19 March, 2024

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We Must Not Retaliate Against Those Perpetrate Violence Against Us – Christians

By Colombo Telegraph

“There are two alarming factors about the current situation. The first is that the violence seem to be organized and orchestrated by two organizations. Hence the violence has sustainability. Secondly and most alarmingly both the extremist violent organizations seemingly have patronage and support from authorities and hence the impunity with which they operate.” says National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka.

Issuing a statement NCEASL says; “These attacks have occurred with impunity. In most instances there have been no arrests and punitive action taken, though the attacks have occurred openly with eye witnesses, video and photographic evidence available. The law enforcement authorities have been generally passive onlookers in the outrageous assault on basic human rights and liberties, including religious freedom, economic and cultural rights of minority religious communities.”

We publish bellow the statement in full;

The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) is deeply concerned regarding the prevalence in Sri Lanka of an organized campaign of hatred against adherents of non‐majority faiths.

In recent months Muslims and Christians alike have faced numerous attacks and violence against their practice of worship. Additionally Muslim owned business establishments and Muslim women in their religious attire have faced attack and assault.

These attacks have occurred with impunity. In most instances there have been no arrests and punitive action taken, though the attacks have occurred openly with eye witnesses, video and photographic evidence available. The law enforcement authorities have been generally passive onlookers in the outrageous assault on basic human rights and liberties, including religious freedom, economic and cultural rights of minority religious communities.

On going social violence against ethnic and religious minorities is a phenomenon that Sri Lanka can ill afford, as it struggles to reconcile after close upon three decades of civil war. Internationally, Sri Lanka’s request for time and space to reconcile, subsequent to two resolutions at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), sound hollow and lack credibility in the face of ongoing intimidation and violence against ethnic and religious minorities.

There are two alarming factors about the current situation. The first is that the violence seem to be organized and orchestrated by two organizations. Hence the violence has sustainability. Secondly and most alarmingly both the extremist violent organizations seemingly have patronage and support from authorities and hence the impunity with which they operate.

The NCEASL in this period right after Easter Sunday reminds Christians that just as Jesus Christ before his accusers was silent like a lamb as He was led the cross, so we must not and will not retaliate against those that perpetrate violence against us, while we strive to enjoy our fundamental constitutional human rights.

However, the NCEASL calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to make clear its commitment to equity in the context of ourmulti‐ethnic andmulti‐religioussociety, desistfromactions, words and political signals that provide patronage to extremist organizations and to instruct its lawenforcement and security authoritiesto stop majoritarian vigilantism, enforce the law and ensure the peace.

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Latest comments

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    Like to know where is Cardinal Ranjith is he still in Vatican campaigning he should be in Sri Lanka.

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      Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith is still figuring out how to change his behaviour of sucking up to his earthly masters and making sure he does not fall fowl of Pope Francis who clearly shows that we should worship only one God! And that God is not on this earth!

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        K. R. I agree his masters include incumbent President of Sri Lanka. Some joker actually suggested in a magazine he had a chance to be the next Pope and some Sri Lankan Catholic’s bought into it.

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    He is probably trying to get the new Pope to give audience to The President and DR Mervyn de Silva.

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    The two replies are typical Sri Lankan. Koheda yanne malle pol :)

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      Chulantha Seems an expert on malle poll vanculer.Let me simplify Cardinal Ranjith head of the catholic’s is acting more like a politician than a religious leader and leaving other christian organization to take stand on matters.

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    Time has come for society to make a united stand against this type of ethno religous facism. Previously covert and now promoted openly by certain organisations claiming to have the full backing and patronage of the govt. We must uphold the basic freedom of citizens to practice any religon of their choice.

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    True, Jesus Christ said that we should turn the other side too if we are slapped on our face. That was during the good olden days. If terrorism has to be stopped through terrorism as it has happened everywhere in the world, we have to counter attack these Government goons who are paid by these criminal rulers. We have tolerated too much and it has gone beyond the red line. The minority communities including a majority of the majority community have taught these criminals TOLERANCE but now, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH as they will continue this until this dictator continues to be in power. We should realize that we are surrounded by India, Pakistan, Middle East, Maldives, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh etc. that are not Buddhist countries and these “TOADS IN A WELL” think that they are the KINGS. China, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Tibet and other Buddhist countries will not support stupidity and they will only sympathise with our country. There should be a limit to this stupidity and these BBS and all those spread religious hatred should be dealt very severely. BBS should be banned if there is real and pure Buddhism in Sri Lanka. This is exactly the LTTE also thought but our brave soldiers crushed it. Similarly all the dictators in the world were killed as dogs or they died as paupers. The day the volcano of the peace-loving Sri Lankans erupt is not very far if the present trend continues. Why can’t we live like Sri Lankans irrespective of our caste, creed, religion, political beliefs, colour, etc. etc.

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    Or, maybe Christians should retaliate according to the BIBLE.
    “This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire.” – God

    Deuteronomy 7:5

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    When those in a multi religious society practice their religions in the extreme and so in-your-face of others, such situations are bound to arise.

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    Christians should pray for those “Buddhists”who are religious fanatics as they are not aware of what they are doing.

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      PRAY FOR THESE SAFFRON ROBED THUGS. TO HELL WITH THEM

      LOOK AT THAT “GOLUBADUWATTE”. HE DOES NOT HAVE THE SERENE FACE OF A MONK, BUT HE LOOKS A MONSTER. THESE BBS BUGGERS ARE ALL UNDERWORLD GUYS AND ARMY DESERTERS.

      THEY ARE COMMITTING THESE VIOLENT ACTS WITH IMPUNITY BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE SUPPORT OR RATHER THE WHOLE THING IS ORCHESTRATED BY THE “GOATABAYAH”
      MAHINDA BETTER WATCH OUT. HE IS UNDER THREAT NOT FROM MUSLIMS,OR CHRISTIANS BUT HIS OWN BROTHER, WHO VIRTUALLY IS THE PRESIDENT.

      MUSLIMS ND CHRISTINS BELIEVE IN AN ALL POWERFUL GOD. HE WILL SUFFICE

      .

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    It seems National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka is very concerned about ‘two extremist violent organizations’. I have no doubt we the people have to listen to their complain on ‘religious freedom, economic and cultural rights of minority religious communities.’ However, since Evangelists talked about the need for Christians to follow example by Jesus Christ, it is only right we talk a bit of the past action of the followers of Jesus Christ throughout their history.

    The fourth US president and father of the Constitution, James Madison, was not a religious man in any conventional sense. P43 of The Madisons’ by Virginia Moore say as Madison says; “Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise.” Also he asked; “During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial, what have been its fruits? More or less in all places pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, superstition, bigotry and persecution in both.”

    What are these bigotry and the persecutions that President James Madison had been talking about? For a long time, historians and scholars wrote widely about the Christian persecutions and their bigotry. These are in fact nothing less than atrocities took place during the infamous battles called Crusades and Torture sentencing called inquisitions. Crusades and inquisitions were really toned down names for mass murder events. Apathy is; Christians had done all such gruelling acts in the name of Jesus Christ for the purpose of saving souls of the killed. In ‘Current Comments’, Arnold’s International Printing House (Pvt) Ltd. Colombo, 1965 Msgr. W. L. A. Don Peter rationalizes the Franciscan like Xavier and likeminded fanatics who were mad searching of souls to be saved that were going into hell or killing of Buddhists in order to send them to heaven through Christian God. He justified the fanatics’ ‘uncompromising’ behaviour in a unique way; he blame not the fanatics but their interpretation of the Bible. Catholic Church of cause had covered up all such murder verbosely as usual. Perhaps for that reason, The Catholic Encyclopedia describes The Crusades as expeditions undertaken to deliver the Holy Places from Moslem control. Just as you can make any sentence you like from the dictionary by choosing certain words, you can prove any point you want by juggling millions of concepts in the Bible. This is something that both Christians are adept at.

    Historian Raymond of Agiles who joined Godfrey of Bouillon, to save the holy land described the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099 in his own words as follows: “Some of our men cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one’s way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the temple of Solomon, a place where religious services were ordinarily chanted. What happened there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it suffice to say this much at least, that in the temple and portico of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.” Need we explore further about other crusades that Catholic encyclopaedia vividly justify. Suffix to say there were many worst crusades.

    For one thing, ever since this first crusade, Jews and Muslims had become the epitome of everything that Christians believed that they were not. No sooner, a Pope called for a crusade, Jews were attacked at home. Christians seemed psychologically not willing to accept the Jews roots of their religion.

    The question then is what was the legacy of the Crusades? In the book named ‘A History of the Christian Church’ By historian Williston Walker observes: “Viewed in the light of their original purpose, the Crusades were failures. They made no permanent conquests of the Holy Land. Neither retards the advance of Islam, only hastened the disintegration of Roman ‘Byzantine’ empire. They fostered a harsh intolerance between Muslims and Christians, where before there had been a measure of mutual respect.” If we think of the present day circumstances, no doubt anyone can understand the pragmatism of that statement.

    Now you have a good idea about Christian Crusades; let me tell you a little about Inquisitions. Oxford dictionary describes inquisition as ‘an act of detailed’, or ‘relentless questioning’. But, Catholic Encyclopaedia says; Inquisitions is a special ecclesiastical institution for combating or suppressing heresy. Regardless such metaphor, a Cambridge scholar Edward Burman in his book ‘The inquisition’ paints a terrifying but compelling picture of ‘Inquisition’. He said; “… this pope and his henchmen devised scheme is one of the most efficient systems of repression ever devised to torture the innocents till death.”

    Inquisition was first founded during what was known as the Albigensian heresies in 1232 with Christians killing Christians. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed because their Christianity did not agree with official dogma. At the Council of Lérida in 1237 inquisition was formally placed under the authority of the Dominicans and the Franciscans. Perhaps I must mention here that these are the priestly clique that later came to Sri Lanka with the Portuguese to pursue their deadly tactics. Not stopping at that, in 1252, Pope Innocent IV had decreed that all secular rulers must arrest and execute all non-Catholic Christians. It is estimated that at least ten million people could have been murdered throughout these Inquisitions. In 1908, the Inquisition came to be known simply as the “Holy Office.” Vatican had mastered the art of deceiving people since. And, Pope Paul VI reorganized Holy Office and renamed it as ‘Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith’ in 1965.

    Somehow, not in every case the victims were executed, some were sent to a lifetime imprisonment in dark cold dungeons. Those convicted to death by burning, in contrast, had to dress in a special heresy cloak, wearing a heresy hat which resemble a bishop’s mitre in shape. Often the victims’ tongues were cut off with red-hot pincers before they were tied to the stake, a measure both to prevent and to punish blasphemy of the Lord. The dress up and the torture was said to be to save the victims soul in other words to send it to heaven.

    As and when opportunities cropped up; Protestant rulers and Clergy too installed their own inquisitions. There were very many killings under Protestants heresies too. Among the most well known Protestant version of heresy in the sixteenth century was the killing of a Spanish physician named, Michael Servetus. When Servetus was running for his life from Catholic inquisition exterminators in Spain, the henchmen of famous Protestant “Reformer” John Calvin seized him in Switzerland. After the usual torture, John Calvin and his clique finally, burned Servetus to death at the stake in Geneva, Switzerland. Do you know even today, there are Calvin churches in Sri Lanka with that name? Is that Calvin church a part of this evangelical alliance?
    Leela

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    Forget even the recent past of Christianity about how they treated so-called pagens in every country of the world.

    It is Evangelists who have created lot of troubles in african countries and in Kenya, American Evangelists are making homosexuals just unwanted – animals on earth.

    American – muslims are only seen and they are not heard. Who is responsible for that. All by evangelists.

    What is the purpose of this converting every individual on earth to their faith. Is it for their love to human kind or they love the god. NO.

    It is all for the market share. Bigger the devotee (fan) base bigger the bank account.

    Right now, there is muslim versus all others cold war. Who is responsible for that ?

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    http://webspace.webring.com/people/bt/trinityf/scandal.html

    This is just a summary of how Evengelists are doing all over the world – all scandals. The lost the campaign against homosexuals in North America.

    But, they are very successful in Africa.

    That is how they love the human kind and they want peace in their way simply to gain the market share.

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    Google the words, Evengelists, NGOs and foreign funding. American and Norwegian evengelists as well as many other groups operate all over the world. What ever they do, their building schools, hospitals, or any other work is related to evengelist-christian faith spreading. They get the highest funding.

    All the different christian groups operate under this evangelist umbrella.

    I heard some where, even the Bodu Bala Sena is funded by Norwegian evangelists. It is well known that they fund Sikh and Muslim NGOs. But, the amount of funding they get is minimal in comparison to what Christian Evangelists are getting. It is all politics to save face of the funding organization.

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    “…. so we must not and will not retaliate against those that perpetrate violence against us, while we strive to enjoy our fundamental constitutional human rights” – to me, are very powerful
    words of a responsible religious grouping – asking their own government to enable the law to take effect. I know very little of this
    group except they probably are outside the mainstream of the larger Catholic and Protestant Churches. Their languages shames the fascistic elements that roam the streets lead by robed thugs totally unchecked by the law and order machinery – and with hatred in their eyes and violence in their thought. The world is watching Sri Lanka and how its government treats its own minorities.

    Senguttuvan

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    I do not fully agree with National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka’s statement on Not to retaliate against those who perpetrate violance against them.

    When you read the bible you will see that Jesus Christ voiced, blamed and criticised all those Pharisees, rulers, church heads and specially those who suppressed the poor, voiceless and weak people and minorities.

    This is the reason why Jesus Christ was murdered on the cross by those Pharisees, Church priests and Governors.

    He even said that those rich phariasees who were pretended to be good outside but were crooks inside while suppressing the poor while worshipping God openly, saying they are like white painted graves while the bodies rottening inside those graves.

    Whithout MLK standing upto the then white oppressors in USA, still the blacks and minorities in USA would have still been suppressed by the white racists.

    Therefore Christian Evangilists should fight against any suppressors of weak, poor and voiceless, democracy, freedom and fight for equal justice.

    There is no point preaching an unseeing God’s Kingdom without voicing for people’s rights who are living on this visible earth.

    IT’S TIME TO CHANDE THE ATTITUDE OF EVANGILICAL CHRISTIANS AND THE WHOLE CHRISTIAN CHURCHS AND START TO THINK TOWARDS BRINGING JUSTICE, PEACE AND FREEDOM TO OPPRESSED AND SUPPRESSED.

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