“Christian Persecution, Revisited,” by Andrew. J. Schatkin

“Christian Persecution, Revisited,” by Andrew. J. Schatkin

My dear Christians and non-Christians and you of all faiths and thoughts and all views and opinions, I bid and ask you to join with me in another voyage of intellectual discovery where those who may wish to engage in critical thinking and do not engage in and accept media lies, falsehoods, political code words, and hype can join in the effort to gain truth and facts amid the barrage of corruption and virtual darkness we are confronted with and befuddled with and made effective fools of. I welcome you in this quest and task of attaining and coming to know intellectual honesty and honest discernment. Join with me to get at and find what is valid and authentic in this world of confusion and do come with me in tearing apart the curtain of lies and darkness that hides from us what is truth and facts.

Today once again I shall be speaking of and reporting on the worldwide persecution of the church and of Christian believers. This persecution for me is most painful and I have spoken of these persecutions in the past in such areas as Nigeria where Christians are regularly attacked and killed; and the situation in Pakistan where blasphemy laws can result in the incarceration and execution of Christians who speak a word against the prophet Muhammad; and in Saudi Arabia where a church cannot be built or a bible publicly displayed; and, finally, in China where pastors are jailed, churches demolished, and crosses removed.

Here are some recent developments in connection with the constant persecution of Christian worldwide. Islamic radicals called the Fulani burned the homes of Nigerian families, stole their crops, and they lacked shelter and food. In Mozambique many in the face of similar anti-Christian persecution fled their homes and have to live in temporary housing. In Laos Khumu families were told to renounce Christ and made to leave their village and had to live in a shelter off the main road. In the United States persecution is also ongoing and singing in churches has been effectively limited if not banned in California, Illinois, and New York. In India, in September, 600 Hindus vandalized the homes of 84 Christians who were forced into the jungle.

My dear friends and thinkers and you of all faiths I now as a Christian address the concern and issue of abortion. Christians take the position that all humanity has ultimate and eternal value who Jesus lived and died for and offers eternal life. And so we set value on all whether the unborn, or the dying, or disabled and mentally challenged. Their value for me and the church is immeasurable. The innocent unborn and yet to be are a particular concern of the love of Jesus and that love is so great that son of god will take on one person's evil life in the face of a last second repentance by even Hitler or Stalin. Thus 42% of all deaths are due to abortion and many and even the majority of abortions involve poor blacks and Latinos. The states of Maryland and Virginia chose to allow some form of infanticide although President Trump intervened with an executive order while congress refused to act. Abortion is a moral issue on the value we accord a human being. The life involved is not a matter of someone's so called rights.

I would now like to comment on President Biden' pro-abortion policies and his reversal of President Trump's policies in this respect. President Biden will likely be seeking repeal of the Protect Life Rule, which prevents Organizations which perform or refer for abortions from receiving Title X family planning funds and it stripped Planned Parenthood of $60 million in federal funding. President Biden is also expected to repeal the Mexico City Policy which prohibits federal funding of international non-governmental organizations which promote abortion as a method of family planning. Biden wishes to end the policy represented by the Hyde Amendment that prohibited federal programs from paying for abortions except in the case of rape or incest or to save the life of the woman. In further understanding of the Mexico City policy, the Reagan administration barred foreign organizations from receiving family planning assistance from providing information, referrals, or services for abortions and President Trump expanded it by applying these restrictions to nearly all federal global health assistance. President Biden is expected to repeat the Mexico City Policy. Title X provides family planning assistance to clinics serving low-income people but in 2019 the Trump Administration blocked clinics in the program from referring people to abortion providers or performing abortion procedure with other funds. Finally, President Biden has pledged to reinstate the Obama era policy requiring the sisters to provide access to birth control. The issue of birth control and contraception involve once again the value Christ and the eternal god set on their created humanity. The moral issue in contraception is the same as in abortion and in neither case can that moral issue be evaded. Finally, many of the issues and policies discussed above here are the value we must place on all life regardless of income level or economic status. Jesus accorded to all classes the same regard for their lives as for any other person.

I do hope and trust that what I have said here will awaken the world and the people to the ongoing forces giving rise to these persecutions and seek to protest these actions and atrocities and once again I know that radical Islam may be at work at times in these events but I also know that the vast majority of Islamic people are peaceful, law abiding, and honest hardworking members of the communities they reside in and that only a radical minority commit these acts of violence. I ask all who read this essay to join with me in protest of these persecutions with the same fervor and concern you direct to women's rights and black lives matter and do not simply ignore the plight and suffering of these martyrs who have given up their lives for Christ and his kingdom.