Persecution of the Century

SCRIPTURE:  A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Luke 10:30-32 ESV

QUOTE: “It depends on what kind of universe you think we live in. If you think this is just a material universe, and we’re just here to rip off as much money as we can for as long as we can, well you shouldn’t really be concerned. But if you believe we’re in a moral universe and there are moral consequences for immoral actions, and we are collaborating with a regime that’s on a par with the Nazi’s and we are profiting by that and making our lives more comfortable by profiting through that regime and ignoring the mass slaughter, the mass sadistic cruelty that’s been inflicted on millions of Chinese, we have no moral high ground when our children suffer the same fate.” – Trevor Loudon, author, filmmaker and public speaker. full documentary, Persecution of the Century

THOUGHT: No one will be more glad than I when this series finishes on Monday. It is so hard to face the news of our broken nation and world early each morning, then try to put my grief into words that will make sense to others, and fit it within the framework of our faith. There are actually many topics I have left untouched, but as I think through the issues, this one seems very critical, for the same reason Trevor Loudon gives in his quote (above): if we as a country do nothing about the human rights violations in China, indeed, if we profit from them, how can we expect better here? Yes, there are a few sanctions, and yes, there is talk of more, but where is the public outcry? I wonder as I ponder, are we just getting used to the dark?

It sickens me that Xi Jinping is held up as a hero and his governance as a model by the World Economic Forum. It sickens me that the U.S. Government (and other governments) know so much about what is happening there: the live organ harvesting, the forced re-education camps, the torture, the death, the deprivation and human suffering caused by the world’s most egregious lock downs, and yet our trade and reliance on their economy continues (Department of State Human Rights Data, 2022). I understand that the issues between nations are tricky and that the world is in precarious tension, but I also understand that right is still right and wrong is still wrong. If we as a country do not stand against such oppression by a government against their own citizens, who will? I continue to hear a chorus of voices saying that these United States are the world’s last hope for freedom.

The question is, will the church fight for what is right, or will we cross the road and look the other way?

PRAYER: Oh God, I boldly ask for the outpouring of your Spirit upon men and women promised in Acts 2:18 that men and women who belong to you may prophesy, truth-tell, reveal your word and words for us today. Amen.