Tea at Trianon: Sufferings of Christians in Nigeria

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Sufferings of Christians in Nigeria

From Zenit:

As I have said often, persecution is in the DNA of Christianity and we do not have to look any further than the cross of Jesus. We are not of this world. I do not mean that we should go around with hands folded and waiting for pain to be inflicted on us. Persecution is not only physical and in our society— where my Diocese is for example, in northern Nigeria—Christians are persecuted by being denied positions, appointments and promotions in the civil service in the predominantly Muslim areas.

However, the problem is not the persecution but how we bear it that matters. Again, Jesus has left us a legacy and the teachings He left behind are humanly unattainable. For example, when you are slapped on one cheek, turn the other (Lk. 6:29), or the idea that to be poor in spirit and to be persecuted are all signs of being blessed (Lk. 5), all these are humanly unattainable. We must continue to turn the world upside down with our teaching (Acts 7:16), because that is the only way to create a new society in the image and likeness of the Gospel. We do not seek for consolation because Jesus is the eternal consolation. (Read more.)

From The Geller Report:

A video has surfaced showing the heartbreaking moment a pastor cried bitterly while calling for help in against the jihad in Nigeria. The cleric was overwhelmed with emotions as he explained his situation and that of his people. The video was shared online by a former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode. In the video, an elderly clergyman wept as he called on America, the international community, pastors, lawmakers and others to come to their aid as villages in the Plateau state are still facing serious attacks. Eight persons, including a pastor, his wife and three children, were killed and 95 houses burnt after jihadis attacked eight villages in the Plateau state. Crickets chirping in newsrooms across the world. (Read more.)