U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined First Lady Laura Bush in decrying human rights violations in Burma, describing it as "a land where 3,000 villages have been destroyed, 6,000 political prisoners are in jail, 70,000 child soldiers have been forcibly recruited, and over 500,000 people are internally displaced." U.S. Ambassador Jackie W. Sanders said Burmese military forces systematically rape women and girls, especially those of the Shan, Karen, Karenni, Chin and other ethnic minorities. An estimated 90 percent of Burmese people live below or near the poverty level, subsisting on a dollar per day or less, Charles Petrie, the United Nations humanitarian chief in Burma told the Associated Press in August, 2007.
Roman imperial conquests and economic exploitation had in fact devastated villages and fields, deforested mountains, and eroded the natural environment in general. The stability imposed by the Roman imperial order surely meant insecurity for many if not most urban people. Most of the cities Galatia, Philippi, and Thessalonica among which Paul carried out his mission were would likely have experienced local disruption Paul addresses the world as “groaning and travailing” as it awaited its liberation, along with that of “the sons of God”, from the futility which it had been subjected by implication by arrogant and sinful imperial practices (Romans 8:19-23). Robert Jawett takes this as anti-imperialism.
How about for Myanmar Christians? What should be the role of Christians in Myanmar? Is there any possible way to involve in politics for Christians? Where are the Christians in Myanmar whereas the Buddhist monks are actively involving?
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