1:38 am
On Wednesday, October 1, the Anti-Christian violence which has been throughout the northern part of India has yet to cease despite Christian protests. Christians gathered to protest in response to the lack of governmental intervention whose very absence has enabled these crimes to gain momentum. Indian faith leaders as well as politicians accompanied Christians in a five day protest also known as dharna (Indian form of seeking justice), in New Delhi. The dharna or its notion drew in elite leaders of the churches, ministries, and other institutions. Activities began Sunday and concluded on Thursday, which also happened to be the birthday of the prominent Indian figure known as Mohatma S. Gandhi. Christians in the area stated that they remain hopeful and that their faith is fully rooted in God despite perilous times. It is considered to be a time of encouragement and union in that Christians in the area are seeking out for Christian support from all nations. However, Christians acknowledge that the realities that they have been faced to live within for the past month are not widely known to the public. In an attempt to appease Hindu extremists, police have taken an active role in the violence itself by coercing Christians in refugee camps to return to what is left of their villages despite the likelihood of being attacked or killed. These attacks will soon be referred to as “ethnic conflicts,” in order to displace responsibility of radical Hindu groups. This is not just a local issue, but it has become a worldwide Christian fight. Up to date, 50 Christians have been murdered, 6,000 individual’s homes fell subject to arson, and 300 churches were destroyed.
As I have stated before, the time for intervention is now! It is essential that someone step up to the plate and gain control of the situation. Times are harsh in the least and day to day functioning has come to a standstill. It seems that everyone has ignored the issue at hand while displacing blame elsewhere. People are continuing to die, if they aren’t dying, then they’re losing their possessions and worth within their caste system. Normally, I’m not one who promotes other nations stepping their nose in the affairs of foreign countries, however in this case if the central government is making no effort to impede, then someone needs to stand in and intervene.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20081001/india-violence-spreads-despite-christian-protests.htm
3 comments:
Everyone's an idiot. Thomas Jefferson once wrote "a little rebellion is good every now and then." I suppose tolerance, like freedom, comes at a price. It doesn't really matter how much we call for change, we are not in their position to assume any role of encouragement. It lies in their hands, not ours.
That's horrible how many people have died and things destroyed over this. I hope all of this gets solved very soon.
Well, as far as concerns Thomas Jefferson's quote, I really would have to concur that "a little rebellion is good every now and then." Furthermore, whence considering the dialectics of civilization, and how frequently two religious beliefs and political ideologies clash, there are BOUND to be conquests among warring tribes, in the name of religion and political ideology.
However, it seems that nations in the Middle East, India, and parts of Russia and the Far East (the Russian invasion of Georgia, for example) have been perpetually locked in the throes of war. The Middle East, by far, has suffered the worst of these bouts. However, in this case there is very little we can do to ameliorate the Mid-East crisis; it is the cumination of centuries of religious and territorial disputes among factions of Sunnis, Shiites, Turks, Kurds, Israelis, Palestinians, etc. and our presence there as, to every extent, a colonial power, has only exacerbated conditions over time.
This scenario has obvious parallels with the British colonization of India in the 1920s, when the Imperial Kingdom of Great Britain conquered and ostracized the various sects of Hindus (Vaishnavists, Krishnaists, et alia) and Buddhists by subjugation to British Imperial law and conversion to Christianity. Through the colonizations of Africa, the Middle East, India, Indo-China, and Southeast Asia, the British have conquered whole civilizations in the name of the Crown, and of Christianity. But religion is not to blame here - the conflation of religion as a divisive instrument for use by political means to conquer a people IS.
Following this model of Imperialism, the United States has subjugated nations to the Western values of Democracy and Christianity in conflicts such as the Korean War, the Persian Gulf War, the Vietnam War, the current Iraq War, and very recently, the undisclosed war we are now having with Pakistan.
Additionally, the U.S. has established de facto regimes in an effort to "democratize" Iraq. And just as noted political scientist Benjamin Barbour stated, "Democracy is not exportable", neither is religion. However, there are conflicts in which we ABSOLUTELY should retaliate, especially when a sect of religious extremists instigates a war on US, and the case with 9/11 is an ABSOLUTELY, IRREFUTABLY LEGITIMATE one. However, we should not hold all Muslims accountable, but should absolutely hunt down and kill the radical extremist Muslims who were the purveyors of this attack on our nation in the name of their religion.
However, in the case with Great Britain, the Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs had done NOTHING to the British invaders. They were the conquered in this case. And Mohandes Gandhi in a heroic effort galvanized his people and fought back the British and fought for the freedoms of his nation. Remember his proclamation: "There is ONE UNITED INDIA?" Religious and cultural tolerance does NOT come at a price: Gandhi never regarded tolerance to have a price - he FOUGHT for religious and cultural tolerance for the sake of his people. And so the reason these Christians in India are being subjected to hostility from the Hindus is because of the British colonization. And since the British forces were the ones who conquered them, they should assume responsibility and assist in dispersing the violence between Christians and Hindus. So also the United States should make reparations for the hostilities of the Vietnam War, the Cambodian conflict, and practically every major war we have instigated in the 20th century. Of course, undoing this is impossible, but the best course of action we could take is to cease our imperial conquests and stop "spreading Democracy" to Islamic nations who have a completely different system under Sharia law. Tolerance is what will allow our civilization to endure.
"When the missionaries came to Africa, we had land; they had the Bible. They told us to pray with our eyes closed, and when we opened our eyes, they had land, and we had the Bible."
- Jomo Kenyatta
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
- Mohandas Gandhi
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