Remember the cold I suffered
last week? Well, it ain’t over yet. It still has me down and out, something
that has hardly ever happened to me. I get one about once a year; it comes and
goes quickly and I’m my old self again. Not this time. But I don’t want you to
think I’m slacking off. So, another postponement of the third prostitution post
and, instead, an easy one that will not take a lot of stamina on my part.
I utilize two prepared
documents laying on my desk and I will use some of each. They both report on
various situations of persecution. When we think of persecution, we often think
of Muslim persecution of Christians and others. Well, that will be one side
today. The other side, however, may well surprise you…but let me keep you in
suspense for a few more moments. Just
remember Shakespeare’s adage above.
Persecution may come in very different forms and from very different
quarters, but it’s still persecution. So, though today’s info will not take
much stamina from my reduced stock, it does weigh heavily in me and carrying
such burdens takes another form of stamina.
First, a few items of
Christians under Muslim persecution—a few from what could take up innumerable
tomes, believe me. These are reported by
BarnabasAid, a UK ministry to persecuted Christians all over the world.
Aasia Bibi languishes on
death row in Pakistan for years on basis of totally false accusations of
blasphemy, a tool used frequently by Pakistani Muslims to take revenge for
personal reasons. Check out her name on
the Internet! In that same country, “Christian
girls and women are kidnapped by Muslim men, raped, forcibly converted to Islam
and forcibly married to Muslims. Of course that happens in many Muslim
countries. Another Pakistani situation is that of bonded Christian laborers in
brick kilns. They cannot escape the grueling work for substandard pay. Their cruel
bosses trick and exploit them, keeping them in permanent debt. Some Christian
children are even held as slaves.
21 brave Christian migrant
workers in Libya refused to deny Christ. They will killed by ISIS militants. If
I were more computer savvy, I would reproduce a picture of all of them on their
knees in orange outfits with masked militants standing behind them, poised to
kill them momentarily.
Ugandan pastor, Umar
Mulinde, is a convert from Islam. Muslims three acid in his face. He was
terribly burned and lost one eye, but he continues to evangelize and preach boldly.
Nissar Hussain and his wife,
from Bradford in the UK, are condemned as apostates. They and their children
are persecuted for following Christ. Their home was burned to the ground. Their
car was attacked. Nissar was beaten up and hospitalized. Falsely accused to the
police, he was detained in a cell for many hours. The same thing happened to
his wife. Rejected by church, law enforcement, and society, they continue to
follow Christ. They can no longer live in Bradford. Yes, in the UK—and this is
by no means the only incident in that country.
And now a totally different
scene that at first sight you might not dub “persecution,” but remember that
adage…. This time the persecutor is no one less than the US government, and not
about religion this time, but about science they don’t like. The following is a
long quote:
| Picture
being an an award-winning scientist -- you've just published your latest
findings. And then your government tries to stop you speaking about your
research. And when you
refuse, you're suspended -- then fired. That's
exactly what happened to Jonathan after he discovered a link between bee die-offs
and bee-killing pesticides. Now he’s attempting to continue his research in the private sector, and the USDA is STILL harassing him by blacklisting him from USDA-funded research grants and pressuring other scientists to not collaborate with him. It’s time for the USDA to end their attacks on scientific freedom. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is notoriously friendly with giant corporate agribusinesses, and lobbyists for big pesticide companies like Monsanto and Bayer don’t want government researchers looking into the impact of bee-killing pesticides. But rarely have we seen such a blatant and ongoing assault on scientific freedom, even at the USDA. SumOfUs members have donated tens of thousands of dollars to help our friends at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) defend Dr. Lundgren. With our help, Dr. Lundgren has fought back by filing a whistleblower complaint, a scientific integrity complaint, and a federal lawsuit. Dr. Lundgren’s case has gotten enormous press coverage, and he was personally honored with the Joe A. Calloway Award for Civic Courage—a prestigious award for public-interest activism. But the USDA continues to harass Dr. Lundgren, and as long as that continues, it’s sending a chilling effect to researchers everywhere. That’s why we must continue to fight for his right to conduct research freely, without lobbyist interference or government censorship. A rose by any other name…. |
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