Christian Group Wants Native Tribe Brought to Justice for Death of Missionary John Chau

[blue-wave]

37. Agreed

They even destroyed other Christian groups as I discovered in my families' history. My families' ancestral home in present day Poland was forcibly taken from them and the Eastern Orthodox church that served their ethnic group was demolished to make way for a "playground" for Polish children. This ethnic group, the Lemko, were ethnically cleansed from their homeland of centuries. Although not much history is written about this tragic event or the placing of blame on the Catholic church, I suspect otherwise. How did Poland become an almost exclusive Roman Catholic country but throughout it's history it never was? As a people, Lemko have been misunderstood and abused by more powerful neighbors.

The Lemko are descended from the White Croatians, White in ancient terms, meaning western and have been known by many names throughout the ages. From White Croats to Lemko, Carpathian Rus, Ruthenians, Rusyns, Rusins and more. Some better known Americans of Lemko descent are Andy Warhol, actors Robert Urich and Adrian Pasdar, as well as Tom Ridge.

In present day Europe they are, as Warhol once said, "from nowhere." They are a people without a country because of ugly and evil hatred, bigotry and greed. They live mostly within present day Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine along the North and South foothills of the Carpathian mountain range. They have a long and complicated history, so I could go on and on.

Having their lands stolen from them and being so misunderstood is something I feel they have in common with the Native American experience.