Reflections From a Murky Pond

It is a Truth that politics makes for strange bedfellows. More and more I find that I, a Pagan, feel the need to come to the defense of Christians and their organizations in these increasingly bigoted times. People, fueled by both secularists and horribly biased media seem to jump at any chance to attack and persecute Christians in America these days.

The latest outrage is the false and biased coverage of an incident - which should never have been considered an incident in the first place - in Halifax County, NC. Gary Khera who is a Sikh went to the Union Mission - a Christian church and charity - this week to donate cash or food. Mr. Khera was refused entrance into the Mission’s consecrated grounds because he refused to abide by their restrictions and remove his turban before doing so.

The media - in their knee jerk reaction against anything Christian and most things representing Americana - jumped on this non-incident and gave it biased national coverage. The entire tenor of the MSM’s coverage - and the resulting commentary on news services’ websites, news aggregates such as Digg and the blogosphere - has been that the Union Mission was not only the wrong, but actively evil and un-American.

According to AP (via CBS News):

The mission has a rule - explained in large lettering on the mission’s door - asking all males to removed headcoverings inside the facility, and mission directors asked him to remove the turban. Khera refused to do so because he wears it all day as part of his religion.

So essentially Mr. Khera went to another faith’s religious site and refused to abide their rules on their sanctified property. When he was refused entrance he was outraged and went to the media to vent his spleen. That biased media was more than happy to give him the chance to do so and to give him a national spotlight while doing so.

One has to wonder what would happen if the tables had been reversed and a Christian - had gone to a Sikh temple - called a Gurdwara - to make a donation and refused to abide by the Sikhs’ restrictions. Everyone is required to take off their shoes before entering the Gurdwara and keep their heads covered at all times whilst in the Gurdwara.

I’m fairly sure that the media would have described it as bigoted insensitivity on the part of the Christians if they refused to follow the edicts of the Sikhs in their holy place.

As far as the media is concerned their is no equal protections for Christians when it comes to any clash or conflict of cultures or ideology. This is why I - a Pagan with little love for the Churches of the Christians - side with those persecuted Christians.

The media and the masses they control through disinformation have come for the Christians. If I and other Theists do not stand by those Christians now, who will be left to stand by me and mine when they come for us?

Christianity seems to claim to be rooted in compassion and in your God’s boundless capacity for mercy and forgiveness. No transgression seems so great that God will not turn aside his wrath and accept the sinner back into the fold. The prayers of others even seem enough to stay His hand and His judgment as the three Biblical passage below seem to clearly say:

Moses’ Prayer, interceding for Israel…again

So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin-but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.

– Exodus 32:31-32 NIV

Stephen’s prayer for his murderers

Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

– Acts 7:60 NIV

Paul’s prayer for the Colossians

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance…. in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

– Colossians 1:9-17 NIV

In the light of these passages and a great many others like them, it seems that the God of the Christians is very forgiving indeed. It also seems that another can intercede with God on behalf of a sinner or indeed an entire city or race of sinners. Therefor I have a question for any and all Christians who find this post:

Have you offered even a single prayer for Satan, the first and direst sinner who Fell so far due to his sin? Have you prayed once that God forgive Satan’s pride or prayed once that Satan might repent his sin and be brought back into your God’s grace?

Such a Merry Christmas from China. Well, actually shèngdàn kuàilè xīnnián kuàilè is Merry Christmas in Mandarin (Gōngxǐ Fācái is a Chinese New Years greeting), but it wouldn’t fit in the post’s headline.

It seems the Evil Old Men in Beijing, knowing the importance of the Christmas holidays among the oppressed Christian minority in China, have perverted the holiday for their own vile purposes. They have showed great - if low born - cunning in realizing that the “illegal” congregations in China would be gathering at this time.

270 House Church Pastors Detained for Alleged “Illegal Religious Gathering

SHANDONG PROVINCE, Dec. 10 — China Aid Association has learned that 270 House Church Pastors have been detained for what Chinese officials are calling an “illegal religious gathering.”

On December 7 at 1:30pm, House Church pastors in Hedeng District, Linyi City, were gathered for a Bible Study when their meeting was disrupted by police officials.According to Pastor Li, an eyewitness, 40-50 policemen from 12 different towns were involved in the massive detention. The pastors were then handcuffed two-by-two and taken to the local police station for questioning. As of this morning 150 pastors remain in custody. The others have been released on a Y300 ($40) interrogation fee.

The humiliation these pastors received by being led away in handcuffs as common criminals, for attending a Bible study is an unjustifiable act of religious persecution. In addition, the large scale and high profile of the detentions shows the apathy of Chinese officials in moving towards a policy for toleration of religious freedom. Behavior unbecoming of the World’s host for the Olympic games in 2008.

China Aid will continue to monitor the situation.

For those concerned, contact:

Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Ambassador: Mr. Zhou Wenzhong
Address: 2300 Connecticut Avenue, N. W., Washington D.C. 20008, U.S.A.
Tel: +001-202-328-2500, 328-2501, 328-2502
Fax: +001-202-3282582
Email: chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn

– Issued by China Aid Association
December 10, 2007

I know the civilized world can’t honestly expect any better behavior from PRC tyrants in Beijing, but it’s still somehow shocking how far they will go to oppress any group who doesn’t spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week kowtowing to atheism and slaving in a sweatshop somewhere.

We really shouldn’t even be shocked by the “interrogation fee”; after all once they execute these pastors, the PRC will bill their families for the cost of the bullet.