Saturday Song: Gary Wright, "Stand for Our Rights"

It seems like every ethnic, racial, and political group wants their rights these days. In fact, I've noticed that these folks are keen on rights but never on their societal responsibilities.

A keyboard player named Gary Wright released a song on this subject in 1971. Check it out here:

Should we Christians claim our rights when we're wronged? We are fortunate to have the rule of law in many of the world's countries. This means that everybody is treated equally. It may not be perfectly practiced but we do have rights as citizens.

It's the rights of a citizen which the Apostle Paul claimed several times in his lifetime. One incident of this  happened when he was unjustly flogged and imprisoned. Acts 16:35-37 (BBE) tells us, "But when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, 'Let these men go.' And the keeper said to Paul, 'The authorities have given orders to let you go: come out now, and go in peace.' But Paul said to them, 'They have given us who are Romans a public whipping without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out.'"

Paul was also put on trial for preaching Christ. The Pharisees who hounded him every step of the way brought their charges before Governor Festus but the facts didn't support their claims.

In Acts 25:8 (BBE), we read of how Paul claimed his right of trial as a Roman. "Then Paul, in his answer to them, said, 'I have done no wrong against the law of the Jews, or against the Temple, or against Caesar.' But Festus, desiring to get the approval of the Jews, said to Paul, 'Will you go up to Jerusalem, and be judged before me there in connection with these things?' And Paul said, 'I am before the seat of Caesar's authority where it is right for me to be judged: I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you are well able to see.'"

Though we are to obey the God-ordained powers, there are times when we must disobey. Peter and John were imprisoned by the Pharisees for preaching Christ, But Acts 4:19 and 20 (BBE) gives us their answer to this dilemma. "But Peter and John in answer said to them, 'It is for you to say if it is right in the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God: For it is not possible for us to keep from saying what we have seen and have knowledge of.'"

While we still have the right to appeal a wrong decision by the courts, we should do so. A time might come when we'll lose that right.

On Monday, providing Christ doesn't return first, I'll post about this virus and if it's God's judgement on America.

TRUTH HURTS THE GUILTY

I've heard of a saying that if you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one who yelps is the one who it hit. This is true of people. Stating truth hurts the ones guilty of misdeeds, as I found out last month.

The Hindu newspaper featured an article about America's bad report card regarding India's human rights abuses. The comments after the article published on the web site spoke mainly to the issue of Americans butting into the internal affairs of India.

I wrote that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should deal justly with the Hindu fundamentalists who were bullying Christians and other minority faiths. Then the fecal matter hit the fan.

One correspondent accused me of not knowing or understanding what's happening in India. Thanks to Google Alerts, I receive many reports of Indian Christians being persecuted, even from The Hindu and The Times of India. Those are hardly Christian papers.

Another writer accused western Christians of paying Hindus and people of other faiths to convert, thus bribing them to become followers of Christ. This is manifestly untrue. Missionaries give humanitarian aid to anybody, regardless of their response to the gospel. Furthermore, real Christians DON'T bribe people to believe. Repentance and acceptance of Christ as Lord is the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore anybody who can be bribed to become a Christian isn't really converted.

One reply concerned the "illegal" changing of India's religious make-up, endangering Hindu Culture. Oh yeah? Less than two percent of Indians are Christians, in spite of all the churches seemingly being built. And maybe Hindu culture needs to be changed. Doing works to improve one's chances for a better reincarnation is basically a selfish act. Doing good works because of the compulsion of the Holy Spirit is selfless and comes from a Christians love of Christ, not to rack up holiness points.

While I can understand the anger of Hindu fundamentalists for being called out regarding the persecution of Christians and other minority faiths , it still doesn't justify the majority taking vigilante justice against perceived wrongs done to their culture. I'm sure that if the same things happening in India to Christians were happening to Hindus in America, those nationalists would be justly angry at vigilantes. Of course that doesn't happen here in the west en mass as it does in India.

Injustice is injustice, no matter who does it to whom. The rule of law should protect everybody equally, not turn a blind eye to injustice committed by radicals. If people would agree to disagree agreeably, this world would be a much better place in which to live.