Are You Ready?

Question: What does Darfur, the Beijing Olympics/Tibet and Islamic objections to homosexuality have in common?

Darfur
The Darfur region of western Sudan has become a Hollywood liberal cause. In the five years that fighting has gone on, approximately 200,000 have been killed and millions are at risk of death from starvation and disease. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the character John Carter, doctor on ER, just to name a few, have been to Darfur to pump up support for humanitarian efforts. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing.

In Sudan, a war was waged by Arab Muslims in the north against the black African animist/Christian south. The war continued for two decades, but intensified when China started pumping money into oil exploitation in the south. The quickest way to get the oil flowing was to eliminate the obstacles. In August 2000 China offered 700,000 troops to help the Sudanese government annihilate the remaining 6 million Christian in the south. Now that the oil is flowing, the killing has slowed down.

A peace deal was brokered in 2003 by the Bush administration with unintended consequences. The cease fire allowed Sudan to turn their focus on Darfur.

What has me wondering is where was the same humanitarian interest when a war was raging in southern Sudan that killed approximately 2 million people. Ten times the number of dead and it was over oil. It makes Iraq protests about ‘Blood for Oil’ seem hypocritical.

Tibet
Protests are disrupting the Olympic torch traveling the world as it heads to this summer’s event in Beijing. Politicians, including Pelosi and Clinton, are calling for boycotts of the opening ceremonies. Why? Because China invaded Tibet in 1950, and has oppressed its citizens and the Buddhist leader, the Dali Lama, every since. This has been a Hollywood liberal cause for years; just ask Richard Gere and the ‘Free Tibet’ crowd. Again, this is a good thing to protest and I am not trying to minimize it.

In China there is an official “Christian” church which does not include Jesus Christ as its Head. The Chinese government is the only thing Chinese people are allowed to pledge their loyalty to. No loyalty allowed to God or that Jesus dude.

This has led to an underground church that accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you are a part of this “evil cult” and are caught, you will be put in jail, you may end up in a "re-education through labor" camp, you may be tortured or you may be put to death. This has been going on since Mao took over China in 1949.

In a lead up to the Olympic Games, China has been cracking down on dissidents. This includes un-official Christians. Thousands have been rounded up over the past year, especially the un-official pastors. There are at least 500,000 people in prisons in China, and a large percentage are there just for being Christians.

Why are politicians and Hollywood not calling for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics over Christian persecution?

Islam in Britain
In early 2007 Britain decided to extend their indoctrination of pro-homosexual ideas to school children as young as four. This caused an uproar from the Christian community, but the laws went into affect anyway.

Just last week in Britain the Bristol City Council pulled pro-homosexual books and DVDs from two elementary schools after objections from Muslim parents. The schools are 60 to 70 percent Muslim.

The decision was made to enable the schools to "operate safely" after parents voiced their concerns at meetings. “There were also concerns about whether the stories were appropriate for young children”, the “total lack of consultation with parents”, the schools refusal “to deal with the parents” and that the schools “don't do sex education until Year Six and at least there you have got the option of withdrawing the children”. Sounds like similar complaints that Christians have.

These two schools had been using the books to ensure they complied with gay rights laws. By removing the material they are now violating British laws.

When Christians complained in other parts of Britain they were basically told “shut up you homophobes”. I guess they forgot to threaten violence so the schools did not have to worry about operating safely.

Common Theme
So what do all these have in common? The reaction of the world to these events versus the reaction to the same issues when they involve Christians. The world does not care about you or your opinions if you are Christian.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone. In 2 Timothy 3:12 we are told what to expect. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. Of course that means we are blessed. Matthew 5:11 says “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me”.

Are you ready to be blessed through persecution? Just wondering.