You are loved... Bonner Blog #6… The Week of July 23

Religious Persecution. Ok there are a couple of things you reallyneed to understand about India before I continue. 1) Religion, culture, tradition, politics and family are all interdependent and blurred into one solid mass of India culture. There is no separation. Hinduism and rural witch craft are very prominent and work simultaneously with the social caste system- they cannot exist alone. 2) Inequality and persecution are normal and expected.

                Caste discrimination is a big problem in the area we served in. To grossly summarize the idea of caste (as we witnessed it in the villages we were in): one’s past life and actions determine your quality of life and amount of respect owed by others. To be born a Brahman means you are simply higher than others. In India, Christians are put into the lowest caste system and are persecuted. Almost every single one of the 40 pastors we served have been physically beaten for sharing their faith or simply for converting to Christianity. The wife of one of these men was running from her Brahman family who had sent an assassin to murder her because they were so ashamed of her conversion. This is 100% real. This is not to say that it is only Christians who are being persecuted or only Hindus that persecute others, that would be a horrible over generalization. But it is to say that we witnessed firsthand some of the persecution and heard many stories from reliable sources that announce the real danger of religious persecution.  The threat is so great that we are not allowed to disclose any of the names of the Christians we worked with because their lives could be in great danger.

                This persecution is not only on a social level, but on a national level. Christians are not given any government aid or scholarships. Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam are all welcomed because they have a strong history in the nation.

Discrimination is very obvious and determines the way people interact on a daily basis. We went to a couple higher caste villages and at one many people would not listen to us because we were telling their lower caste neighbors that they were just as precious and significant as those from higher castes. We showed love to all people regardless of their caste and this was not appreciated by some in the Brahman villages. However, everyone was still extremely kind and we were not in any danger. They just refused our aid because we were showing Christ’s love to those they believed unworthy. I believe that Jesus is the Comforter of the fatherless and the Defender of the oppressed. His love is unconditional and all deserve equality, opportunity and a life full of love. This idea is very unwelcomed and it was so wonderful getting to love people who have been oppressed their whole lives because of the caste they were born into.