Don’t take freedom for granted

Those in U.S. can worship without fear

At the little Presbyterian Church where I’ve been worshiping recently in Paragould we pray each Sunday for Christians in various parts of the world who are persecuted for their faith.

I’ve been reminded how, as a child, we prayed for Christians in the Soviet Union who were not allowed to express their faith in a country which denied the existence of God. This is still the case in some countries, such as in China, although I have visited Cuba and there is more freedom to worship in that communist nation than in decades past.

More recently Christians who are in danger because of their faith in Jesus Christ are so because the government of the nation in which they live has aligned itself with a religion to the extent that believing anything other than the prescribed religion is not allowed.

This morning I contacted a good friend and colleague who pastors a church in Pakistan to check on him, his family and his congregation. It’s pretty bad. Property owned by Christians is being burned and even hospitals and schools established by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and other Christian denominations are in danger of being destroyed. Pakistan is a Muslim country. Christians in India are also in danger and India is primarily a Hindu country.

I have deplored the way that people in our country have reacted against Muslims in particular, following actions by Muslim extremists. When our nation was being settled there were peoples who escaped persecution for their beliefs by coming here.

I believe that our nation is a place where one can, and should, be able to worship — or choose not to worship — without fear of loss of property, loss of life, loss of freedom, or loss of dignity, so long as one’s worship does not infringe on others’ beliefs or freedoms.

When I listened to my Pakistani friend this morning I certainly couldn’t judge his feelings toward the Muslims in his country. I don’t live in a situation in which my family is in danger because of what we believe and I don’t know how I could keep an open mind toward those who wish us harm.

What I find myself doing is three things.

One, I give thanks to God that I live in a nation in which freedom of religious beliefs is protected, and to that extent I do not want people of the “majority religion” — which in the case of the United States is Christianity — to in any way persecute people of other faiths.

Two, I wish that people who claim to be Christian in our country would value our ability to worship Jesus Christ the way that our brothers and sisters in Christ in other countries pray that they could.

Three, I pray for Christians around the world who struggle to stand steadfast in their faith that God will continue to sustain them and keep them safe.