Enough Already! 

   Our neighbors are just asking for milk, for food, for medicine, for liberty. 

   Salaries have gone up for some, but prices increased more. Hospitals lack basics, and public transportation often breaks down. One might travel to a nearby town without knowing if he or she can make it home the same day.

   These are our Cuban neighbors, who are protesting conditions, and pastors are beginning to speak out...all at risk. A Catholic priest decided he had to say it: "Communism is a big lie." 

   Clergy should avoid politics? He notes the Bible's emphasis on helping the poor, "and if people are suffering because of a system, you have to denounce it. Not to talk - while a parishioner is in prison - is to leave people (without a voice)." 

   Jatniel Perez, a Reformed Baptist pastor, publicly demanded the release of two pastors detained by Cuban police during large street demonstrations. The Cuban president declared an "order of combat." 

   Police violently clashed with protesters and detained hundreds around the country. Some may face long prison sentences. 

   Police had jailed two pastors who teach at the seminary Perez founded. He called for their release on social media and spread the news, including in the U.S. Security officials called several times, ordering him to stop. He refused and responded on Facebook, saying he was unafraid of their threats.

   "I am Jatniel Perez ... If it bothers you that I am saying these things, then you know very well where I live." 

WORLD magazine

   We who are flirting with "socialism" need to speak for freedom before we have to fight for it all over again. 

              Jimmy