As Patrix mentioned, I was one of the organizers of Brazos Valley Worldfest. One of the displays at the fest was of Bryan House of Prayer. Their theme was ‘the various faces of Christianity world over’.
They displayed a world map which marked all the countries which were ‘hostile’ to Christianity. The interesting thing about the maps was the color coding they used. All the countries which do not recognize Christianity as a religion were color mellow yellow. These were countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, countries in Africa etc. But countries like India and Turkey, which upload the freedom of religion were marked bright blood red as ‘hostile’ regions!
It was a clever game they were playing. It is obvious that there is little you can do to promote Christianity in countries whose political atmosphere restricts them, hence a mellow yellow. However in secular countries like India and Turkey, you have the right to practice and preach Christianity. and of course, there will always be fundamentalist elements in the society who indulge in violence against religions they do not approve personally (e.g., Graham Stains murder in Orissa, India). In such secular countries, you have been sanctioned the right to convert as many as you can to your religion. So, Bryan House of Prayer decided bring people’s attention to such countries with the bright red.
Come to think of it, I dont think there is any religion in India whose fundamentalists will claim that India is a safe house for them. The Hindus cry foul over the political parties appeasing the Muslims, Muslims cite Babri Masjid, Christians cite Graham Stains, and so on. However, we have so many Christian missionaries, churches, schools, convents etc. in India, all of which are working without any persecution. In fact a lot of Hindu parents send their kids to Christian schools!
Coming back, the lady at the Bryan House of Prayer booth goes on to say “Did you know over 300,000 Christians are killed every year for their beliefs? In the US today, they merely mock us, but soon they will come for us. They will persecute us for our beliefs.”
What’s with this maniacal desperation to be persecuted for being a Christian?!? I thought Christianity was a religion of peace, not masochism!!
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I somehow missed seeing that booth. Not that I mind it. But you are right, these fundamentalist Christians live in a constant state of paranoia…almost like it is the age of the Crusades. But I think, maintaining this state of fear helps them to collect money for their proselytizing efforts abroad.
The thing is.. It isn’t so much masochism.. rather, the virtue of martyrdom is so deeply ingrained in the christian identity (Jesus dying on the cross for the salvation of people etc. etc. being the origin of that). How we would rather die for our faith than renounce it being a message that is reaffirmed every third sunday.
I find these things very redundant and can acknowledge that these are probably the a factor of being a religion that was born in a time when there was much disparity, injustice in society, in a place where the living was hard and oppressive (ruled by the romans etc. )
If you look at it academically, it makes sense that newer religions liked christianity and islam had to be more exclusive and rigid to survive and push their way up into the mainstream. (Which it took christianity a couple of centuries to do) because if you are proposing an alternate to a well-established way of life, challenging the existent scheme of things, it seems understandable that it had to be touted as a ‘i’d rather die than give this up’ kind of thing for the common man to buy into it.
That however is no longer relevant.. Still, people can’t seem to let it go because their faith seems tied in with every little detail. Especially all the newer sects. They take each little thing as ‘gospel’… and interpret it literally ,refusing to think about whether it even means anything anymore. A religion (in my opinion) that is old enough doesn’t need fresh touting…it needs fresh interpretation. So, while it isn’t masochistic, it’s quite ridiculous. As a christian myself , I distance myself from this.