Christians being persecuted - The irony

[cncracer]

Originally Posted by InsaneInDaMembrane

Next door there has been quite a bit of talk about Christians being persecuted in far flung countries. It is being heavily promoted by some because it factors heavily into their "end times" theology where they believe such persecutions are both a fulfillment of Jesus' (alleged) words that Christians are going to suffer and also, a sign that the end is near.

What is interesting is that "Christians" have been suffering at the hands of other "Christians" for centuries as each side had it in their minds that they had it right and the other side were heretics. The other thing, however, is that all this talk from U.S and European Christians about their fellow Christians suffering elsewhere would come to a screeching halt if some of those Christians were able to state their various theological positions. Talk would turn to disagreements as to who is really a True Christian and who is not and who is interpreting the bible correctly and who isn't? If a Christian in Indonesia believes in the "Jesus only" theology (does not believe in the Trinity), in the minds of trinitarian Christians the would not meet the criteria for being a true Christian and vice versa.

The other thing is, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims over in some parts of the world are armed to the teeth and the Christians are not interested in turning the other cheek. They will defend their own and shoot to kill which would (in the estimation of some), negate their True Christian status.

Now I am not sure if these are the types of Christians their brethren on this side of the world has in mind when they are referring to Christians being persecuted OR the relatively smaller minority of Christians going into other countries and breaking the law (preaching messages the authorities deem threatening to their authority), but I'm not so sure ALL of the sympathy is genuine.

What say ye?

I don’t buy the persecuted martyr act. They have killed millions and now because they get shut out of a few Asian countries they cry abuse. I personally don’t blame China, I wouldn’t want that bunch preaching hate and discontent in my neighborhood either.

[FredNotBob]

Originally Posted by QUETZALCOATL

you must fight to protect your beliefs, did not Jesus say " bring my enemies before me and kill them"?

The thing is, if you're secure in your beliefs -- *truly* secure --, you don't *need* to fight to protect them. The entire 'spiritual warfare' concept scares me: it's a fight of ideology, and it's focused entirely on making someone your enemy.

Is it really, honestly that frightening that there's someone out there that doesn't believe the exact same things you do? Or is it more a fear of being marginalized after occupying the 'top seat' for so long?

On another note:

Originally Posted by Antlered Chamataka

Getting a dose of their own medicine is not a nice thing to say. It's irrelevant and the discrimated ones are average, innocent citizens with little knowledge of history. Only Jesus Christ connects these people, if that is a crime.

While I agree that 'getting a dose of their own medicine' isn't a very nice thing to say, it's quite relevant to this discussion. In each and every instance of supposed 'censorship' or 'discrimination' that I'm aware of, the majority of the discrimination is 'someone else's fault', and it's conveniently never mentioned that those crying about discrimination have perpetrated the same attack against someone else.

So, yes, while I definitely agree that it's a harsh term, to say it's 'irrelevant' is illogical, as it's very much a relevant issue in today's highly-divided society.

[june 7th]

June is going to re-open this thread. However:

If there is ONE MORE derogatory reference, insult, attack, or otherwise sarcastic remark that in no way contributes to this dialogue/OP, but rather, is only serving the purpose of bashing, flaming, and/or provoking discord, then the thread will be closed.

June HATES to close threads. She HATES to have to delete posts or issue infractions.

~But whether or not that ultimately happens is up to you. Please, refer to the TOS and use "Report Post" feature when needed.


Thanks,

~June