Monday, August 20, 2012
Where have all the celebrities gone?
This video is rather distressing, it shows the arrest of an little girl with Downs syndrome, Rimsha, daughter of Misrak Masih, from Islamabad.
Father Simon Henry asks where are Madonna and Sting and the rest of the liberal celebrities when Christians are being persecuted, imprisoned and even killed and let us not forget Asia Bibi still in prison in Pakistan.
I tend always to agree with Fr Henry and Fr Tim who raised the issue of Rimsha last night, but unfortunately I think we should ask where is the Church too, when Christians are being persecuted, do we have a national office for the support of persecuted Christians at Eccleston Square? What exactly is the Catholic Church for all those Christians who are suffering especially under Islamic countries.
It is regrettable that we do not have stronger relations with the Islamic community. What should we do? Would holding a demonstration outside the Pakistani Embassy help? What about getting people to picket the local mosque to try and persuade worshippers to contact the Pakastani government?
Examining my own conscience I really have to ask what am I doing to come to the aid of my Christian brothers and sister, like most Christians in the west the answer is not much. In my presbytery basement we have Brighton Voices in Exile, an advocacy group for asylum seekers but the truth is they are as much likely to help people exiled because of they are homosexual as much as because of their Christianity.
Suggestions please.
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10 comments:
I would never picket a house of worship. The Pakistani embassy might be worthy -- if you can trust them to not fire guns out their windows.
Try googling the British Pakistani Christian Association which has been agitating for the release of Asia Bibi and other persecuted Christians. It also arranges protest demonstrations in London.
Agree with germoftheocean, for Heaven's sake don't go picketing mosques unless you want to hand the BBC a story about innocent worshippers being harassed by Christian bigots.
The Pakistani embassy, on the other hand, richly deserves to be picketed. And our large Pakistani community, which maintains the closest of links with the mother country, could be invited to bring its not inconsiderable influence to bear.
There are Christian organisations which work hard to raise the profile of persecuted Christians:
Barnabas Fund www.barnabasfund.org/UK
or Open Doors www.opendoors.org
Yes: embassies and government departments are fair game for pickets and peaceful demonstrations: you can still be vociferous after all. But one should never take a stance outside someone else's place of worship. At least you do have the group meeting in your pres basement Father Ray... it's very much a good start.
Like you, I was extremely angered by the report of the 11 year old girl with Down Syndrome being treated in such a way.
Like you I have wondered why there has been a deathly silence about this case.
Yet do we in Britain and the West really have any right to lecture the people in Pakistan about this case ?
They would have the perfect response to any such protest. Unlike the West, Pakistan does not have a national policy of screening for people suffering from Down Syndrome or such other disabilities.
Consider the number of abortions which follow on the prenatal testing of pregnant women especially for Down Syndrome.
In Holland infants with Down Syndrome are routinely starved to death in Dutch hospitals—a practice affirmed by both that country's supreme court and its Council for Children's Protection.
See Tucker Carlson`s article in "Slate" entitled "Eugenics, American Style". The position in the UK is similar of not worse than that described in the USA.
See:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/02/rick_santorum_prenatal_testing_and_abortion_tucker_carlson_s_classic_essay_on_prenatal_testing_and_the_abortion_of_down_syndrome_babies_.html
It has been six years since the Bishops of E and W used The Day for Life to take about such screening. Perhaps they could be persuaded to take up the cudgels again.
Father you asked:
"Do we have a national office for the support of persecuted Christians at Eccleston Square? What exactly is the Catholic Church for all those Christians who are suffering especially under Islamic countries."
I would say that it doesn't fit in with the ecumenical agenda of Eccleston Square or indeed the post Vatican II church today. To protest at the maltreatment of Christians in Mohammedan lands would lead to breakdown in dialogue. And we can't possibly have that can we?
"Jaw, jaw is better than war, war." Dialogue is a good thing but it must have an effect and not be a dialogue with the deaf.
What alternative is there to dialogue?
I suggest that we contact all our Muslim friends and associates to let them know that this sort of thing makes Islam look silly. They might be the ones to write to the Pakistan High Commission (as a Commonwealth country it is not an embassy) at 34-36 Lowndes Square, London, SW1X 9JN.
Here are some Catholic and Orthodox organisations committed to helping Christians in need beyond the west:
Pontifical Mission, Catholic Near East Welfare Association, Catholic Relief Services, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, International Orthodox Christian Charities, and Aid to the Church in Need.
Sonia
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