Although the secular humanists have done their best to remove Christ from Christmas, and even the Christmas tree is now referred to as the holiday tree.
We can all be thankful that those of us who believe that God's only begotten son was born in Bethlehem so He could save Us from the original sin of Adam and Eve. Can go to our chosen churches in safety.
The people in Christ's birth place, and many places in Indonesia, are not so fortunate.
Bethlehem, the place where the bible tells us that Christ was born, maybe not exactly on the 25th of December, is no longer populated by Christians. The Muslims have moved in, Christians moved out, and now those who remain are threatened and intimidated, as are the Christian pilgrims who want to visit the place of Christ's birth.
Bethlehem's dwindling Christian population, has reportedly been the target of rampant Islamic intimidation and persecution.
Bethlehem consisted of up to 80 percent Christians when Israel was founded in 1948, but immediately after the Palestinian Authority took over in 1995 in line with the U.S.-backed Oslo Accords, the Christian population quickly declined to about 23 percent, with a large majority of Muslims. The 23 percent Christian statistic is considered generous since it includes the satellite towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala. Some estimates place Bethlehem's actual Christian population as low as 12 percent, with hundreds of Christians emigrating every year.
Christian leaders and residents, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity during recent interviews, said they face an atmosphere of regular hostility. They said Palestinian armed groups stir tension by holding militant demonstrations and marches in the streets. They spoke of instances in which Christian shopkeepers' stores were ransacked and Christian homes attacked by Palestinian Muslims.Source: World NetDaily.
This is not as horrible as what the Bali police forces are afraid will happen to the minority Christian population that plans to go to Church services on Christmas. More than 17,000 police and soldiers have been deployed in the Indonesian capital to guard against a repeat of Christmas Eve attacks seven years ago, when Christian churches in the mainly(85%) Muslim nation were bombed.
The Main Stream Media would have you believe that it is the Jews that are intimidating and impeding Christian pilgrims in the quest to worship at Christ's birth place. Not so!
The facts show that Bethlehem is not surrounded by any wall. Israel built a fence, in 2002, in the area where northern Bethlehem interfaces with Jerusalem. A tiny segment of that barrier, facing a major Israeli roadway, is a concrete wall that Israel says is meant to prevent gunmen from shooting at Israeli motorists.
The fence was constructed after the outbreak of the Palestinian inifada, or terror war, launched after late PLO Leader Yasser Arafat turned down an Israeli offer of a Palestinian state, returning to the Middle East to liberate Palestine with violence.
Scores of deadly suicide bombings and shooting attacks against Israelis were planned in Bethlehem and carried out by Bethlehem-area terrorists, including Eita and his ilk.
At one point during the period of just 30 days in 2002, at least 14 shootings were perpetuated by Bethlehem cells of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorists, killing two Israelis and wounding six.
Many times Muslim gunmen in the Bethlehem area reportedly took positions in civilian homes in the hilltops of Christian Beit Jala, which straddles Bethlehem. Beit Jala afforded the terrorists a clear firing line at southern sections of Jerusalem and at a major Israeli highway down below, drawing Israeli military raids and the eventual building of the security barrier there.
Is this barrier causing Bethlehem's Christians to flee, as the mainstream media claim?
Simple demographic facts will answer this question. Israel built the barrier five years ago. But Bethlehem's Christian population started to drastically decline in 1995, the very year Arafat's Palestinian Authority took over the holy Christian city in line with the Clinton, U.S.-backed Oslo Accords.
Yet we still give millions of dollars each year to the Palestinians who are controlled by Christian and Jew hating thugs. Go figure!
Merry Christmas, and thank God Almighty that we still live in a Country that has freedom to worship or not worship as your conscience dictates!
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