Christians leave a church after Christmas prayers in Guwahati, India (AP)
What does "Merry Christmas" mean for those who live in countries where freedom of religion is the official stance but not a reality?
There are arguably more Christians in both China and India than in Canada. Yet with a combined population approaching 3 billion people Christians are a small minority in each of these countries. In China the estimates vary widely from 50 to 100 million because many congregations are not sanctioned by the government. In India there are roughly 30 million Christians, with some communities of faith that are ancient, some tracing their lineage to the evangelistic efforts of the disciple Thomas.
We've heard recently that the Chinese government has been harrassing Christian leaders and imprisoning some of them. In the days leading to Christmas there have been at least 60 reported incidents of harrassment of Christians by Hindu fundamentalists. These include intimidation of people entering churches for worship.The Roman Catholic bishops issued a statement saying"
These targeted incidents, especially against peaceful carol singers and congregations gathered in churches to pray, gravely undermine constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and the right to live and worship without fear,
I am very mindful of the freedom that we as Canadian Christians have to gather for worship and to practice our faith.Would we be willing to attend church if we felt concerned for our safety or that we would be shunned by neighbours for doing so? What if the police were our adversaries rather than there to protect us?
As our government looks for trade partners around the world because the United States has chosen to become our economic enemy there is a "let bye-gones be bye-gones" approach to relations with China and India. Aware of our freedoms and commitment to human rights we need to shine a light on abuses even when doing so is not convenient. It would be a worthwhile New Year's resolution to be aware, to pray, to act on behalf of all persecuted Christians.
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