I Wanted To Share This So That When People See This, They Can Pray For Or Somehow Help The People Going

I wanted to share this so that when people see this, they can pray for or somehow help the people going through this. Hopefully, our world will someday see that persecution is wrong and that people should be free to believe what they believe.

i will personally burn you for implying that christians are systematically persecuted go to school

Hi! Perhaps a little lesson would be good here.

The first Christian to be persecuted was Christ himself. They literally killed him for what he taught.

Christianity was illegal for the first 300 years of its existence, until Constantine was like “O wait that shit’s dope I wanna do that too.” In that time, Christians were regularly tortured, beheaded, stoned, burned alive, drawn and quartered, and – in a word – persecuted. There are records of that, both in the Bible and in historical texts. Take your pick of which you would like to look further into, and do that, please.

Some time in the fourth century AD, king Athanaric of Terving decided to kill some Christians. This one was called the “Gothic persecution” because he specifically targeted Goths that had converted to Christianity.

In the year 516 AD a Jewish warlord in Yemen by the name of  Yousef Asa'ar decided that all Christians must convert to Judaism or die. When they refused, he killed about 20,000 Christians.

During the Roman-Persian wars, Christians were persecuted by Jews and by Persians. This one had a death toll of about 17,000 Christians. 

During the mid seventh century, Christians living in areas governed by sharia law were banned from spreading their faith by threat of death. They were also forced to pay higher taxes; those who could not do so were required to surrender their children, who were then sold as slaves. Christian men were not permitted to marry Muslim women, but Muslim men were allowed to marry Christian women. 

If we jump to the 14th century, we see massive persecutions committed by Tamerlane. This became known as the Assyrian genocide, where at least 20,000 Christians were killed. 

In 17th Century Albania, Christians were forced to pay higher taxes than non-Christians, leading them into poverty where they were then unable to afford basic necessities, like, oh, you know, food.

The French Revolution was accompanied by the dechristianization of France, wherein clergy were deported or killed, churches were desecrated and pillaged, and public worship and religious education were outlawed. A law was passed in 1793 that made it illegal to be or harbor a priest who had not sworn off his ordination, by penalty of death.

Christianity has been illegal in China since the late 17th century. This one’s still going on today. We see “Catholicism” rising in China, but the “priests” and “bishops” are hand-selected by the Chinese government, who then tells the Church to ordain them. If that doesn’t reek of state propaganda and suppression of religion to you, I don’t know what will.

In Japan in 1614, the Tokugawa shogunate decided they’d had enough of Christianity in their country. They ordered the expulsion of missionaries and execution of converts. Naturally, the Christians didn’t like that. A young Japanese Christian,  Amakusa Shirō Tokisada, led the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637. When the Hara Castle fell, the shogunate’s forces killed 37,000 Christians. They put Amakusa’s head on a spike at Nagasaki for public display.

And now we’ve reached the “Modern Era.”

Between the years of 1843 and 1847, Kurdish and Ottoman forces killed over 10,000 Assyrian Christians, and sold thousands more into slavery. During the Bulgarian Uprising and Russo-Turkish War, over 15,000 non-combatant Christians were killed. 

The Hamidian massacres occurred between 1894 and 1896. In these, the forces of the Ottoman Empire targeted Armenian and Assyrian Christians. It is estimated that as many as 325,000 were killed. Another 546,000 people were made destitute by deportations and destruction of farmstead towns and villages. Unarmed Assyrian women were raped, tortured, and murdered. 

The Young Turks government of the Ottoman Empire apparently wanted in on the fun. This resulted in about 3.4 million deaths, including 1.5 million Armenian Christians, 750,000 Assyrian Christians, 900,000 Greek Orthodox Christians, and 250,000 Maronite Christians between the years of 1915 and 1921.

The Bolsheviks wanted to remove the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church, so they promoted atheism and intentionally murdered 500,000 Christians during the 20th Century. 

When the Soviets took over, they continued the slaughter. It’s estimated that the total number of Christian victims of the soviets is somewhere from 12 million to 20 million. 

In Mexico, the Christero War occurred because of persecutions. (When the Soviet Union opened an embassy in Mexico, the Soviet ambassador was awed at how closely the Soviet Union and Mexico resembled each other.) From 1926 to 1934, the number of priests in Mexico dropped from 4500 to 334. These remaining priests needed to be licensed by the Mexican government. The ones who were no longer able to serve had either emigrated, been expelled, or fallen to assassination. 

Let’s move on to “the present” (the last 30 years or so).

It is estimated that over 100,000 Christians are killed annually because of their faith. The World Evangelical Alliance estimates that over 200 million Christians are denied some fundamental human rights solely because of their faith. Paul Valley (a Rabbi) states that roughly 80% of all acts of religious discrimination is directed at Christians, despite them making up only 33% of the world’s population. 

There is a Christian non-profit organization that publishes a “World Watch List,” which is a list of the 50 countries most dangerous for Christians. North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, Eritrea, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran are the top ten on 2018′s list. 

Sudan and Iran still implement the death penalty for apostasy (converting from Islam to Christianity, or even secretly practicing Christianity without openly professing a conversion).

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt published in May of 2019 that Christian persecution in the Middle East is “arguably coming close to meeting the international definition of genocide, according to that adopted by the UN” due to extremist groups and failure of state institutions to protect their citizens. 

From 2011 to 2013, over 150 Christians have been kidnapped for ransom in Egypt.

Despite making up only 5% of the Iraqi population, Christians account for 40% of the refugees living in nearby countries. 

You may not remember, but in 2017, Isis took a group of Christians and beheaded them, one by one, on video. They expressly stated the people were being murdered for being Christian.

But no, you’re right. There definitely hasn’t been systematic persecution of Christians. I must be imagining all of that.

Thank you for illuminating the dim recesses of my narrow mind and worldview.

🌸

Hey

Let’s all run away to Sneedville Tennessee, they don’t have property tax.

We can call ourselves the Sneeds.

I’ve made a personal choice.

I am officially calling “sunset” moonrise and “sunrise” moonset. 

I agree with everything on this except the pluralism thing. Even then, that doesn’t mean someone can’t do it, that’s between them and God. Anyways, hopefully spreading stuff like this will help people to see the God I know and follow instead of the fake entity that many “Christians” worship. 

EDIT (8/22/2022): I was going through some old posts/reblogs and I gotta say that now that I’m older and understand more about the world (and also now that I’ve stopped listening to every little word my extremely toxic mother would tell me) I 100% disagree with this post. Every single counterpoint they give is wrong. I no longer condone this post or the things I said in the past. Sorry for my past self lol

Hi. I saw a post today comparing God to an abusive father/husband. I can’t get this out of my head. Is he? I feel in my heart that he truly loves every one of his children but I can’t explain how.

cw discussion of general abuse and abusive tactics

Hey there, dear.

I’m going to start by saying that this is a really hard topic, and I’m not sure I can answer in a way that is super helpful. But above all this I can say this: in my experience God is not an abuser. God is not an abuser, because being caught in an abusive relationship brings fear and guilt and exhaustion and hopelessness, while in my relationship with God I find freedom from those feelings – I find energy and joy and hope.The huge issue is that many people do feel fearful and guilty and hopeless when trying to pursue God, because they’ve fallen into what churches have told them God is and says and expects. God is not abusive – but so many churches paint God as an abuser, and are abusive themselves. How can we rethink our language and visions of God in our pursuit of the true God, the God of love and justice, the God of the oppressed and the forgotten?

I’ve seen that post going around too, and it also hurts me. On the one hand, I get where the post is coming from – from church hurt turned into disgust, from pain into anger. And that anger is well founded. The quotes in the post are messages about God that are too often spread in our culture, the understandings of God promoted by so many of our churches, so it makes sense that the post attributes those quotes to God.

I am not going to link that post because I don’t really want to spread it around more, but I’ll address some of the quotes on it that are attributed to God.

“You’re a terrible person, and you need me to do better.”

God does not call us terrible! God calls us Good – right from the start! (Genesis 1:31)

That being said, I think it’s pretty clear from looking around us that humans are flawed creatures, capable of vast cruelty. God does long to guide us into a better way of living. 

I personally do believe that we need God, as God is the source of life itself, and that God can help us do better. However, God does not threaten us to get us into that relationship – on the contrary, God has gifted us with free will for the very purpose of allowing us to choose whether or not we will seek a relationship with God. Love is not love when it is forced – and God longs for us to love Them, a true and healthy, mutual and fruitful love.

I imagine any abuser would jump on the chance to force their victim to love and obey them. God gives us free will so that love and obedience cannot be forced on us.

“You don’t deserve me.”

I can’t think of anywhere in scripture where God claims that. Certain churches do all the time – that we don’t deserve God’s love. And honestly, I feel that way sometimes – that I’m so flawed and messed up that I am not worthy of God – but I’ve never felt like God has made me feel that way. 

Instead, God makes me feel loved, not despised: “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you” (Isaiah 43:4)

Still, if one believes in an all-good God, one might consider that in some ways it is true that we don’t “deserve” God. But in the words of Wonder Woman, “it’s not about deserve” – it’s about love!

We do not need to earn God’s love the way abusers force their victims to try futilely to earn their love or respect. God gives Their love and all other good things to us completely freely:

“Freely you have received; so freely give” (Matthew 10:8). 

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27)

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let them ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to them” (James 1:5)

It’s so easy in any relationship where you feel lucky to have the person to look at all your shortcomings and think “crap. I don’t deserve this.” But it doesn’t matter – if someone really loves you, as God loves us, it’s not about “deserve.” The love is given freely and mutually. 

“If you even think about leaving me…”

This one in particular really makes my heart ache, because fear has poisoned faith for so many people I love.

Too many churches use fear as a weapon to keep people in their pews – they claim that if you leave them you’re leaving God and leaving God = automatic sentence to hell, automatic suffering. Go and God will punish you; go and you can never come back.

There’s a twitter thread by Mandy Nicole that talks about their experience leaving a church that taught them that their church was the one safe haven loved by God, that everyone outside is dangerous and bad and going to hell. Churches like that isolate their members, use fear to keep them from leaving – that is abuse. God does not desire that from us.

We see in the story of the “prodigal son” that if we leave God, we can always come back. The father in the story lets his son go with his blessing even while hoping for his return. Thus so, God welcomes us back with open arms, without any “I told you so” or anger.

Christianity should never be based in fear but in love! If someone is trying to convince you that God is just waiting for the chance to punish you, that God will shove your ass in hell if you do wrong by Them….they are not preaching the Good News. 

“Don’t listen to anyone who doesn’t understand what we have.”

Nah, friend. Engage in discussion about religion with people of diverse backgrounds! Ask God all the questions that are on your mind, and wrestle with those questions in the company of other people. God is cool with us asking questions. And exploring faith with people of diverse faiths can help us get to know God and ourselves better – see my #pluralism tag. 

“You’ll never find anyone as good as me.”

Okay, so, by my belief that is technically true. God is….God. But God does not isolate us with sayings like this – does not block us off from relationships with others, from finding joy and fulfillment with others. In fact, to form a relationship with God is to form a relationship with all the rest of humanity and even with all of Creation!

A hallmark of abuse is isolation, and God does the opposite of isolate us – we are called to break down walls and be bold and love one another and fight for the oppressed! 

God is Themself a Trinity – Their very existence is a relationship. Thus we who are in God’s image are made for relationship. God does not call us to isolate ourselves from everyone else and be in relationship only with them, but rather to go out and serve and love everyone we encounter. 

See my #community tag for more on this idea that you can’t worship God in a vacuum, that you can’t be Christian in isolation, that God calls us to radical relationship with all people and all Creation.

I also want to mention something tentatively, and I welcome correction here: I think that some language that is a major red flag when it comes from another human being makes sense when referring to God. One of the other quotes on the post is “I know best” and when it comes to God, I think that’s true. Even so, God invites our questions as I mention above, God invites our input and does not use this “knowing best” to deny our free will. 

Another one I can think of is the idea of the “inescapable God.” I have always loved Psalm 139, which describes how God is everywhere we could possibly go (“Where can I hide from your presence? Where can I flee from your face?”). It was only earlier this year when discussing it with classmates that I learned that some people are extremely uncomfortable with that idea of a God they cannot get away from. After thinking about it I completely understand why – the concept of not being able to escape someone is horrible; there should be no human being from whom we cannot get away. But God’s constant presence is simply an aspect of God’s Being – God exists as an all-present deity. But even this inescapable nature of God is different from when a human being tries to be inescapable (a mark of an abuser): God does not pressure us to acknowledge Their presence, and God is not present to catch you doing something wrong or to make you feel trapped or to monitor your interactions with others.

When the language we use for God and the ways we talk about God lead to people feeling helpless, abused, fearful, or guilty – we need to stop and reconsider that language. 

God is the Great Liberator. God calls us Good; God empowers us to do good; God respects our free will. Let us seek new ways to talk about God that speak to this truth, asking the Holy Spirit for guidance as we do so. 

I’ll close with part of a passage from Shirley Guthrie’s Christian Doctrine in which he addresses the concept of the abusive God (full quote here):

“God the great heavenly (male) Tyrant is also dead – the ‘sovereign’ god who could do anything he wanted to and proved it by arbitrarily being sometimes cruel and sometimes kind, loving some people and hating or simply ignoring others, according to the whim of the moment. The god who sneaked around spying on us, trying to catch us doing something bad so he could get us. …That god is dead. We may rejoice and be thankful that he too was never alive.

Which god is dead? All the gods that were really nothing but a projection of our own fears, wishes, insecurity, greed, or speculation. All the gods made in our own image. If talk about the death of God in our time exposes our idols and their inadequacy, we may welcome it. The quicker we bury and forget the gods we make for ourselves, the quicker we can learn who God really is.”

I’ve been trying to lose some weight and this is really motivational to me so I thought I’d reblog it for more people to see. :3

You’ve always been beautiful, remember that.