Violence Toward Christians in India

I was reading an article posted two days ago, about the escalating violence toward Christians in India. Then, I decided to go to YouTube and see what I could find, and found this "secretly obtained" footage of preachers and Christians being beaten because of their beliefs. I do not like this violence, but the hurt we see when we watch this is nothing compared to the hurt these people must be feeling-- both physically from the beatings, and spiritually from the inability to express their beliefs.

At the end of the video, a man says, "You all have to pray for us. We have homes there [India] and we don't have freedom to worship openly... So [everytime] we are persecuted and we are jailed."

Obama's Remarks on Jihad

While in India, President Obama spoke to a group of Muslims about "jihad" and his interpretation of the religion. He said, "I think all of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is never justified."

Obama also added that "Islam is one of the world's great religions and people of all faiths need to treat one another with respect and mutual dignity." Do you think people will begin to better respect  and understand different religions if top leaders continue to address religious issues? I think communication can only enhance respect between religious groups.

And speaking of communication, it was neat to see the difference between the United States and India's coverage on Obama's remarks-- both audiences seemed to be receptive and appreciative.