Its time we all fought back

Where does Jesus support this? Does he say go out and slaughter your enemies? Declare war and smite them down? No, he says love your enemies. Pray for those that persecute you. Those who live by the sword (or gun) shall die by it. Paul says in Romans 12, bless those that curse you. Do not pay back evil for evil. Do not take revenge; do not avenge yourselves, for vengeance is God's job.

I know the feeling and that it's difficult to watch the evil being done by those in the Middle East. But it is God's job to take vengeance on them, not ours. Electing a President who will get more Americans killed and cause another costly war is not the answer.

Timidity, vanity, indifference, or any other thing masquerading as some holy pacifism is a very irritating thing to see, and unfortunately it has become the most popular profession in Christianity today.

The only time in Christian history where there was any real, actual pacifism was during the Early Ages. And this was largely because most Christians were poor, and towered over by a giant in which incorporated their religion with government. So if you were even suspected of being a Christian, you were treated as treasonous.
You simply just weren't standing up against that unless you were packing an army.In fact, the only thing that could take out Rome was Rome

But now, it's more times then not just a front to hide one's desires to simply live on without an obligation to do anything. It may seem a harsh to say, but it's also the truth and has already caused very big problems for the status of Christianity altogether.

Marius27 wrote above:
Where does Jesus support this? Does he say go out and slaughter your enemies? Declare war and smite them down? No, he says love your enemies.

Answer:
When you are speaking of handling lawlessness on a national level the Lord does indicate that government holds the keys to punishment and that it is ordained by God.

Romans 13: 1-5:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

JacquelineDeane said:

Ok, so all I am reading is that Christians are being persecuted. But I hear nothing of what we are GOING TO DO about it. I mean, beyond just praying for victims.
. I believe that Christians, if we are to be persecuted, one day might strike the enemy back by force. That just might be what it will take to stop them. If we do nothing about them, they will just keep striking at us because we are allowing them to and because they never learned the lesson that it is wrong to hurt the innocent.

As long as we allow them to take advantage of us they will because they are just disgusting people like that. But if we put our foot down and tell them no, then the bully just might pause.

They must be punished for their crimes. They must be brought before a fair trial. It is time that justice was served.

It's time we all stood up for Christianity and fight back against our persecutors. First we have to get Obama out of office because he lives like the world (rumors say he is a Muslim and not a Christian at all, which figures) and he turns a deaf ear to all of this, so he won't bring our persecutors to justice for hurting us.

We need a Republican President in the White House who will actually DO something about the terrorist threat and will fight back against them and stop letting them run amok all over the middle east! I am sick and tired of radical Islamic terrorists (I will call it what it is because I hate political correctness) in the middle east beheading Christians simply because we are a different religion than they are!

Sorry if I sound harsh, I am just angry....and passionate about my cause.

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How much good did the last Republican president do for the persecuted believers? The only ways I know how to "fight back" for, say, people being persecuted in Islamic countries is through signing petitions and donating to organizations that are helping such people. And never underestimate the power of prayer!

Non native Christians are active in both the South Sudan and Kurdistan. Working actively against Islamic aggression, it's not cheap however and is generally funded on the back of another project. Most of the men are ex military, though there are a few now and then who just want justice or are "meat eaters".

The logistics are immense, 30 men, personal gear, light armored vehicles if needed. Then you come to the real hurdles, equipment that's not legal by certain standards and needs to be brought in through back channels. If Mordor on the Potomac would allow transportation of personal weapons into hot zones it would be easier and cheaper.

Then you run into governments who might or might not be friendly to your cause. Generally the Kurds love anyone who will show up and put the hurting on Aloha Snackbar. The Christians in the region will take you in, and be great full for all the training and help you can give them. But that's the only portion of Iraq you can come through to get to the fight.

Turkey is a no go, they despise the Kurds and are becoming more radical by the day. Syria is becoming a possibility if you know a few Russians who have some power. And the Assad regime will welcome anyone who's there to kill his enemy's.

It's a mess, made a thousand times worse by an ineffectual White House that shows signs of Islamic infiltration. In the last Iraq war private contractors were common, the military worked with them because you can get away with things they can't. Now if Mullah Obama catches wind that some Christians dare step out of line he will try to shut you down.

At this point working with the Russians is far easier, they dislike the hadji's as much as most of the contractors do and so getting things done is not a big deal. This is also why when in country most contractors use Russian equipment now, it's easy to get, cheap and durable. Accept for real sniper rifles...the SVD is a fine fine DMR (designated marksman rifle) good to about 800 to 1000 yards but the best, most accurate sniper rifles need to be imported and that's not easy.

So yes it's happening, I'm incredibly saddened by the lack of reaction by some Christians to the situation. Then again some people don't even take their own safety seriously, it's all a joke to them. They have never seen a field full of dead bodies, there because they couldn't defend themselves.

Any student of history would tell you that it could happen anywhere, that empires rise and fall and groups are always chosen as scape goats for the troubles. And there will be people here on this board, people you know, people at your church who will laugh and tell you everything is ok, just do as your told...right up until they are standing in front of a shallow grave.

It's time we all stood up for Christianity and fight back against our persecutors. First we have to get Obama out of office because he lives like the world (rumors say he is a Muslim and not a Christian at all, which figures) and he turns a deaf ear to all of this, so he won't bring our persecutors to justice for hurting us.

We need a Republican President in the White House who will actually DO something about the terrorist threat and will fight back against them and stop letting them run amok all over the middle east! I am sick and tired of radical Islamic terrorists (I will call it what it is because I hate political correctness) in the middle east beheading Christians simply because we are a different religion than they are!

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Do you serve the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of man? Jesus is very clear in stating His kingdom is not of this world.

What you say is true Jaqueline. Revenge and punishment will take place but after the trial of judgment day, by God though, not us and they will learn their lesson and remember it for a long long time... And this day will strike them in surprise. When you say those working against God's Kingdom are disgusting people, how do you think God sees all sinners (including ourselves of course)?

Remember they are ignorant fools who walk to their doom and without knowing it probably. We are actually called to bear compassion on them. Although, we do are different than them but only because we have received the grace of God and that's what makes us special and we are called to share this grace with everyone through the Good News of Jesus. Indeed, from what I understand, the way we are to "fight back" against the worldly persecutors is by being a witness of Jesus to them, with love, hoping they will join us in the coming Kingdom we hope in.

I admit this may be a bit of a simplistic and general answer and I am not personally persecuted nor a witness of it so I don't talk from experience but I think the idea is correct.

*subscribing*

JacquelineDeane said:

Ok, so all I am reading is that Christians are being persecuted. But I hear nothing of what we are GOING TO DO about it. I mean, beyond just praying for victims.

I believe that Christians, if we are to be persecuted, one day might strike the enemy back by force. That just might be what it will take to stop them. If we do nothing about them, they will just keep striking at us because we are allowing them to and because they never learned the lesson that it is wrong to hurt the innocent.

As long as we allow them to take advantage of us they will because they are just disgusting people like that. But if we put our foot down and tell them no, then the bully just might pause.

They must be punished for their crimes. They must be brought before a fair trial. It is time that justice was served.

It's time we all stood up for Christianity and fight back against our persecutors. First we have to get Obama out of office because he lives like the world (rumors say he is a Muslim and not a Christian at all, which figures) and he turns a deaf ear to all of this, so he won't bring our persecutors to justice for hurting us.

We need a Republican President in the White House who will actually DO something about the terrorist threat and will fight back against them and stop letting them run amok all over the middle east! I am sick and tired of radical Islamic terrorists (I will call it what it is because I hate political correctness) in the middle east beheading Christians simply because we are a different religion than they are!

Sorry if I sound harsh, I am just angry....and passionate about my cause.

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You are in the camp of most Americans, but the chances of us electing that president in the face of all the money that the Democrats have, their supporters who control almost all the news services, and the do-nothing establishment Republicans who are simply terrified that Democrats will say something unkind about them does not offer a lot of hope. And when the Administration gets a few million more illegals to vote in the next election, it will be worse. Whatever you do, don't be suckered into supporting one of the establishment types running in the Republican primaries because that will be a wasted vote.

throughfireytrial said:

Where does Jesus support this? he says love your enemies.

Answer:
ordained by God.

Romans 13: 1-5:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

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Printed on Newspaper in Guy Fawkes Day 2011 (NZ town of govfaux terror raids).
How To Avoid Persecution.
1) Give good glory to Jesus
2) Forgive Any
3) Focus on happy truth
4) Don't Complain
5) Avoid Acting seditiously
www.unhcr.org

I'd love to extrapolate: don't give bad glory, any is scriptural 3rd is thankfulness 4 is anti-snake 5 is same as laws/prosecution