific order. I just came up with them off the top of my head and typed them out as they popped into my head. Please, you may not be able to do much as far as finances and donations go but remember that prayers can work miracles. Our brothers and sisters in Christ need us and they need us now! They are continually suffering horrendous things! Yet many of them remain cheerful for they know that blessed are the persecuted for Christ’s sake!

    "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
    (Mat 5:11-12 RSV)
Click to expand...

  1. The only real answer is to somehow support secular governments in the middle east, unfortunately we have turned Iraq into an Islamic state and almost all the Jews left and very few Christians are left.I believe there was a recent bombing of a church there.

    Peace
 
portarica said:
The only real answer is to somehow support secular governments in the middle east, unfortunately we have turned Iraq into an Islamic state and almost all the Jews left and very few Christians are left.I believe there was a recent bombing of a church there.

Peace
Click to expand...
What do you mean WE have turned Iraq into an ISLAMIC state? :confused:
 
portarica said:
Under Saddam it was a secular state now it is for all intents and purposes an Islamic state with all the trappings .

Peace
Click to expand...
True. The unintended but totally predictable consequence fo secular crusading is to get what you do not want.
 
Holly3278 said:
Here are a couple of videos of how the Christians in Pakistan suffer. Unfortunately, the Pakistani Christians are not alone. Many Christians gain the glorious but excruciatingly painful title of martyr in many parts of the world! Others lose their family members, still others have their churches burned down, often with people worshipping inside! :(:mad: What will WE do to ease their plight??? Have we done enough??? I don’t think we have! There is still FAR too much work to be done!

youtube.com/watch?v=vQg8N4ydIfM

youtube.com/watch?v=K3xOf_Fki94

youtube.com/watch?v=1DgvigPJCPE

youtube.com/watch?v=sSvZYxlFzhQ

Now that you see how they suffer, what do you think we should do in addition to what we already do? I believe we should:


  1. *]Pray for them.
    *]Send them donations of food, clothing, water, and other necessities.
    *]Donate to charities that help to build decent housing for them.
    *]And work to end their persecution once and for all!

    Of course, those aren’t really in any specific order. I just came up with them off the top of my head and typed them out as they popped into my head. Please, you may not be able to do much as far as finances and donations go but remember that prayers can work miracles. Our brothers and sisters in Christ need us and they need us now! They are continually suffering horrendous things! Yet many of them remain cheerful for they know that blessed are the persecuted for Christ’s sake!

    "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
    (Mat 5:11-12 RSV)
Click to expand...

  1. Ah, yes. What is done in the name of religion is a travesty. NO one should suffer because of what they choose to believe/not believe…no one.
 
**Jesus suffered &died for each one of us!

Perhaps it is a Blessing that some must suffer & die for others?**

Sancta Maria, mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark
 
portarica said:
The only real answer is to somehow support secular governments in the middle east, unfortunately we have turned Iraq into an Islamic state and almost all the Jews left and very few Christians are left.I believe there was a recent bombing of a church there.

Peace
Click to expand...
We did NOT turn Iraq into an Islamic state. Oh…I forgot. Everything is the fault of the United States. Things were quite peachy under Saddam.
 
As much as I believe in the title of this thread and the OP’s stance, I’m literally too ill to continue here. But I just HAD to say something.

Before you turn your nose up at what has happened after the US entered Iraq, think about what life was like for Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s reign. The genocides, ethnic cleansing, and horrid travesties committed by his regime are known worldwide. American soldiers entered and found mass graves and all kinds of horrors.

With all due respect, I highly resent comments about it being the US’s fault as the wife of a permanently disabled veteran from that war who was injured setting up the first Iraqi election. The Iraqi people VOTED for the government they have now. It may be ruled by Islam, but that was their CHOICE. Under Saddam, they had no such freedom.

We lost friends and loved ones in that war, on BOTH sides. YOU may not like the end result. Heck - I’m not even that happy with what’s going on there now and the obvious persecution of Christians but this is NOTHING NEW for Iraq. They made the choice to elect Islamic leaders and to rule themselves under a democracy. Bravo for them. I pray they’re ready to pick up where my husband and his friends left off and fight to keep defending it.
 
markbrumbaugh said:
We did NOT turn Iraq into an Islamic state. Oh…I forgot. Everything is the fault of the United States. Things were quite peachy under Saddam.
Click to expand...
No Iraq sucked under Saddam and it sucks now, except now we have another 5000 dead Americans and an Islamic state to show for it. That’s not anybody in particulars fault, is it? It is just a fact.

Peace
 
It makes me very sad to think that my tax dollars helped to finance this mess. As evil as Saddam was, at least he let the Catholics in Iraq go to church. I believe that all they had to do was post a picture of him on the wall.

What makes us think we need to be the world’s policeman?
 
Listener said:
It makes me very sad to think that my tax dollars helped to finance this mess. As evil as Saddam was, at least he let the Catholics in Iraq go to church. I believe that all they had to do was post a picture of him on the wall.

What makes us think we need to be the world’s policeman?
Click to expand...
No one else will do it. There are now over 30000 dead in Mexico in the last 45 months from the drug war. I wish we’d bomb the cartel factories.
 
Listener said:
As evil as Saddam was, at least he let the Catholics in Iraq go to church.
Click to expand...
You can’t compare what Saddam “allowed” to what the people are doing in Iraq. There was always hatred for Christians in the Middle East, and at least the current Iraqi government doesn’t support it.

Saddam led a genocide against the Kurds for being Kurds and Shia Muslims for being Shia. It’s not much better.

A Catholic being killed for being Catholic is just as bad as a Kurd being killed because he/she is Kurdish, or a Shia being killed becasue he/she is a Shia.

Saddam needed to go, but I don’t think it was the US’ job. Either way, Iraq is a messed up place. No matter what happened/happens, one group of people will always be persecuted.
 
MarianD said:
You can’t compare what Saddam “allowed” to what the people are doing in Iraq. There was always hatred for Christians in the Middle East, and at least the current Iraqi government doesn’t support it.

Saddam led a genocide against the Kurds for being Kurds and Shia Muslims for being Shia. It’s not much better.

A Catholic being killed for being Catholic is just as bad as a Kurd being killed because he/she is Kurdish, or a Shia being killed becasue he/she is a Shia.

Saddam needed to go, but I don’t think it was the US’ job. Either way, Iraq is a messed up place. No matter what happened/happens, one group of people will always be persecuted.
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This would seem to , at the least, lead to questions as to whether the new Iraqi government supports catholics and Christians.

catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=39031

Peace
 
portarica said:
This would seem to , at the least, lead to questions as to whether the new Iraqi government supports catholics and Christians.

catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=39031
Click to expand...
I meant at least the new government doesn’t carry out genocides against Christians. Saddam did this in his Kurdish genocide, killing over 50,000 people, many of whom belonged to Kurdish groups with a Christian minority. He also orchestrated the killing Assyrians (aka the Chaldeans), who are an ethnic Christian group in Iraq.

The new government is failing to protect all of its people, but it isn’t committing genocide against a specific group like Saddam’s regime did.
 
Holly3278 said:
Here are a couple of videos of how the Christians in Pakistan suffer. Unfortunately, the Pakistani Christians are not alone. Many Christians gain the glorious but excruciatingly painful title of martyr in many parts of the world! Others lose their family members, still others have their churches burned down, often with people worshipping inside! :(:mad: What will WE do to ease their plight??? Have we done enough??? I don’t think we have! There is still FAR too much work to be done!

youtube.com/watch?v=vQg8N4ydIfM

youtube.com/watch?v=K3xOf_Fki94

youtube.com/watch?v=1DgvigPJCPE

youtube.com/watch?v=sSvZYxlFzhQ

Now that you see how they suffer, what do you think we should do in addition to what we already do? I believe we should:
…
(Mat 5:11-12 RSV)
Click to expand...
Thank you for drawing more attention to this situation.

One of the options open to us may be to use organized barter in combination with film production to address problems in our own area but then start similar educational projects in other nations.

Topic: Could semi-reality films be used to help sex workers break out of the sex industry?
facebook.com/topic.php?uid=25394770723&topic=33255

I believe so!

I live near Sherbrooke Historic Village in Nova Scotia, Canada. This is a historical museum community depicting life in this area as it was from about 1860 to the 1930’s. This area even had a significant gold rush. It is still possible to successfully pan for gold in a nearby brook/river.

As you can guess, there were a number of young women who were involved in the sex industry in this town back during the days of the economic boom. Now with so many Christian satellite TV networks it is theoretically possible to plan a film series set partly in this sort of historical community, where a full fledged outpouring of the Ruach ha Kodesh/Holy Spirit is enacted, in which the atmosphere is set for an actual outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

My wife is a Charismatic/Pentecostal Christian from Quito, Ecuador. I knew essentially NOTHING about spiritual gifts until she demonstrated them to me. After we began correspondence Jesus/Yahushua told her to fast and pray for me for 35 days. She obeyed!

For four weeks she drank only fruit juices for three days/week. Then for seven days streight, only fruit juices. Each day Jesus/Yahushua woke her up early and asked her to pray for me. I was five thousand miles away feeling the most off the scale peace of mind that I had ever experienced in my life.

I went to Ecuador and taught English there for over a year. After coming back I felt so compelled to become more socially and politically active that I even ran for public office three times as an independent. If you like the concept for this film it is all yours for the sum of one dollar and if you want to shoot some scenes up in my part of North America I am pretty sure I could play the role of a sincere but rather annoying political activist who is obsessed with people printing up their own local currency units such as has been done in Ithaca, New York, with the Ithaca Hour.

A local currency unit could be like a prop in the film series. One of our most famous men was Dr. Moses Coady. He organized fishermen, farmers and other extremely poor workers into cooperatives and thus profoundly increased their standard of living.

Imagine a group of former sex workers forming a film cooperative, as well as an organized barter coop and launching themselves toward a whole new career set in the time period of Dr. Moses Coady. Do a search for The Antigonish Movement to get some background for this concept.

Blessings.

Dennis Tate
 
Okay, no offense everyone but let’s get back on topic. This isn’t about the Iraqi war. This is about the persecuted Christians worldwide.
 
Holly3278 said:
Okay, no offense everyone but let’s get back on topic. This isn’t about the Iraqi war. This is about the persecuted Christians worldwide.
Click to expand...
The point about the Iraq war is that to support Christians , we need to support secular governments and keep as strict a separation of church and state as possible.

This applies even more specifically toward maintaining a Catholic presence since we tend to have deserted the violent methods of preserving Catholicism like during the inquisition and the crusades.

Can you imagine the US becoming a theocracy ? We would all be forced to be fundies . Or funless as the case may be.

Peace
 
Holly3278 said:
Okay, no offense everyone but let’s get back on topic. This isn’t about the Iraqi war. This is about the persecuted Christians worldwide.
Click to expand...
Youre right, and if people would bother to read, they’d find that in Mexico, the present government which is purported to maintain strict separation of Church and state, has actually evolved into the antithesis of its objective - a tyrannical body which uses legal authority to persecute the Catholic Church.

I believe you said it best here :
Holly3278 said:
… Please, you may not be able to do much as far as finances and donations go but remember that prayers can work miracles. Our brothers and sisters in Christ need us and they need us now! They are continually suffering horrendous things! Yet many of them remain cheerful for they know that blessed are the persecuted for Christ’s sake!
Click to expand...
While discussion of principles in particular situations is, on occasion , futile, prayer is always effective - at any and all times . A paritcularly powerful form of prayer is one mentioned in your siggy:

“Pray the Rosary! It is a powerful weapon against Satan and his evil minions!”

These brothers and sisters of ours in Pakistan and in Iraq are living a martyr’s faith … if we only knew what it was like for them, we would learn to cherish our own faith even more.
 
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