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Telling the story
At her blog, Michelle Malkin covers the story of The forgotten South Korean Christian hostages:
Still ignored. Still suffering. Still praying. Not that the world seems to care much, but there was a funeral in Seoul today [this past Saturday] for murdered South Korean Christian missionary, Shim Sung-min, the second Korean hostage killed by the Taliban militants last month. Hundreds attended the service. Twenty-one South Korean Christians remain in captivity and under threat of murder.
Her column of last Wednesday appeared in my local newspaper yesterday. It opens with this:
The blood of innocent Christian missionaries spills on Afghan sands. The world watches and yawns. The United Nations offers nothing more than a formal expression of "concern." Where is the global uproar over the human rights abuses unfolding before our eyes?
Indeed. She goes on to explain thus:
Among some of the secular elite, no doubt, is a blame-the-victim apathy: The missionaries deserved what they got. What were they thinking bringing their message of faith to a war zone?
...The silence is rooted in viewing committed Christians as alien others. At best, there is a collective callousness. At worst, there is outright contempt...
...Curiously, those who argue that we need to "understand" Islamic terrorists demonstrate little effort to "understand" the Christian evangelical missionaries who risk their lives to spread the gospel -- not by sword, but through acts of compassion, healing and education.
Thank you, Michelle.
Let us all join Ilona in praying, not only for the hostages but also for their captors and for all those who want to marginalize, castigate, or otherwise disregard Christians.
Bonnie,
Is it true that people have forgotten them?
I've not followed this story with hours and hours of attention, but it sure seems to me that I hear about it everywhere. How can we say we've buried this story. Actually, I'm surprised by the amount of press it's received.
I don't believe no one cares about their fate, either. We all care about their fate. We're just unsure how the situation should be handled. Give the terrorists what they want and they will increasingly resort to kidnapping people to get their way. That means that even more people will die in the future. Stand up to the terrorists, though, and the hostages may die.
As it stands, this is what is called "a no-win situation." It does not mean that no outcome exists that will mollify all sides and not result in more hostage-taking in the future. This is why the whole process of dealing with this situations has taken so much time. It may look like no one is doing anything, but we all know that's not true.
So, I'm not sure we should say nothing is being done and these people have been forgotten.
Dan, you ask a great journalistic question. From what I can gather, there is press coverage now, but it's taken awhile. There was also complaint that, initially, the major Christian news outlets did not feature this story as if it was important, or cover it at all. Nor did "major" Christian bloggers.
The question, of course, is "why?" Was it because the information didn't get around? And, if so, was this from lack of information in turn, or lack of interest?
In my case, I first heard about the hostage situation through Ilona's post. Then, while playing in the pit orchestra for an opera at Chautauqua Institution, I read Malkin's column in the newspaper (during a long rest). This column appeared in my local paper almost a week after Malkin first published it.
Bonnie,
I saw it weeks ago on CNN while working out at the Y. Then it started popping up on Christian blogs shortly after that. In fact, I didn't comment on it myself because I saw the story everywhere and thought I had nothing to contribute to what had already been said!
This is an interesting discussion, because often I think Christians fall into a kind of victim mentality; they think they will be ignored or repressed and proceed to interpret everything in that light. Of course, they see oppression, neglect etc.
But with the case of these hostages--undoubtedly, their presence in Iraq cannot be understood fully by the unbeliever. (Although there must be some who admire the committment, and perhaps even long for something to give themselves to completely.)
These hostages are "fools for Christ." They have undoubtedly counted the cost, and now they are paying for it. I can only pray that they continue to have the strength of God. I also pray for my own spiritual maturity, because I know I'm basically a "chicken."
I think we often have the tendency to fall into the thinking that we have nothing to contribute. But I think the fact that some spoke up, djchuang.com, in particular, turned my mind around on this. Maybe the networks more than covered it- but the Christian voice about what is happening to one of their own is more than mere reporting. It shows our embracing of those of us who are distressed . It is like Paul asking Christians of other fellowships to pray for and support the saints in Jerusalem, there is a supportive role being played by our recognition of others troubles.
We have lost sight of that.
"Is it true that people have forgotten them?"
I would like to answer this.
I think it is true that their families, and other Korean Christians might have felt we as the collective Church have forgotten them, or taken their sufferings lightly. I think that is worth remedying by at least mentioning our prayers or our concerns for them in the media which we are instrumental in forming.
We mention about everything else... why be silent about that?
Dan, I appreciate the info. I am realizing that I need to keep up on the news more, and make sure my research is thorough before I post!
I'm wondering, though, why Malkin said what she said; I believed her because I trust her journalism. (Maybe that makes me a fool -- and not for Christ ;-) ). And others who said similar things -- they reported that the major Christian news sources did not highlight the hostage situation. (as linked in Ilona's post) What do you make of that?
Is Malkin courting Christian readership in order to influence Christians politically? Or is she right to ask why human-rights organizations are not expressing outrage about the hostage situation?
I agree with Cheryl that there are often self-seeking attitudes and agendas behind news reporting and commentary, even that by Christians.
I've also read that many South Korean Christians are not supporting the hostages -- illustrating yet another possible political influence (personal-political, not necessarily governmental-political) behind the way the hostage topic was handled.
But it still looks like there wasn't much commentary, call to prayer, etc. early on, and I wonder about that.
