Who Defends Persecuted Christians?

Note: I've had the honor and privilege of knowing Rob Morse and his beautiful bride for several years, meeting both on line and in person. Rob is a father, husband, rocket surgeon par excellence, sailor, glider pilot, heck of a shooter, and in both spare minutes can come up with each day he will expound on the (vastly superior) qualities of Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors and  write a blog called Slow Facts.  Rob published the following post on September 21 and I immediately begged permission to reprint his work here, to which he immediately agreed. 

Who Defends Persecuted Christians?

This is a wake-up call.  Christians are being killed around the world.  That is important whatever your faith, and even if you lack religious faith.  You’ve already heard about Christian persecution, or you should unless you’ve been hiding.  Yeah, I know that real life places uncomfortable demands on us, but there is more to life than reruns on Hulu.  Real life demands we get involved, that we become committed.  Online life is easier, but that isn’t what life is for.  Ask yourself why your church pastor isn’t shouting about Christian persecution for all to hear every day of the week.  It is up to us to wake up our church.  You don’t believe me?

Christians are persecuted, purged, or murdered in Egypt.  This is no surprise.  The Muslim brotherhood was elected to dominate religious minorities and consolidate political power.  They have done so.  Coptic Christians in Egypt have their churches burned and family members kidnapped.  Egyptian Christians are murdered for not paying the jizya tax to Muslims.

Do not use a broad brush of condemnation.  Not all Egyptian Muslims persecute Christians.  Some Muslims have bravely defended Christians, but all the Christian persecutors in Egypt are Muslims.  Use a narrow brush.

Persecution is not confined to Egypt.  Nigerian terrorists killed disarmed Christians in roadside checkpoints.  Those who did not declare their faith in Allah were shot.  50 Christians were murdered in one attack, 39 murdered in another.  29 students were burned to death in their boarding school while the Nigerian government looks the other way.  A similar story of persecution is repeated in Sudan.  (You can see for yourself.  I’m not going to spoon feed you every link.)

Now jump all the way to the south pacific where the media is silent as Islamic extremists deliberately terrorize Christians in the Philippines.  They ignore the Muslim attacks designed to purge the majority Christians from the city of Zambonga.  This is a purge of tens of thousands of people.. and the story doesn’t make it onto the main stream news.  Equally shocking, this news doesn’t reach he church pulpit.

You can find examples all over the world, from China and India to Syria and Iraq.  Too often the Christians are disarmed and helpless.  Sometimes they are armed in their homes, but they are seldom able to protect their children on the way to school or the market.  Size does not provide protection from persecution.  Neither a home church nor a chapel nor a Christian village is safe.

The world is not like our sweet Sunday school classes.  It is hostile to anyone with religious convictions.  Unfortunately, we have adopted the attitude that religious persecution doesn’t matter if it is not in our neighborhood and not in our local news.  I’m sorry, but religious persecution is real.  Too bad if it cuts into your video game time.  The hatred directed at Jews was a warning we ignored.  Now we must recognize the hate and violence directed at Christians.  Christians need our help, and don’t waste a minute expecting help from the United Nations.

It is vital that the United States resumes the mantle virtue.  It is not money, but moral clarity that acts like a beacon and attracts the world to the shining city on a hill.  Yes, we need to be exceptional.  Morally exceptional.

Too many pastors are afraid to speak out about the sins of the world.  That is a willful blindness.  Preachers are afraid to speak anything but good news for fear their flock will flee and they won’t be able to pay the rent.   We too are part of the problem as we shop for the church that makes us feel good by Sunday afternoon.  That is a major reason pastors fear to bring up bad news on Sunday or during weekly prayer groups.  Pastors are silenced by our childish timidity and self-indulgence.  We ultimately get the church we deserve.. or the church we settle for.

Salvation was supposed to make us bold and virtuous.  Pastors were supposed to lead the spiritual and moral growth of their congregation.  Maybe the church in America has to change so it can be bold once again.   Maybe only a poor church has noting to loose and dares speak the truth, from social problems to politics to Christian persecution.  Our churches have been asleep and silent too long.  We may have to drag our timid pastors and priests into the cares of this world, or find other churches to attend.

At least arm yourself with knowledge and talk to your friends.  This is a good start for information, but any search engine will fill you page if you search on “Christian persecution”.

Christ died for our sins.  We should not abandon Christians to die for the sins of others.

Thank you, ClashDaily, for posting an earlier version of this article

And thank you Rob, for letting me repost your work here.