Pssssttt.....hey buddy, say you love jesus and i'll buy you dinner.
Evidently these folks don't know the damage they will cause, or don't
give a damn.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tsunami/story/0%2C15671%2C1391491%2C00.html
Religious aid groups try to convert victims
Muslim clerics object as Western Christian groups hand out food and
Bibles, reports Jason Burke in Banda Aceh
Sunday January 16, 2005
The Observer
Dozens of religious groups have moved in to Aceh, looking to help
tsunami victims - and convert them and others, creating tensions in the
disaster area.
The arrival of Western Christian groups with records of aggressive
preaching risks confrontation with local Muslim leaders which could
jeopardise the provision of aid to the 600,000 local people made
homeless by the disaster. The death toll in Aceh stands at around
110,000 and is expected to rise.
Reacting to the attempts of one American group to fly hundreds of local
children to a Christian orphanage, Din Syamsuddin, head of the
Indonesian Council of Clerics, said any attempt to spread religion
under the cover of aid was wrong.
'The Muslim community will not remain quiet. This a clear statement,
and it is serious,' he said.
Many survivors of the disaster are deeply traumatised by their
experience and thus, experts say, vulnerable to religious groups. The
disaster has led to a huge increase in religious sentiment. Many
Acehnese speak of the wave as a punishment from God for immorality and
lax Islamic practice, pointing out that in many villages only the
mosque was left standing.
'I had faith but never did what I should have done,' said Shinta
Ekhsani, a 29 year-old English teacher. 'I did not pray five times a
day. I did not teach my children about Islam. I was too materialistic.
Now I have changed.'
Most Indonesians follow a moderate strand of Islam, very different from
more hardline varieties increasingly prevalent in the Middle East.
Local Muslim groups were among the first to bring help to victims. Aceh
is Indonesia's most religiously conservative province.
However, more radical Muslim groups started arriving in the province
within days. These include the Islamic Defenders' Front, which has
attacked bars and shops selling alcohol in Jakarta, the Indonesian
capital, and Lashkar Mujahideen, which endorses a militant ideology and
has alleged links to the killing of Christians.
Last week, speaking outside a tent at Banda Aceh's busy military
airport under a banner reading 'Islamic Law Enforcement', Salman
al-Farizi said his group were in Aceh to give medical and food
assistance, remove corpses, evacuate refugees and to preach. 'The
survivors will be helped to spread the true word of Allah,' al-Farizi
said.
Elsewhere, groups are handing out Korans and even veils alongside aid.
Volunteers from the al-Azhar Foundation in Jakarta said they had
distributed 1,993 Korans to refugees from Lokh Nga, one of the
worst-hit villages. 'Many want to read the Koran to help them with
their trauma,' said Anwar Sani, director of the foundation.
Some Christian groups, however, are instructing workers not to display
church names or wear crosses.
'We prefer to address the physical needs first,' said William Suhanda,
an Indonesian whose Christian group, 'Light of Love for Aceh', is
helping distribute food in Banda Aceh and hopes to bring 50 children to
a Christian orphanage in Jakarta. 'We also want to expose them to
Christian values... so they can see the other side, that we're about
the love of Christ,' he said.
Mark Kosinski, an American evangelist who arrived in Aceh from Malaysia
last week, said: 'These people need food but they also need Jesus. God
is trying to awaken people and help them realise salvation is in
Christ.'
One US Christian group was revealed last week to have tried to airlift
300 'tsunami orphans' to a Christian children's home. WorldHelp started
raising funds for the operation until it learned that the Indonesian
government had banned non-Muslims from adopting Acehnese orphans.
'What we were attempting to do in finding a home for these orphans is
no different from what Mother Teresa did in placing Hindu orphans in a
Christian children's home,' said Vernon Brewer, president of WorldHelp.
The Church of Scientology has also established a presence in Banda
Aceh, setting up a base opposite the governor's mansion. 'We are not
here to proselytise. That would be distasteful,' said Greg Churilov.
'We hope we are just seen as another relief group.'
However, there are also opportunities for co-operation. The US navy's
high-profile effort to assist Indonesia deliver aid has helped counter
anger over the Iraq war. The Islamic Defenders' Front spent much of
this week removing corpses from collapsed homes alongside an Indonesian
Christian group. Mormons have teamed up with Islamic relief operations
to send aid to the region.
Last week, the UN even asked Lashkar Mujahideen to unload a plane of
relief supplies because it was short of personnel.
.
|
|
| User: "Woodswun" |
|
| Title: Re: Religious aid groups try to convert victims |
18 Jan 2005 05:42:11 PM |
|
|
wrote:
Pssssttt.....hey buddy, say you love jesus and i'll buy you dinner.
Evidently these folks don't know the damage they will cause, or don't
give a damn.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tsunami/story/0%2C15671%2C1391491%2C00.html
Religious aid groups try to convert victims
Muslim clerics object as Western Christian groups hand out food and
Bibles, reports Jason Burke in Banda Aceh
Given that the article indicates Muslim groups are handing out religious
materials, the clerics are somewhat hypocritical. That said, those
religious groups who take advantage of vulnerable victims of disasters
are not very good witnesses to God's Love - they're sharks looking for a
few converts to increase their cut of the religious pie. Revolting.
Woods
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "TonyZ2001" |
|
| Title: Re: Religious aid groups try to convert victims |
17 Jan 2005 10:11:26 AM |
|
|
Oh the horror!!!!
Why are they so afraid of hearing another view?
All of you Liberals talk about Diversity, but apparetnly this only goes for
whites of European decent.
As I have said so many times in the past, all of you Liberals only support
"Diversity" because you know it will lead to the downfall of the West, if you
truely thought it was a good thing, you would support it in all parts of the
world, but you don't.
This is just another case proving this.
Tony
.
|
|
|
| User: "" |
|
| Title: Re: Religious aid groups try to convert victims |
17 Jan 2005 10:26:32 PM |
|
|
Shame on you, Tony.
You just made the baby Jesus cry!!
Would Jesus deny food to anyone that did not believe in his god?
You do remember the loaves and fishes, don't you?
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
