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Genocide, Massacre, Ethnic Cleansing

We can understand that national pride in any nation has a propensity to deny, minimize, or ignore sins in that nation’s history. The United States is no exception. A nation with a Christian heritage has a greater conscience. The nation does not know how to get forgiven so it may deny that the sin ever happened. In early history the murder, rape and pillage that took place was recognized, accepted, and bragged about. Timur would take a city and tell each soldier to enter the city and bring back a head. A pyramid of 75,000 heads was then made outside the city.

In the 20th century Stalin, Mao, and Hitler all murdered people of their own nation in the tens of millions. Japan also committed great atrocities in Korea, China, and Southeast Asia. In recent years Japan came up with new school books for their children saying that these atrocities never happened. China and Korea strongly objected to the rewriting of history. As I understand it, Japan backed down.

These are facts of recent history and anyone who wishes to know the details they are very available. In recent years there has been mass murder in Cambodia 1978, in Rwanda 1994, Serbia in Bosnia and now in Darfur and Northern Uganda.

There is an ancient nation and people which has been Christian in name since the third century A.D. They have not converted to Islam from the Arabs nor from the invasion of Turks from Central Asia. The nation was Armenia. The language, the culture and people are called Armenians. Their culture is more distinct than Jewish cultures.

In 1894 the Sultan Abdul Hamid II ruler of the Ottoman Empire from 1876 to 1908 was responsible for the massacre of about 200,000 Armenians.

In 1909 20,000 Armenians were killed by Turks in Cilicia in south eastern Turkey.

In 1915 under the Young Turks, Talaat Pasha and Enver Pasha official genocide with great barbarity took place.

“It is estimated that out of the total Armenian population (about 1,800,000) about one-third escaped deportation, one-third was deported and one-third massacred.” Encyclopedia Britannia.

Mass murder, massacre, and genocide are good words to describe all of these events. “Ethnic cleansing” is a euphemism for genocide. Although there was a great world outcry by people, newspapers, and world leaders, no nation took action to stop the atrocities. It seems that nations take action only when the genocide is against them.

It is noteworthy that the perpetrators of these evil acts, leaders and participants, were Communists, Muslims, Fascists, and pagans. None of them were Christian. It is also noteworthy that relief came from the Christians but the “Christian” nations did not participate in trying to stop the massacre.
Recently, the Congress of the United States endeavored to declare that this genocide happened. It did not pass. For almost 100 years Turkey has taught their people that this did not happen or it was caused by the Armenians

We can rewrite history, but we cannot rewrite what is written in the books at the great white throne judgment.


“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” Revelation 22:14-15

For further reading read The Burning Tigris by Peter Balakian and Henry Morgenthau’s diary of his three years as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey 1913-16.

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