I'm sorry about your friend's family. I hope they are well, or as well as they can be.
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Why are they ignoring the persecution of Christians?
- Thread starter Teritos
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- christians jesus
Heyo
Veteran Member
That's a good rule of thumb but I guess that's not enough to establish that Christianity is the most persecuted religion.
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Augustus
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Claims about being the "most persecuted" are distasteful imo.
It's not a competition and we shouldn't encourage the taking of sides by presenting it as a competition.
Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc. can be oppressors in one place and oppressed in another place.
If you are on the receiving end where you live I doubt you care too much about some abstract "global oppression ranking".
Wait...you see someone wishing a non-Christian a merry Christmas as an insult?
firedragon
Veteran Member
1. When you say "most persecuted, is it "percentile wise" or "numbers"?
2. What are the criteria set in this? Is it murders, lynching, targeted bombing, entrapment, deprivation, etc? Whats the criteria?
3. Who is the oppressor?
4. How do you measure?
People who act decently, respectfully and inclusively towards others, including those who find faith helpful in doing so, should not be persecuted.
Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintoists, atheists, nones, humanists, everyone.
amorphous_constellation
Well-Known Member
Actually, it doesn't just list some reasons for persecution, it makes a sort of virtue out of being persecuted, along with the Paul verse from the op. When that line gets crossed, it carries along with it the hope for a just world: because the just are seemingly valorized ever the more, if they be persecuted. The outlook cannot extol, ahead of that, the idea that the world might come to rightly laud the Just, for it presupposes little hope for the physical world. Therefore, to presume that the physical world might be improved, is not, to my mind, a Christian position.
The USA was never a Christian nation. So there's no need for you to wonder about that anymore.
Psalm23
Well-Known Member
The verses I shared were in response to a question of what the Bible says concerning why Christians are persecuted.
The cycle of abuse. Unfortunately, it all to often is.
Psalm23
Well-Known Member
I believe that there is a lot of evil that goes in on in the world. We can’t change every wrong in the world. I do believe that we can make a good difference in the world though.
nPeace
Veteran Member
It is true every group is harassed because of one thing or other. Why, from youth, one is bullied, just for being short, or shy, or something, but that's not what's being discussed in context. Maybe someone can correct me otherwise.
However, you correctly associated increased persecution with the last days, and it is my understanding that this is leading up to what the Bible refers to as a "great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again." (Matthew 24:21)
My understanding, is that it will start with an all out attack on religion (the Bible refers to it as Babylon the Great - Revelation 17, 18, which I understand to be the world empire of false religion). It will culminate with Armageddon - God's war - Revelation 16:13-16 ; Revelation 19:19, when Jesus as king, intervenes to save his people (Matthew 24:22).
We have a taste from history, of the form this persecution takes.
For example, we saw how the religious leaders banded together to get the Romans to stamp out the founder of Christianity (Matthew 7:1, 2).
We saw how after Jesus death, persecution mounted against the Christian followers of Christ, and how led by Pharisees, they tried to get the Romans to imprison and kill Jesus disciples. - Acts 16:19-21 ; Acts 17:6, 7 ; Acts 9:1, 2
The pattern we see here, is one I notice, is taking clear form during this time.
Without making a page full of references, I'll only refer to a few.
This is a very informative article, which I think makes for interesting reading. Scholarly Analysis: Christian Response to Persecution in Kazakhastan
In part, it says...
Kazakhstan is among the more liberal of the five republics of Central Asia, but anti-religious sentiment is still very strong, and general repression of religion has increased since the early 1990s. The leaders of Kazakhstan consider any activity outside of state control to be a challenge to their legitimacy and authority, and an atheist mentality still persists in the government, even though it is no longer an official policy. Additionally, most perceive all forms of Christianity apart from Russian Orthodoxy to be linked to Western goals of destabilizing political power and therefore suspect.
The Russian Orthodox Church is an exception to the oppression faced by other Christian groups in Kazakhstan.
Why I find that interesting, especially the last statement, is because JWs personal are witnessing this and directly are experiencing this, as they are being persecuted relentlessly, not only in Kazakhstan, but in Russia, as the entire world probably knows by now, and just as the persecutors in the past, were religious, but used the political element to met out the persecution, the same is happening right now.
As is the case with JWs, these elements have come up with a methodology to justify their injustice - the claim of Extremism.
This article is another interesting read.
It tells us that persecution and discrimination of Christians is on the rise in Central Asia, and elsewhere in the world.
It says, Quote
in recent years, to prevent the rise of Islamic extremism, the Central Asian governments have further toughened their laws and regulations against religion. Their “anti-extremist” legislation has caused more pressure on ordinary believers. For instance, a Presbyterian pastor from Grace church in Kazakhstan was arrested in 2015 for “causing psychological harm” to church members: he was released later that year, then rearrested as a terrorist on charges of extremism.
The situation of Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches appears to be better than that of Protestant churches, both as the result of the influence of Russia and the fact that the Central Asian states view non-Russian Orthodox Christians as potential Western spies, “who are presumed to be orchestrating anti-regime activity.
Unquote.
The reason I don't doubt anything in this article, is because JWs are considered Extremists throughout Russia. Homes are raided. Old and young are imprisoned. Our paid for and owned buildings have been confiscated. Our work banned, and our worship outlawed.
They are also no friend of territories in those areas, including Kazakhstan.
So I know - there is not an inkling of doubt in my mind, that they have devised their methods to attack religion.
I saw it coming though. When I heard the talk about radical Islam, and I saw the war unfolding, I said to myself, "This is the fuel that will spark the flame against religion".
There it is in the article, in red.
They can use extremism now with anything religious - the pro-life anti-abortion advocates, I believe, are on that list. Anti-Same-Sex-Marriage, proselytizing (annoying people
), and I wouldn't be surprised of any other excuse they come up with as extremism.In fact freedom of religion and freedom of speech is going to be taken from religion, on the charge of extremism... I believe.
We'll have to see wait and see how it plays out, but it's coming, for sure, and not even the Churches that think they have the political element in their pocket are going to escape.
They will receive a shocker.
(Revelation 17:16-18) 16 And the ten horns that you saw and the wild beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her devastated and naked, and they will eat up her flesh and completely burn her with fire. 17 For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought, yes, to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished. 18 And the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”
God's people though, have nothing to fear.
They will be persecuted, as Jesus said, but they know deliverance is very near.
The enemy will realize they chose the wrong people to mess with... only, too late.
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nPeace
Veteran Member
Oh right. @Conscious thoughts celebrating certain religious holidays, I believe, especially in Eastern religions, will be considered extremist.
That is only because the various Churches have lost their power, thanks to secularism( maybe not in Greece but everywhere else). If they had as much power as they did in the past I bet you they would still be persecuting.
I really can't think of a time when Christians were not persecuting someone else in someway. How about when Christian's first came power in the Roman Empire. Pagans and Christian heretics like Arians were killed in masse. The spread of Christianity was not peaceful.
Where and when?
It's basic knowledge for those know late Roman Empire history. i suggest you go read a book by Vlasis Rassias called "Demolish Them"
He is not a historian. I know who he is. He was a leader of the Greek pagan movement in Greece, which tends to be very anti-Christian, him especially. I've never seen sources cited for his claims. It's a bit of a Greek pagan version of the Wiccan "burning times" myth.
Greco-Roman paganism was already moribund by the time Christianity came on the scene as a cultural force.
Neuropteron
Active Member
Hi,
Persecussion of JW in Russia
February 24, 2021
Abakan City Court of the Republic of Khakassia sentences Valentina Baranovskaya to two years in prison and her son, Roman Baranovskiy, to six years in prison.
February 10, 2021
Abinskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory sentences Aleksandr Ivshin to seven and a half years in prison.
September 2, 2020
Berezovsky City Court of the Kemerovo Region sentences Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk to four years in prison.
August 3, 2020
Pskov Regional Court rules to release Gennady Shpakovskiy from prison. It upholds his conviction but changes his six-and-a-half-year prison sentence to probation for the same term.
July 13, 2020
Mass searches of at least 100 Witness homes in the Voronezh and Belgorod regions.
June 9, 2020
Pskov City Court convicts 61-year-old Gennady Shpakovskiy and sentences him to six and a half years in prison.
February 6, 2020
Five of the six Witnesses convicted on September 19, 2019, are transferred to Penal Colony No. 1 in Orenburg. When they arrive, prison guards beat them severely—kicking them repeatedly and hitting them with clubs. Mr. Makhammadiyev suffers a broken rib, a collapsed lung, and kidney damage.