Gabe Nelesen
Mrs. Roskamp
LA, 8A
9 March, 2017
Do you know what is going on in this world? Do you know how Christians are being persecuted? This world is full of Christians. 2.2 billion Christians according to google. Of that amount of Christians, 2,864 are being persecuted. Christians have been persecuted in the past and still are being persecuted in countries today such as, Afghanistan, however there are things we can do to help these Christians.
In the early church there was tons of persecution directed towards Christians. Most of the Christians in countries ruled by Rome were persecuted major. No one knows how many Christians in total have been persecuted but it is a ton. The ways in which they were persecuted was terrible. Many Christians were beaten, killed and burned alive. It is all because of some of the emperors in the old days. There were a handful of emperors who went out of their way and persecuted Christians. Nero, was one of the worst emperors to Christians, Horrible things happened when he came to power. He blamed Christians for a fire that he started and killed Christians. He burned them at the stake and lit them up as torches for parties. He tied them to stakes and drove chariots over them. He did all of this and came to power only when he was 16 years old. Most of the emperors did this because they wanted to be worshipped not other gods/ God. Also they used Christians as a place to put anything that happens to them. If one of the emperors were to do something wrong, they could just throw the blame on Christians, like what happened with Nero and the fire. Jealousy plays a huge part in Christians persecution for one the emperors and also other religions. Religious leaders of other religion may see Christians as a threat to their own religion. Other then Nero there were at least nine other emperors who persecuted Christians.
In Afghanistan there is tons of Christian persecution. Most of the time when we think of Persecution we think of the old Bible times when the emperors would persecute them but In my research I uncovered many stories of people have been targeted and killed or kidnapped or had other horrible things happen to them, all of this happening within the past couple of years if not past couple of months. In certain parts of Afghanistan there are different rules. Some places it is illegal to be anything other than Muslim. In places where you can express your faith freely it is still not smart. Government officials, friends or even family could mistreat Christians. To have a Christian in the family in Afghanistan is a shame. Sometimes people whose faith has been discovered get beaten and banished from their own homes. Many people in Afghanistan do not accept that there are people who worship any other gods or God. These kinds of people take it into their own hands to murder or beat Christians. It is also hard if you are a well known Christian because you still need to survive. Getting a job would be a lot harder and also getting help can be a lot harder. In some stories I read, whole families are destroyed because of persecution. Groups also work together to take out Christians like the Taliban or Isis. Like this story about a taliban attack, while three out of the four members of a family were at their house a group of Taliban attacked and killed three of the family.The attack lasted over four hours. The father, son and daughter were all killed. The daughter was only 15 years old.The son was only 17 years old. Three taliban, a suicide bomber and two people with guns were the attackers. After the three family members were dead they took other Afghan hostages.
Today there is a ton of help towards Christian persecution. Many websites online, help educate others and use donations to help. Open doors is a nonprofit group that works to help out Christians who are being persecuted in different countries. Also there is a website called voice of the martyrs. It is sort of the same as open doors, just trying to get the word out and help and receive donations to help.
Christians have been persecuted in the past and still are being persecuted in countries today such as, Afghanistan, however there are things we can do to help these Christians. I have been praying and giving my time to educate people about the persecution in this world.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/world/asia/afghanistan-a-christian-convert-on-the-run.html?_r=0
https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/afghanistan/
http://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/afghanistan_140725.php
http://www.persecution.org/category/countries/asia/afghanistan/
http://www.religionfacts.com/persecution-early-church