Christians in the Betsiboka region of Madagascar are currently being persecuted for their beliefs. Following the example of Queen Ranavalona, extremists have been carrying out the persecution of Christians, including women and children. A local civil rights organization has reported that hundreds of Christians are being attacked, displaced from their homes and driven out of towns. There is a fear that this persecution will spread to the neighboring regions and even more Christians will be threatened or displaced from their homes. Please pray for the Christians in Madagascar, that there will be a peaceful resolution to their current struggles. Also, please post this as your status to spread the word so others can begin praying as well.
Does that seem similar to any Facebook status updates that you’ve ever seen? Is it similar to any email forwards you’ve ever received? It’s a lot like some of the status updates I’ve seen and email forwards I’ve received. It’s also a complete fabrication. I made the whole thing up.
The country of Madagascar exists and there really is a region named Betsiboka. The only problem is Christians aren’t experiencing any persecution in that region or any other. Over 150 years ago the then queen, Ranavalona, persecuted Christians to halt European influence, but now the population is almost 50% Christian.
Christians seem very eager to spread stories about Christian persecution, governments impeding upon Christian rights or the media going out of their way to censor Christianity. While I know it happens in our own country and places around the world, we’re not helping those who are actually being persecuted by publicizing those who aren’t. When we spend so much time focusing on false stories about persecution, it feels a little disingenuous when we attempt to care about real stories of persecution.
Right now it seems that we as Christians respond in the same way to real and fake stories of persecution and censorship. If we get an email about the real persecution of Christians in India, we forward it to everybody we know. If we get an email about the fake persecution of Christians in India, we forward it to everybody we know. If our response is the same, then our level of concern for real stories and fake stories is the same.
I want to care more about real persecution than I do fake persecution.
I want to care more about real limitation of Christian rights than I do fake limitation of Christian rights.
I want to care more about real censorship of Christianity than I do fake censorship of Christianity.
In order to care more about the real problems than the fake problems, we need to know what is real and what is fake. We can’t respond in the same way because the struggles that our Christian brothers and sisters face are too important. If there is a real escalation in the persecution of Christians in India, then we need to do anything we can to help. But I don’t want to waste my time by responding to the persecution of Christians in Betsiboka. And I definitely don’t want to diminish the real struggles of Christians around the world, by responding to the fake struggles in the same manner.
So next time you see a status update or an email asking you to pray for such and such and spread the word, do a little quick research and see if there’s even anything to pray for. A quick Google search or little time at Snopes.com, will offer you some clarity and let you know if you should start praying or hit the delete key.
When you do hear about real struggles of Christians, how do you respond?
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