Source: Christian Daily
November 17, 2016
School children listen to a speech by a Christian leader during a protest rally in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata August 29, 2008 after Hindu mobs ransacked a church and clashed with Christian villagers in the eastern state of Orissa. (Reuters/Jayanta Shaw)
"Under Caesar's Sword" is a 26-minute documentary that features Christian communities in countries like Turkey and India where the believers' religious freedom is restricted. The movie's co-director Daniel Philpott described the amazing thing about the persecuted Christians they interviewed, the Catholic News Agency relays.
"What is remarkable about persecuted Christians is their resilience," said Philpott, who is also a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. "They are not just victims. Understanding this is the key to being in solidarity with them."
In "Under Caesar's Sword," an Indian widow recounts how she and her two children witnessed her husband being tortured and killed by Hindus who wanted him to change his religion.
"They beat my husband badly as we pleaded with them to stop," the widow said. "They dragged him for a kilometer with a cycle chain around his neck."
Georgetown University's Religious Freedom Project associate director Timothy Shah marveled at many of the Christians' response to persecution with help for others. For him, this is important because this is what their faith teaches them to do.
Earlier this month, churches and Christian groups lifted up in prayer the persecuted believers all over the world. They prayed for the protection of persecuted Christians as part of the celebration of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church 2016, The Christian Post reports.
Christian humanitarian group World Help's founder Dr. Vernon Brewer said Christians have not faced the degree of persecution that they are facing right now. He said there are estimated to be more Christians killed for their faith in the last century compared with the previous 19 centuries.
"Under Caesar's Sword" can be viewed for free from the website ucs.nd.edu/film.
