In article <46157e4c$0$16555$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>, Rowland
Croucher wrote:
Thursday, 5th April 2007
1 in 10 Christians live with persecution
*Barnabas Fund launches a new campaign to call on the other nine to care
more for their suffering brothers and sisters*
....
Persecution takes many forms, and the intensity varies greatly, but for
the one in ten being a Christian can mean:
I'll rearrange this slightly:
Persecution because of being a Christian
* Talking to a non-Christian friend about Jesus could land you in jail.
The following is also true for other religious minorities in those
countries
* In a shari'a (Islamic law) court your testimony can be worth less when
compared with the testimony of a Muslim witness
* You carry a social stigma which affects the jobs you can get, or
how your children are treated in school.
(much like atheists in a certain country?)
And how does the following differ from what their non-Christian
compatriots of the same economic class face?
* You live in daily fear of violence, kidnap, rape or even death.
* You live in utter poverty, trapped by a system which limits your
opportunities to break free.
* The police are not interested in helping you, and may even arrest
you if you are the victim.
....
"As the other nine, we first need to recognise that we are indeed a
global
family and that we have a duty to care for our brothers and sisters in
Christ. As Paul explains in his letter to the Galatians:
Why am I reminded of a story about the Irish Famine: A group of
Protestants in England raised funds to help their starving fellow
believers in Ireland; however, they earmarked it for starving
Protestants (there were starving Protestants in Ireland but they were
vastly outnumbered by starving Catholics).
--
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|\* | Emma Pease Net Spinster
|_\/ Die Luft der Freiheit weht
.