Thankful to God & government for freedom of worship; Mosul's Christians face terrible persecution

Last updated on July 20th 2014

Here are two very distressing articles, Christians flee from Islamic State threats, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/christians-flee-islamic-state-death-threats-2014719848721494.html and
ISIS Forces Last Iraqi Christians to Flee Mosul, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/world/middleeast/isis-forces-last-iraqi-christians-to-flee-mosul.html

Ravi: 1,700 years! Forms of Christianity that are probably much closer to the preaching and practice of Jesus Christ than the mix of secular power and spirituality/religion that the Roman church became after Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman empire (in 380 AD), are being swept away in lands not very far from the land where Jesus Christ performed his miracles and preached his mission! What a tragedy!

That in today's early 21st century there are religious groups, who at the point of the gun, threaten people of another religion who have been practicing their religion in that city for 17 centuries, to convert, or pay tax/leave, depresses me terribly.

I salute these persecuted Christians for sticking to their faith & religion even if it meant leaving their possessions and their homes to become refugees in other villages. I pray to Almighty God to take care of these persecuted Christians.

One of the side effects of reading up on such distressing happenings in the world is that I become very thankful to Almighty God for the great gifts that have been bestowed on me. I was born in a fairly devout South Indian Hindu Brahmin family, became agnostic as a young adult, turned to the faith of my forefathers and found succour in it after I was brought to my knees by a life-crisis, and then got swept away by Sri Sathya Sai Baba, his teachings, his miracles and his movement. [Since the mid-90s Sathya Sai Baba has been and continues to be my revered and beloved Guru and my Ishta Devata (favourite God). Even though his physical form is not present now (passed away in April 2011) I continue to feel his presence now through his teachings and discourses as well as my individual and public/collective memories of him, a lot of which is easily available in print, audio, video and digital forms].

I have been to Hindu temples, Christian churches, Muslim mosques, Buddhist temples, Jain temples ... in India as well as in the USA (mostly Christian churches), Western Europe (mostly Christian churches) and South Korea (Buddhist temples). Never ever have I had any direct restriction placed on my freedom to follow/practise any religious faith or to be an agnostic.

Today I live in a town (Puttaparthi, India) where most of its residents and many of its visitors worship Sri Sathya Sai Baba as an Avatar and a God (somebody to whom one prays for spiritual/material needs/wishes). While some Indians will not approve of our worship nobody stops us. In fact, while I was in the Maharashtra Sathya Sai organization, I do not recall any incident where we were stopped from doing our worship.

I thank Almighty God and governments of various countries over the world that protect this vital freedom of worship (which includes freedom not to worship), for this great freedom gift they have bestowed on their people.