Posted on 10/24/2011 8:18:32 PM PDT by marshmallow
A group of Armenians, raised as Sunni Muslims, were baptized on Sunday, as Armenian Orthodox Christians in the Church of S. Giragos (Surp Giragos), in the South-Eastern province of Dyarbakir. The church was reopened on 22 October after two years of restoration work. The group that was baptized were of Armenian origin, and their ancestors had been converted after the Genocide of 1915.
Among them is Gaffur Türkay, who contributed to the restoration of the church. Türkay was very excited, as reported in a local newspaper. "It is amazing to be here, along with people from all over the world, with whom I share my origins," he said. "We have been ostracized by both Armenians and Sunni Muslims, said Behcet Avci, also known as Garoda Sasunyan. "It is an emotional moment for me." The ceremony was held behind closed doors, neither visitors nor foreign journalists were allowed to be present. It was carried out by the deputy patriarch, Aaram Atesyan.
There were guests from Armenia and the United States, including the American Ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone and the former Armenian Foreign Minister Raffi Hovhannesian, as well as Archbishop Vicken Ayvazian, of the Armenian Orthodox Diocese of America. The restoration was funded by the Armenians of Istanbul and the diaspora. The main sponsors of the initiative were Vartkes Ergün Ayık, a businessman of Armenian origin from Dyarbakir and Raffi Bedrosyan, a former citizen of Istanbul who now lives in Canada.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaticaninsider.lastampa.it ...
bttt
Amen.
The ROP is renowned throughout history for the tender regard and affection reserved for those misguided souls who renounce ‘submission’ and convert / revert to some other religious affiliation — ESPECIALLY when such renunciation occurs in a profoundly public venue.
This will not end well ...
One Man’s Opinion
21stCenturion
Thanks marshmallow. So, when are the executions?
We adore you, we praise you, we glorify you, Lord Jesus Christ!
Glory hallelujah ping
Considering the state of things in Turkey I have to agree with you.
Turkey’s Muslims have been moving in the direction of Islamic fundamentalism in the past decade.
It would not be at all surprising for a few hundred outraged Muslims to descend on this church and tear it down by hand.
At the very least expect the Priest to be beaten and have his beard cut off.
Good news!
A good sign that the Gospel of Jesus is going out to all the ends of the earth.
AMEN. Jesus be praised.
But do remember the saying, the “blood of Christian martyrs is the SEEDS for new Christians”.
OKay, we’re going to have to disagree on this’n, I guess.
Condoning or praising ‘martyrs’ as somehow a ‘good thing’ is, I believe, morally wrong and reprehensible regardless of what ‘sect’ they associate themselves with. Driving the plane into a building while emitting a blood-curdling ‘Allahu Akbar !’ is evil. Doing the same thing while reciting a Psalm or the Lord’s prayer is no less evil.
SEEKING ‘martyrdom’ cannot be seen as a virtue if the would-be martyr is some form of Christian but be condemned if the would-be martyr is of some other kind.
These Armenian folks seem to have absorbed enough of the Muslim mindset previously imposed upon them by their Muslim oppressors to accept that their impending doom is somehow a ‘good thing’, at least enough to set themselves up as the inevitable targets of their Muslim neighbors.
YOU, on the other hand, seem to endorse the idea that this would somehow be a ‘good thing’ as it somehow ‘favors’ Christianity.
How is your moral position any different than the Muslims ?
One Man’s Opinion
21stCenturion
While there is the martydom of blood called “red martydom”, there is another form of martydom, it is called “white martydom” which is a form of dying to one’s self as a Christian in the way of the things of this world, in order to serve God better. In white martydom, unlike the red martydom, no blood is shed. It could be dealing with an illness, surgery, the death of a love one, job loss, etc, and offering that suffering up for the salvation of souls and for as a penence as well.
Here is a URL I had found: http://marymagdalen.blogspot.com/2008/09/white-martyrdom.html
Also it is called “redemptive suffering.”
What we see with the jihadis is using “martydom”, “red martydom” for PURE EVIL.
Plus it also talks about both “blue” and “green” martyrdom.
Only Muslims understand "martyrdom" as dying while killing others in the name of their religion. That's their use of the word, not ours.
When Christians use the term "martyr" or "martyrdom," they are referring to an innocent person being killed -- let's be blunt: murdered -- because of their Christian faith.
The word "martyr" in English comes from the Greek word meaning "witness". There's no implication that the martyr is doing any killing. (Actually the word itself doesn't necessarily imply any killing of anyone.)
I believe the Arabic word translated "martyr" in reference to Muslims is something closer to "kamikaze warrior" than "witness".
First, an apology. I failed to realize I was posting into a Religion forum until I had already waded in a lot deeper than I originally intended. Silly me, I thought this was just a Current Events discussion ...
I am NOT inclined to pursue a discussion premised on a belief system that encompasses the virtue of dying to further the cause, so to speak. Sometimes, when a situation deteriorates to that point, you may be caught up in a life or death struggle and lose. Stuff happens. But that is a tragedy and does not strike me as a worthy ‘goal’ or satisfactory outcome.
Going out looking for opportunities to be terminated in service of some ‘greater good’ seems to be a pointless disposal of one’s life no matter WHAT that ‘greater good’ appears to be. Putting OTHER people’s lives on the line for such purposes, to me, seems purely evil.
I think that the leaders of this particular community have deliberately put the lives of every man, woman and child in the community unnecessarily at risk and, in the manner of ALL terrorists, done so in a way that practically DEMANDS a bloody and final disposition of this community by the Muslims they have so openly challenged.
Apology for genocide conducted a century ago ? Apology by the victors in a cultural / religious war that affords no compromise or ‘mercy’ on the part of the already victorious side ? Islam has forever displayed Zero Tolerance for apostasy and the ONLY penalty they have applied is death.
That is the basis of my original ‘this can’t end well’ comment.
Please don’t expect my to continue in the discussion I inadvertently inject myself into. I seem to have few common interests with the members of this particular community within FR.
Regards,
21stCenturion
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