I read the links. For the benefit of others I will post them here.
http://crossingthebaltic.com/2012/09...enced-history/
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/sami/die...vangelical.htm
What's so interesting to me is how one culture can have something done to them, and turn right around and do it to another. For example, Finns in Russia were persecuted in just the same way as the Sami were by the Finns. They were forbidden to speak their own language or have their own schools, or their own religion. This was actually done by an atheist leader (Stalin), so it seems evident that it is not about Christianity itself being created as a system of oppression like many insist it was, but some kind of virus within the hearts of men, regardless of their chosen system, which makes them desire to conquer and annihilate anything which challenges their goals.
Of course, I very much doubt that the particular Finns who were persecuted wanted anything but to live in peace. Finland itself is a divided country, and has been since pretty much the beginning. It is made up of many different types of people, like all Westernized nations. So I don't agree with everything my homeland does, but there are traits many of us share that I find honorable and those of us who are still connected to the land and spirits.
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