When given the chance I visit this forum, partly for the dynamic debates that surface and those that contribute. I am sure many others who perhaps prefer to spectate than participate will agree that you usually leave with a better bond in Christ. Not all of us have the chance of fellowship albeit in person or here in this forum and this is usually because of economic factors. I have posted a few replies and some may know that Jerusalem is where I reside and it is the middle eastern Christians that I stand up for.

Some at this forum have replied saying I am overly biased towards Christian issues over Muslim. I am because so long as the freedoms Muslims have in Christian societies are denied to Christians in Muslim societies, my kind will come first where I am able too. I would like the regular contributors that I have noticed (and you will know who you all are) that freely give religious direction, to please bring up discussions outside this forum for the predicament of Palestinian and Iranian Christians who as they are out of sight are therefore out of mind, in short forgotten.

Persecution is most commonly seen as only violence, where in these two separate Christian communities it is actually religious genocide that is taking hold. In both the Palestinian controlled areas and the Christians in Iran denial of rights and services is slowly suffocating the communities out of existence and little if any ever reach's media streams such as CNN. On the contrary Muslim issues appear to have precedence and perhaps money has a role here.

Palestinians Christians are viewed as a source of "looting" by the Palestinian Authority and their military wings as well by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. In short if there are shortages it will either be taken away first from the Palestinian Christians or denied to them. A point to make is that funds contributed from surrounding Muslim countries are handed out to Palestinians in need but only if your are Muslim. What you see is a higher degree of poverty and malnutrition amongst Palestinian Christians than their Muslim neighbours. Lastly as they are viewed as Christian they are then viewed suspiciously as "un worthy" and therefore sidelined continuously in everyday activities. All this has caused mass immigration to North America and Australia and those Christians left are those who cannot ill afford to leave.

It may be known by some of you that when severe conflict flares between Israeli forces and Muslim militants it is often our Churches that are besieged, violated and vandalised. More often the desecration is caused by the Muslim militants scant regard for our holy places of worship. They never use Mosques even when they know it will still cause up roar and controversy in the worlds media.

The situation in Iran is similar with the added denial of right of worship. Iranian authorities in vain tried to force Orthodox Christians to hold membership cards to the Churches they attended. They required also that wives and daughters be denied access to their church services. In an act of faith Church leaders refused, citing that all can attend to worship Christ. The frustration of Muslim clerics by the continued existence of Christians has resulted in Iranian Christians suffering severe hardship from denial of major medical centres, Universities and employment to name a few. This also has resulted in immigration of Christians to the satisfaction of the Iranian government and I can say that of the Palestinian Authority over their Christian community as well. (source Human Rights Watch)

I ask all to please pause and pray for a moment of those up holding up our Christian faith in places far from our own, without whom our Churches would have little reason to exist except as tourist relics of a past. It should be mentioned that even though our "family" in the middle east is over shadowed by a benign belief it is remarkably strong in Christ. They would just like to be noticed and perhaps even appreciated and this can be done vocally and by prayer with in our Churches.

Please be it spoken out or whispered to yourself say a prayer our family in the middle east.

May Christ be with all.

-- aka max (temzil@yahoo.com), November 10, 2002

Answers

Max

You have prayers from me. I hold my Catholic faith strongly inside but I have never been victimised for it, so I don't know how it is to feel belittled for believing in Christ. I am sure though that Christ is very close to them.

-- diane (dquest@nojunk.com), November 10, 2002.

I agree with you, Diane.
Max's people (like millions of Catholics in China) are the "invisible martyrs" of our time.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), November 10, 2002.