Imago Fidei

Comments

Are these Egyptian pigs the descendants of the same "herd of swine" in Mathew 8?

Seriously though, no one condones these acts of defiance by the "Christian youth" taking the Law into their own hands.
May be the aroma of roast pig of a spit would have proved to the raiding Police that there is more to pigs than the over hyped “swine flu” that is poised to make millions for the pharmaceutical mega corporations.

Posted By: Semi Meo | May 5, 2009 3:33 PM

Why shouldn't the farmers have a right to demonstrate. Afterall the excuses used by the govn to kill their income are just that, excuses. Better the farmers fight for their livelihood than starve to death. It doesn't say that the goven is planning on reinbursing the farmers for the cost of their livelihood. Actually forming a union would be better but it takes time to organize and build a union and to get it to the point where it's effective against the powers that be.

Posted By: Anna | May 5, 2009 11:08 PM

the issue is not worth throwing stones.All they should do is perhaps go to the law court to seek redress or compensation for losses than take law into their hands.it is unchristian to throw stones all because some ine is carring out orders.Infact, if i may say those who threw stones may not be christians but church goers.

Posted By: olamide | May 6, 2009 7:30 AM

I mainly want to help "Anna" know that most of you living out of middle east do not know what's going on there and whether it is possible to go to law court or not.
I have a question! Was your comment the Same, when the US attacked Iraq. How do you compare throwing stoens with bombarding a whole country!!! I can recal many Christians in US defended this as a just war... What's your comment on this...
I just want you not to judge so superficially

Posted By: H. sh. | May 6, 2009 11:47 PM

I doubt Christian slum dwellers in Egypt have the luxury of taking people to court. I don't condone violence, but they have no other way of demonstrating or opposing actions that will further marginalize and impoverish them.

Posted By: alanps | May 7, 2009 3:23 PM

It is obvious that Egyptian authorities are taking advantage of the world-wide anxiety about the H1N1 virus to target non-Muslims where it hurts: their livelihood. The international community should come to the aid of these poor farmers and insist that Egypt's govt. provide them some compensation, or, if that doesn't happen, we should assist them ourselves.

Posted By: ALM | May 12, 2009 9:37 AM

I find it troubling when people sort Christians into groups like "churchgoers" not "Christians" as Olamide wrote. Usually that is code for saying thqt those Christians are Catholic or Orthodox not mainline evangelical. As a christian who believes in the Holy Trinity and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I have worshipped in envangelical, Charismatic, and Liturgical churches and find many nominal people in all forms of worship. I find it troubling to look at an ethnic group who looks and acts different from us and label them "churchgoers" In the Middle East, throwing stones has a historical background and use we don't totally understand as Americans, so I would be slow to judge. I am more concerned with the Egyptian govt's quick move to take away the Christians livlihood. Middle Eastern Christians endure persecutions in their communities and with their jobs etc. in a way few of us Americans could endure.

Posted By: Pani | May 14, 2009 6:48 PM

Its easy to say, "why are they throwing stones? Its not Christian", until someone comes here to the US and has the same thing happen to them. Let's say the government wipes out your income, your home, your livelihood, those of your parents, those of your family members, maybe even your whole community. Moreover, when you go to the cops, they ridicule you and taunt you, maybe even torture you. When you go to court, they don't even want to hear you. Then you can either end up being homeless and another statistic, or maybe you gather up the courage to demonstrate. In which case they throw you in jail.
If all these things were happening in our lives, maybe we would all be throwing stones. Is that Christian? Of course not! Is that human? Maybe. I'm not saying its right, but to all the self-righteous people here, at least try to put yourself in their shoes.

Posted By: Sam | May 15, 2009 12:58 PM

I think this is worth an article, and not just a picture with a caption.
The magazine's title is ChristianityToday, and it seems to assume that 99% or 90% of Christians are in the United States, and most of the articles seem to be geared towards lifestyle of the United States.

That is not so. Most of the Christians in the world are outside the United States, in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Most of the Christians in the world are also undergoing persecution of one type or another.

When Christians are persecuted in Egypt, it merits an article about the persecution, not just one picture. Egyptian Christians are about to lose their entire livelihood (they are already poor and raise pigs by feeding them garbage, and pig-raising is most of their meager revenue), since the Egyptian government was (hopefully not anymore) going to slaughter all their pigs on a false excuse. It is interesting that the anxiety feeling (or, comfort) of the wealthier-than-the-rest-of-the-world Americans about the economy is deemed more important than the entire livelihood of already-poor Egyptian Christians.

It would good for the magazine to have a significant portion of it dedicated to Christians outside the US and what's happened through their faith. It would encourage the American Christians, it would also help them not get tunnel vision about how life in the US is all that there is. It would also help American Christians realize what horrendous poverty and need most of their brethren and sisters are in, and more Americans would send help.

Also, it would be good for the magazine to cover the terrible social and political conditions most of the Christians in the world are in, like the Christians in the Middle East, for instance, and in Southeast Asia, in India, in Africa, in China, in Russia... It would make more aware the need to help advance civil liberties, and make more Americans aware of how much bondage and misery there are in other Christians' lives, so as to be not in this

Posted By: William | May 16, 2009 2:21 AM

"waiting for rapture, who cares about the rest of the world" cocoon.

In Bangladesh, Christians are so poor they can't afford houses so they build them with dried mud. Every year the monsoon rain comes and the houses are dissolved. Once the monsoon rain is passed, it's time to walk long distance to go haul mud again to rebuild the one-year house.

In Pakistan, a Christian pastor was shot by Muslims after repeated threat to not have church in that region.

In India or Indonesia, a Christian was struck by machetes for being Christian. The face was severely disfigured and tongue almost cut.

In India, a pastor was lured into a person's home when he pretended to want to hear about Jesus, then cut the throat of the pastor.

In North Korea, people who tried to flee the dictatorship, and caught, were brought back to the border and metal rings were pierced through their nose, and their shoulder bones(!), and they are then dragged back to labor camps like animals.

In North Korea, the country is so poor that when China sent a trainload of supplies, the North Korea government hijacked the train along with the supplies, and the Chinese train crew had to walk back to China.

Burma has been ruled by a military dictatorship since many decades. The military government is so corrupted and despotic that it did not allow humanitarian aid to be given to victims of hurricane that killed tens of thousands of people, because the government wants to be seen as omnipotent, and have monopoly on helping refugees, even if it means letting them die. It took several months to persuade the generals.

In China, the government sent bulldozers to demolish a church at Tudusha, that refused to register and thus become part of the Marxist "Patriotic" church, the only legal church in China. Registration means absorption by the "Patriotic" church, and the Marxist and the "Patriotic" clergy would be the ones appointing who pastors the church, what can be preached, what can't be preached (anything having to do with miracles), forbid talking about Jesus to people below 18, forbid any "religious activity" including talking about Jesus the minute you step out the church door, and of course, the glory of China is #1, the glory of God is second, and must serve the glory of China.

These are things that most of the Christians in the world go through. Could you report on those, un-glitter Christians and make known the difficult conditions in the places where they live? Could you make known that for most Christians in the world, Today, the anxiety is not about the declining luxuries of a top of the world living standard, or about "how to not have anxieties, even though the problems are really ridiculously small compared to what most people go through". For most of the Christians in the world today, life is difficult under either tyrannical or autocratic regimes with severe limitations on civil liberties. The police is corrupt and arbitrarily arrest people and pretend they are guilt till they beat it out of them, so they can fill a quota of convicted criminals get promoted. The justice system is abysmal in not being ruled by law and there are many state crimes against innocent people. Use of torture is rampant. Very little freedom of expression is allowed.

Could you report on the faith and societies of most Christians today?
It would help the vision to not get myopic and then faded out, about what the unachieved purpose of a Christian life. Rick Warren's book had grandiose promise, but each short chapter was like a lot of scrambled things without much better understanding in the end. The purposes are to love and know God, and to love people by going with the Gospel to the ends of the world.

To the ends of the world. Most Americans haven't even gone outside America.

Where there is no vision, people's spiritual lives perish. Meaning, they become worldly, and not Christian anymore (Matthew 13, there are Americans who make strange "theologies" to deny Biblical truth). It's a huge problem in America, and what would help prevent it, is to constantly make aware of the other parts of the world that needs people. It would keep Christians in America reminded about their purpose in life, which is not to go to church one day a week, get a job, a house, get married, and have a good consumer life, ask God to fulfill "my" needs in life. That's rather very worldly. That also has the person at the center, and not God at the center. God needs people to go to the ends of the world. And for those who can't yet, then at least help the Christians at the ends of the world, any way they can.

These were from past issues of Voice of the Martyrs.
And from ChinaAid.

Posted By: William | May 16, 2009 2:23 AM

I have to laugh at 2 things. First, it's hilarious to hear all these people condemning the Egyptians for throwing stones when I would bet all my money that most of these commentators supported George Bush's various wars. Secondly, I'm shocked to read the Copts being referred to as "Christians". I thought that word was solely reserved and copyrighted by American Protestants, specifically of the evangelical variety. How generous you are to include your illegitimate brethren in the Body of Christ.

Posted By: Johann | May 27, 2009 12:11 PM