Peanut Gallery:Marginalized – it’s a bitter pill to swallow. But the sooner I come to terms with it the better. There is Life outside of politics – thank God. And, in America, this is the season for social conservatives to “stay the course” at the cultural margins… and let the chips fall where they may.
mar·gin·al·ize\ˈmärj-nə-ˌlīz, ˈmär-jə-n ə l-ˌīz\transitive verb : to relegate to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group Other forms: mar·gin·al·ized; mar·gin·al·iz·ing
Peter Leithart has provided me with some reality therapy… maybe you can use some too. Democrats might find something to think about here as well.
My advice to Bad Republicans is: Let it come. If the price of regaining power is to abandon any semblance of Christian sexual morality, the price is too high. If the Republican party can’t bring itself to endorse a traditional understanding of marriage, let it split. If the Republican party can’t be bothered about the slaughter of the unborn, let it shatter into a million little pieces. Good Republicans will blame Bad Republicans for tearing the GOP to pieces. So be it.
In this article, published by First Things, Leithart maps out the future for social conservatives… and there is no peace on the horizon.
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10.34 NLT
Social, cultural conservatives are moving into unfamiliar territory. We’ve got a lot to learn.
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President Obama is convinced that liberals have won the culture war, and he aims to leverage that victory to force a transformation of the Republican party. In a New Republic interview published earlier this week, he noted that attitudes are changing “in the country as a whole around LGBT issues and same-sex marriage” and that this poses a challenge to Republicans. Some Republicans will “embrace” the change, but “there’s a big chunk of their constituency that is going to be deeply opposed to that.”
Muslim Persecution of Christians is more focused – documenting accounts of Christian persecution in the Muslim world on a monthly basis. I have cross referenced the countries cited in the Open Doors World Watch List. The same bad actors keep showing up wherever Christians are being persecuted. Each of the accounts are documented in the original post… they are too numerous to include here.
I encourage you to read through these accounts – here or at the original post. It is sobering, to say the least. Please pray for those whom God places on your heart.
Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month.
It serves two purposes:
To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.
Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who “offend” Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like dhimmis, or second-class, “tolerated” citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.
Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.
Reports of Christian persecution by Muslims around the world during the month of November include (but are not limited to) the following accounts. They are listed by form of persecution, and in country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:
Church Attacks
Egypt: Following Friday afternoon prayers in northern Cairo, Salafi Muslims went to the construction site of a Coptic Orthodox Church service center, hanging a sign that read, “Masjed El Rahman,” or “Mosque of the Merciful.” They claimed that the church did not have the necessary permits to exist, even though local officials confirmed the church did have them. The Salafis occupied the construction center for some 24 hours. One of them reportedly said: “We have a small mosque at the end of the street and the presence of a church here will offend us.” Continue reading “Muslim Persecution of Christians: November, 2012 (Re-Blog)”→
Peanut Gallery: Christian Persecution – Afghanistan – #3 (worldwatchlist.us)
Teen in Afghanistan beheaded for refusing marriage proposal
“Family and societal pressure combined with government persecution have pushed the church underground. The state treats converts, who all come from a Muslim background, in a very hostile manner.
Christians cannot meet in public; even gatherings in private houses require extreme caution. No church buildings exist, even for expatriates, and both local and foreign Christians are subject to kidnapping, abduction, killing and having to flee the country.
The Taliban is regaining power and has vowed to purge all Christians from Afghanistan, both foreign and local.” (worldwatchlist.us)
Please Pray:
For peace and stability as international troops withdraw in 2013-14
That God would thwart Taliban attempts to target NGOs and relief organizations
That Christian radio and TV programs will strengthen isolated believers and bring the gospel to this closed country.
Prayer:Heavenly Father – You created all people in Your image, from every tribe and nation, and You offer them a future and a hope. Have pity on the wretched people of Afghanistan; show mercy to the people of this miserable country. Lord Jesus – By the power of Your Blood shed on the Cross, break their bondage to the spiritual forces of darkness that grip this land. Holy Spirit – Plant Your seeds of Life and Light in the hearts of these people, through dreams and vision, radio witness, and the living witness of Christian workers in that country. Shield them and protect them. I ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
From 1987-1992 the country’s official name was the “Republic of Afghanistan” but today it is an “Islamic Republic.”
For Afghans, Islam represents a potentially unifying symbolic system which offsets the divisiveness that frequently rises from the existence of a deep pride in tribal loyalties and an abounding sense of personal and family honor found in multi-tribal and multi-ethnic societies such as Afghanistan.
Mosques serve not only as places of worship, but for a multitude of functions, including shelter for guests, places to meet and converse, the focus of social religious festivities and schools. Almost every Afghan has at one time during his youth studied at a mosque school; for some this is the only formal education they receive.
Some unconfirmed reports state that there are 500 to 8,000 Afghan Christians practicing their faith secretly in the country (among a population of 30.4 million.) [20]
Background: Izmit Protestant Church is located in the northern industrial city of Izmit (Wikipedia). It is a small church with 20 members all of whom are Turkish nationals and converts from Islam – as is its pastor of four years, Emre Karaali.
“The İzmit Protestant Church was founded as the first church in the city in 1999, the same year a massive earthquake killed 40,000 in Kocaeli, whose administrative center is İzmit.” (Hürriyet Daily News)
And yet, in a city of 300,000 people, in a country that is 99% Muslim, this pastor and this small church were seen as a threat to the community . Why?
“The church was preparing for four days of celebrations between Jan. 17 and 21 and had invited top local officials in the city before the plot was revealed.” Leaflets announcing the event had been handed out around the city and city officials had been invited. (Hürriyet Daily News)
The chuch had previously been accused of “missionary” activity. Pastor Karaali was pushing the envelope in Izmit by openly sharing his faith and publicly announcing the church’s “celebrations.” He had been receiving threats for over a year.
Heartbreak: A conspiracy to commit murder (find details and original story here) began with two women who attended the church for over a year and eventually became members (one of whom was baptized) and were welcomed “as family” into the fellowship.
“These people had infiltrated our church and collected information about me, my family and the church and were preparing an attack against us,” said Karaali, 33, a native Turk and a convert to Christianity. “Two of them attended our church for over a year and they were like family.”
Can you feel this man’s anguish… his sense of betrayal? Trust and good faith have been severely compromised in that small church community… whose offense was sharing the love of Jesus.
Miracle: The miracle in this story is that the Turkish Police actually thwarted the plot and protected the pastor and his family. They could have simply let it play itself out and have been rid of him. Stranger things have happened in Turkey. But they didn’t.
Karaali said his treatment at the hands of the police was “exceptional.” The pastor said he has been working with police since January 2012, when he informed them of a death threat he had received. “I received a threat by phone and that’s when the police started to investigate,” Karaali said.
Motivation: Did these women “infiltrate” the church with sabotage in mind? Or, were they genuine inquirers and new converts who were “found out” by family and friends and “turned” by Islamic radicals to become co-conspirators in this murderous plot. We will probably never know – both are real possibilities, but I favor the latter.
Muslim converts to Christianity risk bitter and often deadly opposition from their families and friends. It is not uncommon for people outside the family circle to be brought in as enforcers. No wonder Izmit Protestant Church has only 20 members.
Compulsion: Pastor Karaali is a man “under compusion”… he can’t do anything else.
“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 9:16 NASB
Please pray that God will use this murderous conspiracy for good… and that many lives would be saved.
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Genesis 50.20 NASB
May God bless and protect Pastor Karaali and the Izmit Protestant Church… and strengthen them with the courage of their convictions as this ordeal unfolds.
Police in Turkey say they thwarted an assassination plot against a Christian pastor Tuesday when they arrested 14 suspects, two of whom had been part of his congregation for more than a year.
Emre Karaali, pastor of Izmit Protestant Church and the target of the alleged plot, said two of the arrested suspects were regular members, feigning interest in Christianity. One of them, he said, participated in a baptism in July.
Some of the other suspects also had visited the church, Karaali told World Watch Monitor. He said three of the suspects are women. “These people had infiltrated our church and collected information about me, my family and the church and were preparing an attack against us,” said Karaali, 33, a native Turk and a convert to Christianity. “Two of them attended our church for over a year and they were like family.”
Peanut Gallery: Christian Persecution – Saudi Arabia – #2 (worldwatchlist.us)
Saudi Arabia
There is no provision for religious freedom in the constitution of this Islamic kingdom. All citizens must adhere to Islam and conversion to another religion is punishable by death. Public Christian worship is forbidden; worshippers risk imprisonment, lashing, deportation and torture. Evangelising Muslims and distributing non-Muslim materials is illegal. Muslims who convert to Christianity risk honour killings, and foreign Christian workers have been exposed to abuse from employers. Despite this, converts are responding to Christian TV programmes and to dreams and visions from God.
Anecdotal Report: Rashid (not his real name) is a Saudi Arabian student who attended a Western university and surrendered his life to Christ after his roommate shared the gospel with him.
Excited about his newfound faith, Rashid returned home and shared the good news of Jesus with his loved ones. But he chose a public venue to tell one relative about his decision. A bystander reported Rashid to Saudi religious police, who threw him into jail.
The Peanut Gallery 