What Really Matters - Persecuted Christians

Excuse me while I vent about something that really matters - and I don't mean the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I mean the persecution and horrible massacre of people in Iraq. Have you read any of the articles that have been posted on facebook? And I mean really read them....to the end...where there are incredibly graphic pictures of the horrible things happening.

I did. Just yesterday. Up until yesterday I had dismissed all the articles popping up on my news feed. Up until yesterday I had assumed that what was going on was nothing more than what normally happens in the middle east. Then I read an article that changed my mind.

When I clicked on the article, I actually read through it, learning the facts of what is really going on in the Middle East. Then I got to the warning. The warning that told me that there were graphic pictures following. I hesitated a second before scrolling down. What I saw made me sick.

There were several images of heads without bodies - real people's heads. People who only a few moments or hours or days ago had been alive. People who were living and breathing and living life like you and me.

There were images of people being beheaded. And I don't mean with a sword or an ax or something that ends your life relatively quickly and can be considered a more "humane" way of killing someone.

When I say "people being beheaded," what I mean is that there were terrorists sawing off people's heads with butter knives. Freaking butter knives. Excuse my language, but if that doesn't hurt like hell and dehumanize people, I don't know what would.

(See the Article I Read Here: http://www.catholic.org/news/international/middle_east/story.php?id=56339 )

I'm not making this stuff up. This is what is going on in the Middle East. This is a problem - a huge problem that is going on today, in our world, in our lives. What are we going to do about it?

I'm sick of just sitting around doing nothing. The problem with this situation is that there really is nothing I can do about it - on my own anyway. We need to raise awareness about this problem. We need to change it. We need to help these people.

Don't get me wrong, the ALS disease is a real problem. And if this Ice Bucket challenge raises both money and awareness, more power to them (just make sure you donate somewhere that isn't supporting embryonic stem cell research).

But while you're out raising awareness about ALS, consider raising awareness about the current persecution and problems happening in Iraq and join me in praying for an end to all of this.