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Posted on 05/29/2005 4:33:03 PM PDT by Graybeard58
Edited on 05/29/2005 5:45:46 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF ETHIOPIA
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
FEARED
NEVER WILL
At the risk of turning this into a theological discussion, no one is "born Christian." That statement is in itself profoundly antithetical to the Christian faith, and is almost sacrilegious.
For more info on Coptic Christianity, check this out:
http://coptic-christianity.biography.ms/
Their religious pedigree goes back to about 60 A.D., when St. Mark, St,Luke, and his friend "Theophilus" apparently converted a lot of Egyptians and Ethiopians to Christianity.
Their customs are a lot closer to those of the Apostles, than ours. If you're a dirt-poor goatherding family, and your people have an infant mortality rate of about 50% and a life expectancy of about 35, you marry your girls very early, to a man you think will be kind to her and, in a sense, carry the expense of "raising" her for you.
Like any of the wives of the Patriarchs!
And yes, it was a Christian wedding.
Exactly. The girl in the story was being married into a family that sounds prosperous, and possibly educated by the standards of the location, since he was a deacon. In a society based on traditional ways, where life is hard and education and opportunity limited, these patterns developed.
But notice, too, that a lot of the girls attending the school were wives. Education is creeping in and changing the traditional ways, at least a bit. If not for this child, her daughters may find things better.
The sad part is that many of them are allowed to enter the country as immigrants. Beetles anybody?
All this is made possible because the right is afraid to speak up.
Try Northern Arizona too, home of radical Mormons who beat their minor daughters so they marry their uncles, who already have a few wives.
btt
This story is just another illustration that children matter very little in many places. And I realize all too well that it is rampant everywhere, not just in poverty stricken third world countries.
I figured you did. I was just putting an exclamation point on your post.
agreed!
A commendable custom?????
You are seriously whacked - even more so because you think it is your place to chose your daughter's mate.
I sure hope you live somewhere other than the USA.
good post
Unfortunately, s/he has plenty of company in here these days...
I used to have a kitty named Nermal!!!!!
You must be kidding us, right... The concept of "born again" and "washed in the cleansing blood" must elude you also.
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My kitty, of whom I have no pictures because it was 1988 and I have moved a gillion times since then, looked just like his namesake. He was also teeny his whole life.
He ended up being run over, smashed actually, by someone who did it on purpose. One of the many instances in my kitty owning experiences that has led to my decision to never let any of my kitties outside ever again. My Nermal was one in a million, and I still miss him. There are some very cruel people out there.
Check out my page to see my newest rescue kitty. He just came to me last week. We are very happy to have him.
What a cutie. You've got some really pretty little girls there too.
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