If you thought religious persecution went the way of lions in the Coliseum or Hitler's Germany, you are encouraged to ponder the following 'blog entry.
As it turns out, persecution for reasons of faith is alive and well in roughly 50 countries worldwide. The targets? We all know the Jews are continually under fire. But are they alone? Nope. Christians, either born into the faith or converts from Islam, Hinduism, or athiesm are actively targeted and their stories are compelling.
American Christians have it pretty good. We've got the Constitution with its fabulous First Amendment, a plethora of bookstores, churches, private schools, radio stations and cable television broadcasts -- all ways to share our faith with others or rejuvenate ourselves.
Try reading the Bible in public in, say, Pakistan or Azerbaijan or Saudi Arabia or China and see what happens.
Better yet, try starting up a church and inviting the public to come.
If you do this in Vietnam, Libya, Morocco, or Cuba, you could face imprisonment or death.
With the start of the Olympics in Beijing -- from where, by the way, the Chinese government has made it a point to move out as many religious protesters as possible -- I think it's worthwhile for Christians of all denominations to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are openly threatened.
We must recognize that Christian persecution is about more than public schools substituting the words "Winter Break" for "Christmas" or about a mouthy bunch of weenies demanding that an old Bible be removed from its hazy acrylic case in front of the city courthouse.
It's about men and women so committed to the teachings of Christ that they are willing to risk their lives to practice their faith. It's about children orphaned because their parents are imprisoned or killed. It's about nations that DO have religious freedom failing to call out those that don't.
Our faith is nothing if we don't live it. I've seen the ads for Voice of the Martyrs for years but never bothered to investigate its cause until recently. I am changed because I finally took a minute or two to learn more. I am ashamed because I should have done it sooner.
To that end, I have decided to pledge my support for the mission of VOM. I hope some of you reading this will take a minute or two to research the issue for yourselves and do the same.
Visit the website http://www.persecution.com/ to learn more about Voice of the Martyrs, a hands-on help to persecuted Christians since 1967 or http://www.michaeljobcenter.com/ to find out more about Christian children orphaned as a result of their parents' determination to demonstrate their faith.
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