We have ennobled martyrdom. We talk about how “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.”
It is true that a certain rate of persecution can refine the church. It makes people count the cost before they pick up their cross. It can give fire to a church which increases its growth.
But there is a certain rate of persecution where the growth of the church is retarded and the church can even be wiped out.
We need to constantly and vigilantly stand up on behalf of the persecuted church.
Should we do any less than the United Nations, for example?
(Note that Article 10 of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam is not quite the same.)
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I just recently wrote about this myself. I’m also lobbying against the UN Declaration – it really helps “justify” laws that persecute based on perceived insults to another religion. Hmm, let’s criminalize perceived insults but do nothing about actual murder? I don’t think so.