Monday, May 30, 2011

Sorting the through the Thoughts of Majorca

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Today’s Blog Post


Sorting the through the Thoughts of Majorca

Yesterday when I shared the idea of the World Population Clock and the possibility of the 7 Billion population record I also pointed to the number that once lived.

Looking at the 103 Billion that once lived is staggering for my mind. Thinking of something so big is impossible for my mind to comprehend. I am sure that others feel the same.

As I watched the on clock ticking by the deaths it was not real… until you think of the actual number rolling by is one person… and one family with the loss of that loved one. There is one very deep week of mourning, a month of grief that begins and continues for a lifetime – for many.

It was this past week I read of 13 people that were part of the 103 Billion people once alive on our earth. Mention was made in the newspaper on May 22, 2011. And after reading it I have not been able to stop thinking of these folk. How could it possibly happen?

I had the same feeling when reading some of the history of the church in early days of my study. When I came across the periods of time when Religious persecution was at its best – or worst – and the church conducted its purge by conducting the Inquisition. We entitled it the Spanish Inquisition specifically.

I read the account of the Jews that lived in Majorca (or Mallorca for proper pronunciation). In May 1691 13 Jews were burned alive in the Gomila Plaza of Majorca.

These poor people had done one terrible thing. They had secretly practiced their faith as Jews during this horrific time of the Catholic Church. Very vile men struggling to get noticed in the church had committed nightmarish crimes against humanity in the name of God. They burned God’s people alive and watched with glee.

As I read the account and the fact that Jews that may have been in the community and survived that fateful day in May 1691, had then lived in constant fear and oppression.

Children in school yards sang a chant naming the names of families that had people burned in that Plaza. Imagine a skipping rhyme that named the victims and you have the idea the way that it took place.

I had read the article about this atrocity in the Toronto Star and the New York Times. The one on the Internet that I found is from the Blog by Lubin – Link below.

Of the 103 Billion there were many Millions upon Millions killed by religious idiots.

Being a Minister doesn’t help at times. I claimed to be a spiritual person. I say I am a person that walks with God and has a relationship with Him. However after all that Religious People have done in God’s name… it has left this position that I serve in under great suspect. People doubt religious persons. They have a great sense of avoidance for anyone claiming to be Christian. In 2011 that is more true today than ever.

Christians have done some pretty awful things in the name of their God. So have some Islamic folk.

I really wonder how many of the 103 Million suffered in that way from “Spiritual” People.

I have been doing some heavy reading lately as I am preparing to share as a Christian Leader in June. What I have read has made this even more real… and heavier to digest.

It would be so much easier to stand and tell a few good stories and even some jokes to the audience that I am preparing for – rather than telling the truth of what I know. But I am guessing in advance that I will not be able to make light of what I know… I may just have to tell the truth… which could be shocking.

Yesterday I sat in church and watched Christian people worship their God. Then I sat in a restaurant and watched the Christian People pour through the door to get food… laughing and joking… carrying on.

I sat quietly and thought of my 13 years in Peterborough. I thought of the kind of Christianity that I have witnessed here… I thought long and hard of what the community around me has witnessed also. I had some deep thoughts throughout the day… and night.

Conclusion to the thinking… oh boy… have I got a task to do. I need to be honest without turning anyone off…careful to the point of someone missing the point entirely… and then direct enough that they will perhaps change their thinking… and then kind enough that they will accept what is said.

Yikes. Can that actually be done in 2011?

But today I remember 13 people and their families in Majorca in May of 1691. And I am saddened by what I now know. God help us all.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 

Resource:
http://lubin.co.uk/?p=240
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501E7D61139F933A25756C0A9679D8B63

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