Persecution of Christians

Watching TBN on TV last night really gave me food for thought. I love to watch the Christian channel as it edifies me and gives me the wisdom to grow spiritually. One of the programmes though was quite disturbing to me.

It was an interview of a person named Dean Jones, he was telling the audience about the persecution of Christians in Islamic countries, these Christians are jailed, beaten, tortured and even killed in the name of Jesus Christ. Now apart from this atrocity towards human beings for the religious
Beliefs in a world with more freedom than ever, I either believe or I don’t.
We believe in the gospel or we do not. I have often got into debates with non-Christians and the favorite argument that I get is there should be religious tolerance. Christians should not judge.

Well firstly we do not judge, Jesus will when he comes back.

How can people castigate me for my beliefs and comments when people of other religions are killing Christians for their beliefs?

Here are some recent headlines about Christian persecution that made the
News:

"Nigeria: A Christian policeman is dead and two teenagers are recovering from serious injuries after Muslim pupils devised a violent plot to force Christians out of their high school."

"Twenty-one pastors have been sent en masse to labour camps amid growing suspicion that China is trying to gag house churches before the Beijing Olympics."

"At least seven house churches have been closed down in recent months. And several believers have been formally charged under legislation that has lain dormant for two years. Newspapers have published false claims that churches 'pay' their members for converts."

"The past year has seen continuing violence against Christians as Pakistan struggled to contain Islamic extremism. The assassination of democracy campaigner Benazir Bhutto and the turmoil that has followed make it an even more dangerous place to be a Christian."

According to Release International, persecution is defined as such:
Persecution: A situation where people are repetitively, persistently and systematically inflicted with grave or serious suffering or harm and deprived of (or significantly threatened with deprival of) their basic human rights because of a difference (race, religion, nationality, political opinion, membership in a particular social group) that the persecutor will not tolerate.

Photos of little Christian children in hospitals with lots of bandages and missing limbs are all over the internet. People have lost loved ones due to this. I have not heard of Christians kidnapping, mutilating and killing people in the name of religion.