• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

“If We Stay Quiet They Crush Us”

Sandokan

Sandokan

DP Veteran
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
5,242
Reaction score
763
Location
Los Angels, USA
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Slightly Conservative
Alain Toledano: “If We Stay Quiet They Crush Us”

http://translatingcuba.com/alain-toledano-if-we-stay-quiet-they-crush-us/

Ricardo Fernandez, November 2, 2017



Pastor Alain Toledano, from the Apostolic Ministry Pathways of Justice. (Facebook

14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez, Santiago de Cuba, 30 October 2017 — The evangelical pastor Alain Toledano feels that he has lived through 18 years of intense battle since he founded his own church in Santiago de Cuba, a congregation that has experienced a “rapid growth,” according to what he told 14ymedio.

The high numbers attending the worship services “frightened the authorities” from the first day and then “the confrontations began,” the pastor maintains. In Cuba, among the denominations of greatest expansion in recent years are Pentecostals and Baptists.
Although official entities rarely give figures, international religious organizations estimate that on the island there are some 40,000 Methodists, 100,000 Baptists, and 120,000 members of the Assemblies of God. The latter had only about 10,000 faithful at the beginning of the 1990s.

In July 1999, Toledano left the Assemblies of God to create the Emmanuel Church. “We met in an apartment and the crowd blocked those who tried to climb the stairs of the building,” he recalls. The pressures of the authorities forced them to move the temple to a courtyard.
Click link above for full article.
Click to expand...
In 2016 Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) recorded 2,380 separate violations of freedom of religion or belief under the Castroit regime. Of those, over 2,000 included the whole church congregations. About 200 involved arrest of women groups to prevent them from attending Mass. The brutal and public strategies used by the Castroit regime has continued throughout 2017. These include arbitrary arrests, beatings, demolishing places of worship and confiscation of charge property.
 
Cuba Blocks Religious Charities From Providing Aid to Hurricane Irma Victims Pastor Says
https://www.christianpost.com/news/...to-hurricane-irma-victims-pastor-says-205094/

By Samuel Smith , CP Reporter | Nov 1, 2017

hurricane-irma.jpg

(PHOTO: REUTERS/ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI)
Palm trees sway in the wind prior to the arrival of the Hurricane Irma in Caibarien, Cuba, September 8, 2017.

A Cuban pastor who was arrested last year when former U.S. President Barack Obama visited the nation is warning that the communist government has taken action against missionaries for trying to provide humanitarian support to those who have been victimized by Hurricane Irma.

Pastor Mario Félix Lleonart Barroso, a Cuban missionary and human rights activist who's been arrested numerous times for his opposition to the totalitarian government and now resides in the U.S. with his family after being accepted as a refugee in 2016, is warning that the "Cuban regime has not responded adequately" to devastation caused by Hurricane Irma even though countless Cubans lost their homes and properties in the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the island nation in over 80 years.

While victims of disastrous hurricanes like Irma and Maria in other Caribbean nations are at least able to receive the help of major international humanitarian aid organizations, Cubans usually don't have the same access to humanitarian aid following natural disasters because of the barriers put in place by the communist regime.

Barroso told The Christian Post in a recent email exchange that the government even tries to block religious charities and secular organizations in Cuba from being able to provide aid to hurricane victims.
Click link above for full article.
Click to expand...
After Hurricane Irma devastated part of the north coast of Cuba, religious organizations have faced great difficulties to provide humanitarian aid and support to hurricane victims. The Castroit regime denial of aid from religious organizations to hurricane victims is an act of injustice and oppression. The regime put politics ahead of the suffering of the Cuban people.
 
Well, to the Castroit regime religious charities are more dangerous than hurricanes. Helping hurricanes victims, if you are a pastor or missionary, is considered a lawless act by the regime, the humanitarian aid is confiscated and they are detained and later released, even without a law to prohibit it.
 
Open Letter to Pope Francis
Open Letter to Pope Francis / Ángel Santiesteban – Translating Cuba

Ángel Santiesteban Posted on December 11, 2017, Translator: Alicia Barraqué Ellison

papa_francisco_55.jpg


Havana, Cuba. Your Holiness: Now that your name is no longer so popular on the Island of Cuba, I have decided to write you these lines. I suspect that this decline in your prestige has to do with the scant companionship you have provided us, as well as with the distance that you have placed between yourself and the Cuban people. If I insist on threading these ideas it is because I am certain that your work as head of the Church–that is, of the Earth–is a far cry from the love, justness, and fairness that we knew from John Paul II, whom we Cubans remember with affection and devotion.

I want to tell you that there are many of us today who think that your appointment has not been good for this Island’s inhabitants, although I assure you that many were the Cubans who rejoiced when we learned that you would be the new leader of the Catholic Church. We were euphoric that a Latin American, who spoke our language, and who knew well what a military dictatorship means, would be in charge of the Church.

We happily believed that Your Holiness would take care of us just as John Paul II did but this was not to be. Your history was entwined with that of John Paul II. You knew that bloody military dictatorship in Argentina and the Polish Pope knew well what fascism and communism, which are so alike, signify. We had no doubt that you, Holy Father, would see the Cuban reality and would denounce it. But what actually happened was something else.
Click link above for full article.
Click to expand...
Pope Francis visit to Cuba make no difference in the daily lives of the Cuban people. He did not criticized the Castroit regime, he did not meet with dissidents, and remain silent when the Castroit regime security forces detained two Ladies in White that had been invited to meet him. But during his visit to the U.S., he addressed political topics like immigration and the death penalty.
 
Seems that Pope Francis adopted the Liberation Theology, which was fought forcefully by Popes John Paul II and Joseph Ratzinger. He is a vocal critic of capitalism, has associated with ex-priest Leonardo Boff, a strong supporter of liberation theology left wing causes, which in an interview said, “Francis is one of us.” In 2015, Pope Francis canonized Bishop Oscar Romero, one of the main figures in the liberation theology movement. In an interview with the Spanish daily El País, he said that “Liberation Theology was a good thing for Latin America.” But Ratzinger referred to Liberation Theology as a “singular heresy” and a “fundamental threat” to the Church. No wonder Pope Francis is called the Red Pope.
 
Sandokan, thank you for bringing this to our attention. Blessings to Pastor Toledano.
 
zyzygy said:
He has another long blog here on the same subject.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it's allowed.......but not all people are into reading blogs. Like, I never even knew MaggieD had written blogs until I checked out her profile after her passing.
 
zyzygy said:
Why did you bring your boring blog here?
Click to expand...
Why are you replying to a boring blog? Are you a masochist?

Lovebug said:
Sandokan, thank you for bringing this to our attention. Blessings to Pastor Toledano.
Click to expand...
You are welcome Lovebug.

tosca1 said:
I don't know if it's allowed.......but not all people are into reading blogs. Like, I never even knew MaggieD had written blogs until I checked out her profile after her passing.
Click to expand...
This is the only thread with this subject in the beliefs and skepticism forum.
 
Last edited:
Sandokan said:
Seems that Pope Francis adopted the Liberation Theology, which was fought forcefully by Popes John Paul II and Joseph Ratzinger. He is a vocal critic of capitalism, has associated with ex-priest Leonardo Boff, a strong supporter of liberation theology left wing causes, which in an interview said, “Francis is one of us.” In 2015, Pope Francis canonized Bishop Oscar Romero, one of the main figures in the liberation theology movement. In an interview with the Spanish daily El País, he said that “Liberation Theology was a good thing for Latin America.” But Ratzinger referred to Liberation Theology as a “singular heresy” and a “fundamental threat” to the Church. No wonder Pope Francis is called the Red Pope.
Click to expand...
According to Ion Mihai Pacepa, former head of Communist Romania’s secret police who defected to the United States in 1978, in 2015 revealed that the KGB had created Liberation Theology, exporting it to Latin America as a means of introducing Marxism into the continent. He said, “Liberation theology has been generally understood to be a marriage of Marxism and Christianity. What has not been understood is that it was not the product of Christians who pursued Communism, but of Communists who pursued Christians.” Marxism is incompatible with freedom of religion and free speech. If Pope Francis persist with liberation theology the church would lose many followers and break from within.
 
Sandokan said:
[FONT=&]In 2016 Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) recorded 2,380 separate violations of freedom of religion or belief under the Castroit regime. Of those, over 2,000 included the whole church congregations. About 200 involved arrest of women groups to prevent them from attending Mass. The brutal and public strategies used by the Castroit regime has continued throughout 2017. These include [/FONT] [FONT=&]arbitrary arrests, beatings, demolishing places of worship and confiscation of charge property. [/FONT]
Click to expand...

That's most unfortunate.

Give the left here in America enough power and they'll do the same things.

They've already kicked God out of the schools, out of government, torn down crosses everywhere they can, tried to criminalize free religious speech (don't speak out against homosexual sin, etc.), turned America into a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, tried to keep teachers and students from wearing cross necklaces, and generally engage in a wide range of actions offensive to Christianity and Judaism, while embracing Muslims. They have even embraced Castro, communism, socialism, and anything that doesn't have a rigid moral framework. Frankly, they're just as bad as the regime in Cuba.
 
Logicman said:
That's most unfortunate.

Give the left here in America enough power and they'll do the same things.

They've already kicked God out of the schools, out of government, torn down crosses everywhere they can, tried to criminalize free religious speech (don't speak out against homosexual sin, etc.), turned America into a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, tried to keep teachers and students from wearing cross necklaces, and generally engage in a wide range of actions offensive to Christianity and Judaism, while embracing Muslims. They have even embraced Castro, communism, socialism, and anything that doesn't have a rigid moral framework. Frankly, they're just as bad as the regime in Cuba.
Click to expand...

Have they kicked Allah out?
 
Logicman said:
That's most unfortunate.

Give the left here in America enough power and they'll do the same things....
Click to expand...

I hope so

...they've already kicked God out of the schools, out of government....
Click to expand...

School partially - but not enough. We have states who are STILL trying to teach Christianity in schools, STILL trying to teach that evolution is false, STILL trying to teach creationism.

Government? Hell no. We have a president who professes belief in god, a majority of Supreme Court Justices who are openly Christian. I don't think there's a single politician in Congress who's openly Atheist.
We have state government that are STILL trying to ban same sex marriage


...torn down crosses everywhere they can...
Click to expand...

If they're on public property then hell, yes.
But we STILL have city/county/state legislatures with Christian symbols...court houses where judges allow pictures and sculptures of the ten commandments.

...tried to criminalize free religious speech (don't speak out against homosexual sin, etc.),...
Click to expand...

Any "free" speech that seeks to promote hatred on people based on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation must be stopped.


...turned America into a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah...
Click to expand...

The sin of Sodom ?

....not sure you want to go there. But at the end of the day, the sin of Sodom is better than an unwanted teen pregnancy.

...tried to keep teachers and students from wearing cross necklaces...
Click to expand...

Though you would be offended if the same people wore symbols of the LGBT community

...and generally engage in a wide range of actions offensive to Christianity and Judaism, while embracing Muslims. They have even embraced Castro, communism, socialism, and anything that doesn't have a rigid moral framework. Frankly, they're just as bad as the regime in Cuba.
Click to expand...

What do you know about the regime in Cuba ?

The left have embraced MUSLIMS !!! (aren't Muslims devout religious people, if so, isn't that a bit of an inconsistency?)

EVEN embraced socialism !!!
OMG, next they'll be melting down their valuables to make a golden calf.
 
Logicman said:
That's most unfortunate.

Give the left here in America enough power and they'll do the same things.

They've already kicked God out of the schools, out of government, torn down crosses everywhere they can, tried to criminalize free religious speech (don't speak out against homosexual sin, etc.), turned America into a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, tried to keep teachers and students from wearing cross necklaces, and generally engage in a wide range of actions offensive to Christianity and Judaism, while embracing Muslims. They have even embraced Castro, communism, socialism, and anything that doesn't have a rigid moral framework. Frankly, they're just as bad as the regime in Cuba.
Click to expand...

What a load of crap. God was never supposed to be in school in the first place under separation of church and state. Not only that, but last time I checked, there was nothing preventing someone from praying to themselves; they just can’t force everyone to do so or disrupt class with showy displays.

“Homosexual sin” ? Sorry buddy, you not being allowed to oppress innocent Americans does not mean you yourself are being oppressed.

Yeah.....God stood by and allowed Adolf Hitler and Iosif Stalin to murder tens of millions of innocent people. It’s pretyy clear he doesn’t agree with your fantasy that you not being allowed to oppress others means that you are oppressed.

Frankly, the persecution complex American Christians have is laughable, especially when you look at the suffering of Christians in places like the Middle East.
 
Rich2018 said:
I hope so

School partially - but not enough. We have states who are STILL trying to teach Christianity in schools, STILL trying to teach that evolution is false, STILL trying to teach creationism.

Government? Hell no. We have a president who professes belief in god, a majority of Supreme Court Justices who are openly Christian. I don't think there's a single politician in Congress who's openly Atheist.
We have state government that are STILL trying to ban same sex marriage


If they're on public property then hell, yes.
But we STILL have city/county/state legislatures with Christian symbols...court houses where judges allow pictures and sculptures of the ten commandments.


Any "free" speech that seeks to promote hatred on people based on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation must be stopped.


The sin of Sodom ?

....not sure you want to go there. But at the end of the day, the sin of Sodom is better than an unwanted teen pregnancy.


Though you would be offended if the same people wore symbols of the LGBT community


What do you know about the regime in Cuba ?

The left have embraced MUSLIMS !!! (aren't Muslims devout religious people, if so, isn't that a bit of an inconsistency?)

EVEN embraced socialism !!!
OMG, next they'll be melting down their valuables to make a golden calf.
Click to expand...

Yada yada yada....

Liberal California 2.jpg
 
PASTOR PERMITTED TO RESUME WORK AS CHURCH LEADER
Pastor permitted to resume work as church leader - Christian Solidarity Worldwide

9 Aug 2017

Pastor Permitted to Resume Work. Pastor Ramon Rigal, of the Church of God in Cuba, appeared in court Aug. 8, where he was informed that he will be allowed to resume his work as a church leader.

On April 25, Pastor Rigal was sentenced to one year in a correctional facility, while his wife was sentenced to one year of house arrest for their decision to homeschool their children. They felt state school teaching emphasized a Marxist-Leninist atheist ideology which regularly demeans Christianity and Christians. Pastor Rigal’s daughter also reported being bullied at school and punched in the stomach by another student.

The pastor’s sentence was reduced to house arrest July 6 on the provision that his children return to state school in September. He was also barred from serving as a church leader and assigned a new job checking for mosquitoes in the water supply of local houses.
Click link above for full article.
Click to expand...
During the year 2017, over 350 cases of violation of freedom of religion have taken place under the Castroit regime. Churches of different denominations and their leaders in Cuba keeps experiencing harassment and imprisonment by the Office of Religious Affairs throughout the island that are carried out by Castroit regime security forces.
 
AFRO-CUBAN PRIEST DETAINED AND PRESSURED
Afro-Cuban priest detained and pressured - Christian Solidarity Worldwide

10 Jan 2018

Cuban Yoruba priest, Alexei Mora Montalvo, was detained with force by the Cuban political police on 5 January. Mora Montalvo was travelling on a moped with Guillermo del Sol Pérez, an independent journalist who reports on issues related to the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).

During Mora Montalvo’s detention, state security agents attempted to entice him to join a government-linked religious association. He is a priest associated with the Free Yoruba Society, an unregistered religious group in Cuba.

The two men were travelling in Placetas, a town in the central province of Villa Clara, when they were stopped and arrested by the new local police chief in charge of threats to state security, Arturo, also known as ‘Tendedera’. Mora Montalvo reported that their arrest appeared to be in response to a public statement by the Free Yoruba Society in late December challenging the legitimacy of ‘La Letra del Año’, or Letter of the Year, published in state media and issued by the Yoruba Cultural Association, which has close links to the government. The Letter of the Year is an important prophetic ritual in the Yoruba Calendar.
Click link above for full article.
Click to expand...
The Castroit regime has not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both of which contain strong protections for religious freedom. This demonstrate the regime unwillingness to uphold human rights and freedom of religion. There has not been concrete evidence of improvements of freedom of religions or belief.
 
Gaugingcatenate said:
So, why didnt you?
Click to expand...


I did

Would you not agree that ambracing all forms of human diversity and strong gun control are two very appealing reasons for living in California...though countered somewhat by the high p[rice of gasoline.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom