Life under the Sword: Christian Persecution

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a communist; 

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a socialist; 

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a trade unionist; 

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a Jew; 

Then they came for me –
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

-- Martin Niemöller

This post is, in a way, my response to an article published 04/26/17 by the Universal life Church Monastery in their periodical The Visionary. The article, How Christians Around the World Respond to Persecution, begins by stating, "Open Doors, a Christian non-profit, estimates that nearly 7,100 Christians died because of their faith in 2015 alone."  It goes on to state, "Research has shown that Christians are the most persecuted religious group worldwide."

While I'm pretty certain the stats will bear out the facts posted in this article, I am always leery of charts which list numbers of countries which persecute each particular religion, as this article does. To state a number instead of a particular country gives us a false sense of what's going on. For instance, if we state five countries persecute Christians as well as Buddhists, it is vastly different when we discover the populations of China and Russia as part of the Christian list, but the five countries for Buddhists include countries with populations significantly smaller. In other words, just because more countries persecute a particular religion, it doesn't follow that more people persecute them, or that more members of a particular religion are persecuted. I would much rather see specific relative percentages as a comparisons, but that's just me. This is how we tell an incomplete story. It would be like the media showing two competing political candidates at podiums, yet never showing that one is addressing a crowd barely filling a high school gymnasium of a hundred while the other is addressing a packed stadium of thousands. Did they both fill their venues? Yes, but only one would seem to have the voter's ear.

This is how we, and the media, tell incomplete or slanted stories.  It would be like the media showing two competing political candidates at podiums, yet never showing that one is addressing a crowd barely filling a high school gymnasium of a hundred while the other is addressing a packed stadium of thousands.  Did they both fill their venues?  Yes, but only one obviously has the voter's ear.  We leave out context, tell half-truths, and assume the audience is intelligent enough to know, or we just outright lie because we know the vast majority of them don't have a clue.  Personally, because we constantly find the need to evidence the truth of it, I favor the latter; the majority of us are just gullible.

The article does shine, however in pointing out that many religions throughout the world suffer persecution in a variety of countries, including right here in the United States where we have touted ourselves as celebrating a diversity of cultures for over 240 years. The problem with celebrating this diversity of culture is that many adherents of these diverse cultures we celebrate don't necessarily celebrate diversity. Hell, many of our own citizens, who have had to fight for equality and acceptance themselves, can't even celebrate this diversity. It seems harsh, and I may be wrong in the comparison, but this seems like Jew collaborating with Nazis to ostracize their own during the 1930s and 40s. This isn't a matter of legal citizenship but, rather, a matter of persecution simply because of differing, peaceful, religious beliefs, whether a legal citizen or not.

"If we look back into history for the character of present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practised it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England, blamed persecution in the Roman church, but practised it against the Puritans: these found it wrong in the Bishops, but fell into the same practice themselves both here and in New England."

-- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), U.S. Founding Father, polymath, scientist

Let's not be lulled into thinking this is just an 'us against them' issue.  The Hillsboro Baptist Church evidences that Christians are just as capable, and willing, to terrorize their own as another faith, not to mention the years of strife between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.  Muslims have their own issues as evidenced by violence between the Sunni and Shi'ite sects of Islam.  By the way, for those who think these are the only two Islamic sects, my research (re: Sects of Islam) shows Wahhabis, Kharijites, Sunni, Shi'ite, Ghulat, and Sufi, not to mention the added differences as to whether they are cultural, liberal, conservative, or innovative.  This explains why our ignorance of this religion may have us targeting the wrong Islamic groups with our own particular brand of hateful rhetoric.  I also ask that you take a moment to consider this hateful rhetoric as an act of judgment by what we generously refer to as peaceful, tolerant, understanding, loving, Christians.  So, maybe the question we should ask ourselves is, "Who are the persecuted persecuting this week?"

“Because the persecuting majority is vile, says the liberal, therefore the persecuted minority must be stainlessly pure...What's to prevent the bad from being persecuted by the worse? Did all the Christian victims on the arena have to be saints?"

-- Christopher Isherwood 

(1904-1986), novelist

The persecuted can certainly persecute.  Simply because you're a minority doesn't make you immune to also thinking you're better than someone else.  There are 33,000 plus sects of Christianity in the world, today, and each of them thinks their message is better than the rest, regardless of the numbers of their adherents.  Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) might say they all have the secret, or the method, of Christ "too much left out of mind," and none of them "has His unerring balance, His intuition, His sweet reasonableness."  Their one common factor is they all have is that they "have hold of a great truth and get from it a great power."  We have all come to learn that, with great power comes great responsibility.

It would seem minorities who are persecuted rarely learn the correct lesson from their persecution, which would be what not to do to other human beings.  To hell with "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  Vengeance is an ugly thing, and quiet vengeance, delivered with a lie and a smile or a knife in the back, is the purview of cowards.  Revenge is a dish best served cold, and yet, like cold pasta even mayonnaise can't truly make it palatable without putting it between two slices of sourdough bread.  Truly I say, vengeance is the purview of God alone and we constantly forget this lesson, as well.

"...A minority has its own kind of aggression. It absolutely dares the majority to attack it. It hates the majority - not without a cause, I grant you. It even hates the other minorities - because all minorities are in competition; each one proclaims that its sufferings are the worst and its wrongs are the blackest. And the more they all hate, and the more they're all persecuted, the nastier they become! Do you think it makes people nasty to be loved? You know it doesn’t! Then why should it make them nice to be loathed? While you’re being persecuted, you hate what’s happening to you, you hate the people who are making it happen; you’re in a world of hate. Why, you wouldn’t recognize love if you met it! You’d suspect love! You’d think there was something behind it—some motive—some trick.”

-- Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986), novelist

Again, it seems we always forget Christ's "unerring balance, His intuition, His sweet reasonableness," and twist this great truth we have discovered into a great power which we choose to wield as a sword of vengeance instead of understanding.  But if it isn't for us to judge, to deliver payback in the guise of pain in kind, then how do we prevent the virus of persecution from spreading?  As with Nazism, the world must stand shoulder to shoulder against evil, secure in the knowledge that the hammer about to fall, the upcoming spanking, the answer to evil, is being delivered from what we give unto Caesar, for what we give unto our elected leaders is in keeping with scripture when it is for the salvation of mankind and the protection of the innocent.

The 1880s English philosopher, John Stuart Mill, wrote, "The idea that truth always triumphs over persecution is one of those pleasant falsehoods, which most experience refutes. History is teeming with instances of truth put down by persecution. If not put down forever, it may be set back for centuries."  As a civilization we proved this not to be the case when we rallied together as world allies to defeat the evil perpetrated on us by the Axis powers in World War II.  We have to believe that truth will always win the day over persecution and evil.  Unfortunately, it is evil which may not be put down forever, but we can always hope we have dealt it a setback for centuries.

We must confront persecution faced by many Christian communities and the intolerance that plagues us. We must overcome anti-Semitism and the prejudice that divides us. We must defeat Islamophobia and the fears that weaken us.

-- Ban Ki-moon, South Korean diplomat, eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with an Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research.  Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as Chaplain Program Liaison, at a regional medical center.