I keep thinking about all the American Christians who canceled church on Christmas Day. Terry wrote about the Iraqi Christians who’ve done the same. Except in their case, it’s under threat of death.
I’m elated that Christmas is finally here after a lengthy Advent but I
am so sad that Christians in Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan,
among other locations, aren’t able to worship freely. Or take the
horrible news out of Nigeria yesterday. What Christians there wouldn’t
do to have the freedom to worship in peace.
In any case, some holiday seasons see quite a few stories aiming to
undermine some aspect of Christianity. We didn’t see much of that.
Neither did we see much War on Christmas-type stuff (hurray!),
particularly considering that there was ample opportunity.
Certainly the plight of global Christians this Christmas has not been
covered well. But I did want to highlight a package from CNN that I
personally found quite interesting.
The feature piece is actually a photo essay by Gary S. Chapman, titled “The persecution of Pakistan’s Christian minority.” Brett Roegiers explained the background to the piece:
In August 2009, an angry mob of extremist Muslims torched Christian homes in Gojra, Pakistan. At least seven people were shot to death or burned alive. A few days after the attacks, American photographer Gary S. Chapman visited the area with his wife, Vivian, to document the aftermath. “I want people to see my images and feel both discomfort and compassion at the same time,” he said recently. “I want them to try and see themselves in the situation I am witnessing.” The violence in Gojra was incited by rumors of the desecration of pages of the Quran at a Christian wedding, police said. An investigation determined the allegations were baseless.
His project began in 2005 when he photographed relief efforts after a
massive earthquake killed 86,000. He learned about mistreatment of
Christians then and there, including rape, lack of employment and
education and beatings for drinking from Muslim water fountains: Keep Reading >>>
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