tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83580105925590176312024-03-14T18:22:45.784+10:30Persecution of BelieversSign of the End Times - Persecution....Mat 24:9-10 Then they will deliver you up to be afflicted and will kill you. And you will be hated of all nations for My name's sake. (10) And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-58096011037873679402011-10-12T15:01:00.000+10:302011-10-12T15:01:23.062+10:30<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<h1 class="title" id="page-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 25px; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Not a Single Christian Church Left in Afghanistan, Says State Department</h1><div class="region clear-block" id="main-content" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="node clear-block" id="node-129188" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="meta" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="submitted" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="sources-fields author-count-1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="blog-style-author no-photo count-0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div></div></span></div><div class="content" id="node-content" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></b></div><div class="caption alignright" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; float: right; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 240px;"><a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/image/afghanistan-54" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0e5ad4; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="afghanistan "><img alt="afghanistan " class="" height="132" src="http://www.cnsnews.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/medium/images/afghanistan%20%20ap%20photo.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="afghanistan " width="220" /></a><div class="caption" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">(AP Photo.)</div></div><div jquery1318285710333="451" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(CNSNews.com)</b> -- There is not a single, public Christian church left in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. State Department.</div><div jquery1318285710333="451" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This reflects the state of religious freedom in that country ten years after the United States first invaded it and overthrew its Islamist Taliban regime.</div><div jquery1318285710333="451" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the intervening decade, U.S. taxpayers have spent $440 billion to support Afghanistan's new government and more than 1,700 U.S. military personnel have died serving in that country.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The last public Christian church in Afghanistan was razed in March 2010, according to the State Department's latest International Religious Freedom Report. The report, which was released last month and covers the period of July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, also states that “there were no Christian schools in the country.”</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“There is no longer a public Christian church; the courts have not upheld the church's claim to its 99-year lease, and the landowner destroyed the building in March [2010],” reads the State Department report on religious freedom. “[Private] chapels and churches for the international community of various faiths are located on several military bases, PRTs [Provincial Reconstruction Teams], and at the Italian embassy. Some citizens who converted to Christianity as refugees have returned.”</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In recent times, freedom of religion has declined in Afghanistan, according to the State Department.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The government’s level of respect for religious freedom in law and in practice declined during the reporting period, particularly for Christian groups and individuals,” reads the State Department report.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Negative societal opinions and suspicion of Christian activities led to targeting of Christian groups and individuals, including Muslim converts to Christianity," said the report. "The lack of government responsiveness and protection for these groups and individuals contributed to the deterioration of religious freedom.”</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most Christians in the country refuse to “state their beliefs or gather openly to worship,” said the State Department.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">More than 1,700 U.S. military personnel have died serving in the decade-old Afghanistan war, according to CNSNews.com’s database of all U.S. casualties in Afghanistan. A September audit released jointly by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and the State Department’s Office of Inspector General, found that the U.S. government will spend at least $1.7 billion to support the civilian effort from 2009-2011.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">According to that report, the $1.7 billion excludes additional security costs, which the report says the State Department priced at about $491 million.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A March 2011 <a href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/172437.pdf" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0e5ad4; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">report</a> by the Congressional Research Service showed that overall the United States has spent more than $440 billion in the Afghanistan war. Christian aid from the international community has also gone to aid the Afghan government.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nevertheless, according to the State Department, the lack of non-Muslim religious centers in Afghanistan can be blamed in part on a “strapped government budget,” which is primarily fueled by the U.S. aid.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“There were no explicit restrictions for religious minority groups to establish places of worship and training of clergy to serve their communities,” says the report, “however, very few public places of worship exist for minorities due to a strapped government budget.”</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The report acknowledged that Afghanistan’s post-Taliban constitution, which was ratified with the help of U.S. mediation in 2004, can be contradictory when it comes to the free exercise of religion.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While the new constitution states that Islam is the “religion of the state” and that “no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam,” it also proclaims that “followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of the law.”</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">However, “the right to change one’s religion was not respected either in law or in practice,” according to the State Department.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Muslims who converted away from Islam risked losing their marriages, rejection from their families and villages, and loss of jobs,” according to the report. “Legal aid for imprisoned converts away from Islam remains difficult due to the personal objection of Afghan lawyers to defend apostates.”</div><div class="caption alignright" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; float: right; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 240px;"><a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/image/afghanistan-26" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0e5ad4; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Afghanistan"><img alt="Afghanistan" class="" height="169" src="http://www.cnsnews.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/medium/523d2811d5824f91a417bd41fb775c95.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Afghanistan" width="220" /></a><div class="caption" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">In this image made available from the Afghanistan Presidential Palace, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, shakes hand with new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, July 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Presidential Palace)</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The report does note that “in recent years neither the national nor local authorities have imposed criminal penalties on coverts from Islam.” The report says that “conversion from Islam is considered apostasy and is punishable by death under some interpretations of Islamic rule in the country.”</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Also, in recent years, the death punishment for blasphemy “has not been carried out,” according to the State Department.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">According to the State Department report, the United States continues to promote religious freedom in Afghanistan--even though the country no longer has even one Christian church.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The U.S. government regularly discusses religious freedom with government officials as part of its overall policy to promote human rights,” according to the report.</div></div></div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-9555979330103800772011-10-12T14:55:00.005+10:302011-10-12T15:00:09.567+10:3011/10/11 - Christians under siege in post-revolution Egypt<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="AP Photo" src="http://hosted.ap.org/photos/6/6b08f7f9-d2bc-465c-ae76-3370ab91bce9-small.jpg" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's Coptic Christians have long felt like second-class citizens in their own country.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Now many fear that the power vacuum left after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak is giving Muslim extremists free rein to torch churches and attack Coptic homes in the worst violence against the community in decades.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">An assault Sunday night on Christians protesting over a church attack set off riots that drew in Muslims, Christians and the police. Among the 26 people left killed in the melee, most were Copts. For Coptic scholar Wassem el-Sissi, it was evidence that the Christian community in Egypt is vulnerable as never before.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">"In the absence of law, you can understand how demolishing a church goes unpunished," he said. "I have not heard of anyone who got arrested or prosecuted."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Once a majority in Egypt, Copts now make up about 10 percent of the country's 85 million people. They are the largest Christian community in the Middle East. Their history dates back 19 centuries and the language used in their liturgy can be traced to the speech of Egypt's pharaohs. Proud of their history and faith, many Copts are identifiable by tattoos of crosses or Jesus Christ on their right wrists, and Coptic women do not wear the veil as the vast majority of Muslim women in Egypt do.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Under Mubarak, the problems of Copts festered even if they faced less violence than they do now. Their demands for a law to regulate construction of churches went unanswered and attacks on churches went unpunished.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Copts shared in the euphoria of the 18-day revolution that ousted Mubarak and like so many other Egyptians their hopes for change were high. Mainly, they wanted to be on equal footing with Muslims.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">At Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution against Mubarak, there were glimpses of a fleeting utopia where coexistence and mutual respect between Muslims and Christians was the rule. The iconic image of Christians forming a human shield around Muslim worshippers during Friday prayers to protect them from thugs and pro-Mubarak loyalists spoke volumes to the dream.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">But shortly after Mubarak's ouster, a series of assaults on Christians brought home a stark reality: The fading of authoritarian rule empowered Islamist fundamentalists, known here as Salafis, who have special resentment for Christians.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">While the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood has long been Egypt's best organized opposition movement, the Salafis are a new player in politics. They are ultraconservatives, close to Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi interpretation of Islam and more radical than the Brotherhood. They seek to emulate the austerity of Islam's early days and oppose a wide range of practices they view as "un-Islamic" - rejecting the treatment of non-Muslims as citizens with equal rights as well as all forms of Western cultural influence.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">The Salafis persistently accuse the Copts of trying to spread Christianity in a Muslim nation, echoing Wahhabism's deep distrust and hostility of other religions.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Mubarak's regime tolerated the Salafis and they expanded in numbers and power over the years. However, after Mubarak's overthrow, they enjoyed more freedom than ever before to go after their No. 1 target - Christians.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Now rarely a month passes without a sectarian incident - a Muslim-Christian love affair or battles over constructing a church.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">On Feb. 23, less than two weeks after Mubarak's ouster, a priest was found dead with several stab wounds and witnesses say masked men shouting Allahu-Akbar (God is Great) were seen leaving his apartment. The incident triggered protests in the southern city of Assiut where Christians scuffled with Muslims.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Not long after in March, a Muslim-Christian love affair led a Muslim mob to torch a church in Soul village to the south of Cairo and set it on fire. When Christians held a protest denouncing the attack on the church, they were attacked by Muslim mob wielding guns, knives and clubs. When it was done, 13 were dead and 140 injured.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">The next month, thousands of protesters, most of them Islamic hard-liners and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, protested in front of the governor's office in the southern city of Qena to denounce the appointment a day earlier of a new Coptic Christian governor. In the face of the protests, the government replaced the Coptic governor.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Then in May, Islamic ultraconservatives burned a church in the working-class district of Imbaba in Cairo and clashed with Christians leaving 12 dead.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Those riots were triggered by a Christian woman who had an affair with a Muslim man. And when she disappeared, the man spread rumors that Christian clergy had snatched her and were holding her prisoner in a local church because she converted to Islam.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Then a few months passed with no attacks, until Sunday night, now known as the "bloody Sunday."</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">The Christians were protesting in Cairo over the events of Sept. 30 when a Muslim mob that set fire on a church in southern village of Marynab in Aswan province because they believed the Christians were illegally constructing a new church. Church officials had documents showing they had permission to build a new church to replace a previous, run-down one at the same site.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Under Mubarak-era rules, the building of a church or repairs for an existing one required permission from local authorities and the state security agency but since permission was rarely given, Christians at times resorted to building churches in secret, often in parish guesthouses.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Even before the attack, Muslim protests prompted priests to turn to security officials, who arranged a meeting with local elders and Salafis. In the face of their demands, the priests agreed to take down a cross and bells on the church, according to church officials. Still, after the Christians erected a dome, the mob attacked, setting the church and nearby homes and shops on fire.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Aswan's governor, Gen. Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, escalated the tensions by telling the media that the church was being built on the site of a guesthouse, suggesting it was illegal.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">In response, hundreds of Christians marched in front of the governor's office last week, demanding those behind the attack be prosecuted and families who lost homes be compensated. Christians also protested in Cairo, cutting off a main avenue in the heart of the capital, demanding the governor's ouster, until soldiers dispersed them by force.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Days after the Aswan attack, Muslim villagers in the southern province of Sohag tried to storm Saint Girgis church, shouting "No to church construction," as Christians on rooftops rained stones down on them. The assault was prompted by construction of a church in a guesthouse.</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">On Monday, the Coptic church declared three days of morning for those killed the night before and blasted authorities for allowing repeated attacks on Christians with impunity. The statement lamented "problems that occur repeatedly and go unpunished."</span></div><div class="ap-story-p" style="font-family: Verdana, Times, serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal verdana, helvetica, arial; line-height: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Outside the Coptic Hospital in Cairo, where bodies of 17 slain protesters were brought, a Coptic woman named Iman Sanada with a small cross tattooed on her wrist, lamented the deaths and shrieked: "It's my right to live as a citizen and not a second-class citizen."</span></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-24095347545520488932011-10-04T06:27:00.000+10:302011-10-04T06:27:24.037+10:303/10/11 - Criminalizing Christianity, in Iran and the West<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">We rightly condemn the persecution of Christianity in Iran -- so why do we react with such dull silence to the creeping criminalization of Christian beliefs and practices in the West?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 14px;"></span><br />
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padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Patheos Evangelical Page</a> on Facebook to receive today's best commentary on Evangelical issues.</em></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By the time this column appears, we may know the earthly fate of <a href="http://aclj.org/iran/update-from-iran-christian-pastor-youcef-facing-imminent-execution-faith" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani</a>, the Iranian Christian who is under sentence of death for apostasy from Islam. As of Wednesday, September 28, Nadarkhani had declined his final opportunity to renounce Jesus Christ before a regional court. He could be executed at any time.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Iran's leaders are in a difficult spot, if one of their own making. Whatever they decide, they will be crossing a Rubicon. For a regime riven by internal dissent and despised by much of the population, there are no low-cost options. Killing Nadarkhani has the feel of stepping over a precipice, perhaps setting in motion forces that will operate according to an unpredictable logic of their own. The extremists in Iran who believe Christians will have to die are not necessarily prepared at the moment to start killing them. And there are some officials and clerics, even in the revolutionary Islamic government, who recoil from the prospect of executing one, much less many.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yet the religious authorities in Iran must be concerned about letting the Christian church grow unchecked. According to the American Center for Law and Justice, <a href="http://www.ea.org.au/ea-family/Religious-Liberty/IRAN--STATE-VIOLENCE---PERSECUTION-ESCALATING----.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">more than 280 Iranian Christians were arrested</a> for practicing their faith in the first half of 2011. Others have documented <a href="http://www.farsinet.com/dibaj/pastor_youcef_nadarkhani.html" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">previous cases of arrest and persecution</a> from the last decade. The outside world knows the stories of some, like <a href="http://teaandpolitics.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/iran-christian-convert-detained-in-evin-prison-whose-fate-remains-unresolved-and-unclear/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Farshid Fathi</a>, arrested in September 2010, whose current status is unknown; <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/iranian-christian-pays-for-faith-with-105-days-in-evin-prison-55359/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Mehdi Forootan</a>, a friend of Fathi who spent 105 days in the notorious Evin prison; and <a href="http://www.fcnn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=597:two-young-iranian-christian-women-in-notorious-evin-prison-&catid=127:iranian-christian&Itemid=593" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad and Maryam Rustampoor</a>, two young women <a href="http://missionsmandate.org/index.php/2009/11/19/iran-releases-two-christian-women-from-evin-prison/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">held for eight months in 2009</a>. The names and histories of others are unknown.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 261px;"><div class="accordion-toggle-active" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: url(http://css.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/images/headerBar_mostPopular.jpg); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-width: 0px; color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Optimistic Christian<a href="http://www.patheos.com/Columns.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="RSS" id="rss-icon-inline" src="http://css.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/images/rss-icon-14.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a></div><div class="accordion-content" style="background-color: #e3f3fa; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Criminalizing-Christianity-in-Iran-and-the-West-JE-Dyer-10-03-2011.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #e3f3fa; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; display: block; font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Criminalizing Christianity, in Iran and the West</a><a href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Politics-of-Complaint-J-E-Dyer-09-26-2011.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #e3f3fa; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; display: block; font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Politics of Complaint</a><a href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Heroic-Warriors-Heroic-Citizens-JE-Dyer-09-19-2011.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #e3f3fa; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; display: block; font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Heroic Warriors, Heroic Citizens</a><a href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Bones-of-American-Society-Broken-JE-Dyer-09-11-2011.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #e3f3fa; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; display: block; font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are the Bones of American Society Broken?</a><a href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Dangerous-Erosion-of-Authority-JE-Dyer-09-05-2011.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #e3f3fa; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; display: block; font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Dangerous Erosion of Authority</a><a href="http://www.patheos.com/About-Patheos/J-E-Dyer.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #e3f3fa; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; display: block; float: right; font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Author Bio »</a><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></ul></div></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But what <em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">is</em> known is that more and more Muslims, <a href="http://99.198.99.154/testimony/khosrow.htm" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">from Iran</a> and elsewhere, are reporting <a href="http://www.spiritdaily.net/Sign_Wonders/Mideast%20in%20prophecy/muslimdreams.htm" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">dreams and visions of Jesus</a>. The trend is so pervasive that there is <a href="http://www.isaalmasih.net/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">a website</a>dedicated to encouraging Muslims who have had such encounters. There is an energy and hope in these reports that is mirrored in <a href="http://presenttruthmn.com/blog/iran/letter-youcef-nadarkhani/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0f5d9a; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">the letter sent from Youcef Nadarkhani</a> a few weeks ago. The letter is written in the accents of a pastor, urging and exhorting his flock:</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">O beloved ones, difficulties do not weaken mankind, but they reveal the true human nature.</em></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It will be good for us to occasionally face persecutions and abnormalities, since these abnormalities will persuade us to search our hearts, and to survey ourselves.</em></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So as a result, we conclude that troubles are difficult, but usually good and useful to build us.</em></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dear brothers and sisters, we must be more careful than any other time.</em></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Because in these days, the hearts and thoughts of many are revealed, so that the faith is tested. . . .</em></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As a small servant, necessarily in prison to carry out what I must do, I say with faith in the word of God that he will come soon. "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"</em></div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-1240673602929858932011-09-30T06:42:00.001+09:302011-09-30T06:42:32.484+09:3029/9/11 - Praying in Paris streets outlawed<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">Praying in the streets of Paris is against the law starting Friday, after the interior minister warned that police will use force if Muslims, and those of any other faith, disobey the new rule to keep the French capital's public spaces secular.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px;"></span><br />
<div class="oneHalf gutter" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; width: 460px;"><div class="story" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 2px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 3px;"><div id="storyEmbSlide" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="slideshow ssMain" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px;"><div class="nextPrevLayer" style="height: 317px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="ssImg" style="display: block; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="Praying in Paris streets outlawed " height="287" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01999/cl_1999241c.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block;" width="460" /><br />
<div class="artImageExtras" style="font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="ingCaptionCredit" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 2px;"><span class="caption" style="color: #404040; line-height: 1.38em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 0px;">Claude Guéant promised the new legislation would be followed to the letter</span> <span class="credit" style="color: #999999; line-height: 1.38em;">Photo: AFP/GETTY</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="cl" style="clear: both; display: table;"></div><div class="byline" style="padding-bottom: 5px;"><div><div class="bylineImg" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/henry-samuel/" style="color: #234b7b; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Henry Samuel" border="0" height="60" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01768/Samuel_60_1768753j.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block;" width="60" /></a></div><div class="bylineBody" style="color: #3f3f3f; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;">By <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/henry-samuel/" rel="author" style="color: #234b7b; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Henry Samuel">Henry Samuel</a>, Paris</div></div><div class="publishedDate" style="color: #3f3f3f; float: left; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 390px;">5:56PM BST 15 Sep 2011</div><div class="cl" style="clear: both; display: table;"></div></div><div id="mainBodyArea"><div class="firstPar"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Claude Guéant said that ban could later be extended to the rest of<strong><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/" style="color: #234b7b; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">France</a></strong>, in particular to the Mediterranean cities of Nice and Marseilles, where "the problem persists".</div></div><div class="secondPar"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He promised the new legislation would be followed to the letter as it "hurts the sensitivities of many of our fellow citizens".</div></div><div class="thirdPar"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"My vigilance will be unflinching for the law to be applied. Praying in the street is not dignified for religious practice and violates the principles of secularism, the minister told Le Figaro newspaper.</div></div><div class="fourthPar"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"All Muslim leaders are in agreement," he insisted.</div></div><div class="fifthPar"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In December when Marine Le Pen, then leader-in-waiting of the far-Right National Front, sparked outrage by <strong><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8197895/Marine-Le-Pen-Muslims-in-France-like-Nazi-occupation.html" style="color: #234b7b; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">likening the practice to the Nazi occupation of Paris in the Second World War</a></strong> "without the tanks or soldiers". She said it was a "political act of fundamentalists".</div></div><div class="related_links_inline" id="tmg-related-links" style="background-color: #f4f4f0; border-bottom-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 460px;"><div class="headerOne styleOne" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: url(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/grey_dots.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; border-top-color: rgb(0, 122, 143); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 2px; color: #262626; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 2px;"><h2 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-size: small; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;">RELATED ARTICLES</span></h2></div><ul style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; list-style-image: url(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/articleBullet.gif); list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li class="bullet" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/sprite-icon.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px -1048px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 18px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; display: inline; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 0.8em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8197895/Marine-Le-Pen-Muslims-in-France-like-Nazi-occupation.html" style="color: #234b7b; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 13px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none;">Muslims praying in France 'like Nazi occupation'</a> </div><span class="relContDate" style="color: #545454; font-family: helvetica; line-height: 13px; text-transform: none;">12 Dec 2010</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="body"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">More than half of right-wing sympathisers in France agreed with Marine Le Pen, at least one poll suggested.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Nicolas Sarkozy's party denounced the comments, but the President called for a debate on Islam and secularism and went on to say that multiculturalism had failed in France.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Following the debate, Mr Guéant promised a countrywide ban "within months", saying the "street is for driving in, not praying".</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In April, a ban on wearing the full Islamic veil came into force. Holland today became the third European country to ban the burka, after Belgium, despite the fact fewer than 100 Dutch women are thought to wear the face-covering Islamic dress.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Yesterday, Mr Guéant said the prayer problem was limited to two roads in the Goutte d'Or district of Paris's eastern 19th arrondissement, where "more than a thousand" people blocked the street every Friday.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">However, a stroll through several districts in Paris on a Friday suggests that Muslims spill into the streets outside many mosques.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Under an agreement signed this week, believers will be able to use the premises of a vast nearby fire station while awaiting the construction of a bigger mosque.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"We could go as far as using force if necessary (to impose the ban), but it's a scenario I don't believe will happen, as dialogue (with local religious leaders) has born fruit," he said.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Sheikh Mohamed salah Hamza, in charge of one of the Parisian mosques which regularly overflows, said he would obey the new law, but complained: "We are not cattle" and that he was "not entirely satisfied" with the new location. He said he feared many believers would continue to prefer going to the smaller mosque.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Public funding of places of religious worship is banned under a 1905 law separating church and state. Mr Guéant said that there were 2,000 mosques in France with half being built in the past ten years.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">France has Europe's largest Muslim population, with an estimated five million in total.</div></div></div></div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-46207652774254015982011-09-30T06:39:00.000+09:302011-09-30T06:39:36.021+09:3029/9/11 - More Than 100 Christians Killed in Nigeria’s Plateau State<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px;">Entire families slaughtered in month of attacks, apparently with military help.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px;">JOS, Nigeria – A rash of attacks by armed Muslim extremists on villages in <a class="topicLine" href="http://www.christianpost.com/region/nigeria/" style="color: #0156a2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Nigeria</a>’s Plateau state in the past month have left more than 100 Christians dead, including the elimination of entire families, sources said.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div id="article" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: auto;"><div class="relatedArticle" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; float: left; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 25px; margin-top: 3px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 13px; padding-left: 14px; padding-right: 9px; padding-top: 13px; width: 233px;"><div class="title" style="color: #272728; font-size: 9.4pt; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Related</div><ul style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.2em; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: 9pt; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a class="preview" href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/nigerias-christians-muslims-urge-peace-after-dozens-killed-55041/" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img align="left" alt="Persecution" height="44" src="http://images.christianpost.com/thumb/45652/persecution.jpg?w=80&h=44" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="80" /></a><a class="preview" href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/nigerias-christians-muslims-urge-peace-after-dozens-killed-55041/" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Nigeria's Christians, Muslims Urge Peace After Dozens Killed</a><div class="clear" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div></li>
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</ul></div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In a guerilla-type “hit and run” attack on the Christian community of Vwang Kogot, Muslim attackers at about 8 p.m. on Sept. 9 killed 14 Christians, including a pregnant woman. Survivors of the attack told Compass that the assailants raided the village with the aid of men in military uniforms of the Nigerian Army.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Many of the victims were members of a single family surnamed Danboyi.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“We heard gunshots in our village and realized that the sound was coming from a neighbor’s house, so we quickly ran to find out what was happening but saw a soldier at the entrance of the house with a gun ready to shoot at anybody who comes around, and at the same time preventing those inside from escaping,” village resident Markus Mamba told Compass. “We couldn’t get any closer because we were hearing gunshots at random, and we had no weapons with us to use to withstand the might of those soldiers, as there were quite a number of them around the house.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Hiding, Mamba and others could only observe the killing, he said.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“After the soldiers and the Muslims left, we rushed into the place to see the destruction they did,” he said. “We discovered that 14 people were killed. Among them was a pregnant woman who died with a child in her womb – bringing the number of deaths to 15 persons. We also observed that the victims died from gun and machete wounds.”</div><div class="getfaceBook" style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ChristianPost.Intl" style="color: #0156a2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom;">Facebook</a> <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;"><fb:like class=" fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" font="" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Christian-Post/41093998634" layout="button_count" send="true" show_faces="false" style="display: inline-block; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: bottom;" width="100"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: bottom;"><iframe class="fb_ltr" id="f6897e638" name="f2fd983c68" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?channel_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs-static.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fconnect%2Fxd_proxy.php%3Fversion%3D3%23cb%3Df1807db2b%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.christianpost.com%252Ff2493b4148%26relation%3Dparent.parent%26transport%3Dpostmessage&extended_social_context=false&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2FThe-Christian-Post%2F41093998634&layout=button_count&locale=en_US&node_type=link&sdk=joey&send=true&show_faces=false&width=150" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: bottom; width: 150px;" title="Like this content on Facebook."></iframe></span></fb:like></span></div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Gyang Badung survived the attack, but his wife, four children, mother, grandmother and a nephew did not, he told Compass.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“I came home in the evening and had my meal, and right after I finished, I heard strange movement around our house and suddenly heard gunshots everywhere as my house was being attacked,” Badung said.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He jumped through his bedroom window and ran to a farm behind his house, he said.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“I waited in the bush, helpless, not knowing what to do until they left,” he said. “I saw more than nine people who came to attack us leaving into the bush and going away from our village. When I returned home, I found out that my whole family had been killed except for two sons, who were injured but survived, and my father who also narrowly escaped and ran into the bush.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The ages of the children he lost were 15, 9, 5, and 4. His two injured sons are receiving hospital treatment.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Vou Mallam, another survivor of the attack, was with her husband and children when the raiders broke into their house. She escaped death when she found a hiding place in one of the rooms. Her husband, only son and grandchildren were killed.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“After our evening meal, we prayed and asked the children to go to bed,” she told Compass. “Suddenly we heard gunshots in our house, so I quickly crawled into the children’s room and put off the lamp and crawled again to hide under the bed in another place. I saw a soldier with a gun coming into the room, but he did not see me, and I heard some of them saying by the window, ‘There is nobody here.’</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“But it was like they heard a movement and immediately started shooting. That was how they killed my husband in the place he was hiding, and my only son and his children in the other room were all killed.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">She said she heard the assailants speaking the Fulani language. Ethnic Fulani are primarily Muslim nomads in Nigeria whom militant Muslims appear to be enlisting to attack Christian communities due to the Fulanis’ expert understanding of the terrain of rural communities, area Christians said. Having lived their lives as nomads with their cattle, the Fulani have acquired the skills to surmount tough environmental challenges, area residents believe.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dachung Dagai, pastor of a Church of Christ in Nigeria congregation in Vwang Kogot, told Compass that the village has been attacked three times since he arrived eight months ago.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“I was transferred here on Jan. 5,” he said. “The second day of my being in this place, the Muslim attackers attacked this village, and after two weeks they came again and attacked our village, killing two of our members.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dagi reported that assault and two subsequent attacks to security agencies, but no action has been taken, he said.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“No help or <a class="topicLine" href="http://www.christianpost.com/topics/relief/" style="color: #0156a2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">relief</a> from the government has been received by our people,” Dagai said. “We’ve just been living with the horror of not knowing what will happen next.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dagai said their main concern is that Nigerian army soldiers have been involved in each attack.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“What is the government doing about the soldiers?” he said. “In some places, enough evidence has been found against these Muslim soldiers and nothing has been done. Can’t the soldiers be withdrawn from the state? We are not in a war situation on the plateau, and the soldiers were brought for <a class="topicLine" href="http://www.christianpost.com/topics/peace/" style="color: #0156a2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">peace</a>-keeping, but they are the ones leading attacks against us. Why can’t they be withdrawn? The government officials have always said they will look into the problems, but nothing has been done.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Adamu Tsuka, community leader in Vwang Kogot, told Compass that Christians killed in the attack were Mallam Danboyi; Zaka Danboyi; Ngyem Danboyi; Hjan Badung; Naomi Gyang; Rifkatu, 15; Patience, 9; Ishaku, 5; Nerat, 4; Dauda Badung, 22; Martha Dauda, 20; Mary Dauda, 6; Isaac Dauda, 4; Mafeng Bulus, 18; and the unborn child.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“This is the fifth time our people have been murdered,” Tsuka said. “There is nothing we can do. Many of my people have been killed. Please, we want the government to help us do something; if not, we can’t live here again.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The January attack in Vwang Kogot village left no casualties. The second attack took place in the same month, resulting in the killing of Baba Wang Mwantap. The third raid this year took place in May, when two Christians, Bulus Pam and Irimiya Maisaje, were killed, area residents said.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On Sept. 10, Muslim extremists stormed Vwang Fwil village at about 3 a.m. and killed 13 Christians. Several others were being treated at Vom Christian Hospital, sources said.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On Sept. 8, Muslim extremists attacked Tsohon Foron village, killing 10 Christians, all members of the family of Danjuma Gyang Tsok. The attackers, surviving members of the community say, were assisted in the attack by armed military personnel of the Nigerian Army.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Those killed included Danjuma Gyang Tsok; Polohlis Mwanti; Perewat Polohlis, 9; Patience Polohlis, 3; Blessing Polohlis, 5; Paulina Pam, 13; Maimuna Garba; Kale Garba; Hadiza Garba, 10; and Aisha Garba, 3.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In the village of Zakalio in Jos North Local Government Area, at about 2 a.m. on Sept. 5, Muslim extremists killed seven Christians. The same day another group of Muslim attackers raided the Christian communities of Dabwak Kuru and Farin Lamba in Jos South and Riyom Local Government Areas, killing four Christians.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On Sept. 4, Muslim extremists attacked Tatu village near Heipang, killing eight Christian members of a family – Chollom Gyang and his wife Hannatu and their six children, including a 3-year-old, sources said. They were shot and then butchered with machetes.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The attack on Tatu village occurred less than three weeks after the killing of the family of a Christian identified only by the surname of Agbo and a staff member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God at Heipang on Aug. 15. In addition, on Aug. 20, three Christians were killed at Kwi village and one at Loton village.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Emmanuel Dachollom Loman, chairman of the Barkin Ladi Local Government Council, told Compass that there was no doubt that those who attacked were Muslims.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“I was sleeping when I received a phone call at about 12:30, shortly after midnight, that some unknown persons came to attack and killed all members of a family,” he said. “A few weeks ago, seven members of a family were killed in a similar attack. This is becoming too much to bear; the government should help us in this local government before Muslims come and wipe all of us out one day. I can’t contain this anymore; it’s too much.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Loman said he has repeatedly reported the attacks to security agencies and the Nigerian government, but nothing has been done to protect his people.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“We have made appeals to the federal government,” Loman said. “We have told them that the Muslims in the area of Mahangar village have lots of sophisticated weapons, and that they are the ones attacking my people, but the federal government has refused to do anything about it.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He complained to a federal government delegation that came to investigate the killing of eight family members of another family last month, he said, “but our concerns and fears have been ignored.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Other villages attacked in the past month were Rassa and Rabwat.</div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-36735154960304391812011-09-30T06:36:00.002+09:302011-09-30T06:36:42.151+09:3029/9/11 - Calif. Student Punished for Saying 'Bless You'<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px;">“<strong class="keyword" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Bless you</strong>.” For uttering those words, a student at William C. Wood High School in Vacaville, Calif. was punished this week by a teacher who claimed that the student disrupted his classroom.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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</ul></div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“It’s not … got anything to do with religion,” Wood High health teacher Steve Cuckovich told KTXL News in Sacramento. “It’s got to do with an interruption of class time.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Rather than issue the student a warning for his alleged offense, Cuckovich decided to take 25 points off the student’s grade, the better to deter other students from mouthing “bless you” or other religious phrases that offend the teacher’s sensibility.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“The blessing really doesn’t make sense anymore,” Cuckovich explained. “When you sneezed in the old days, they thought you were dispelling evil spirits out of your body. So they were saying, ‘God bless you,’ for getting rid of evil spirits. But today, what you’re doing really doesn’t make sense.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Parents of Woods High students disagree with the school’s health teacher. They say that what doesn’t make sense is that he would go to the extreme length of punishing a student for such innocent words.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“I think that’s ridiculous,” said parent Alan Johnson. “First, the <strong class="keyword" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Pledge of Allegiance</strong>. Now, preventing a kid from saying ‘bless you?’”</div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Wood High Principal Cliff McGraw agreed that Cuckovich went overboard in his punishment. “He realizes he there’s better ways to do that,” McGraw said. “We don’t condone that kind of punishment.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: auto;"><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">That doesn’t mean that the health teacher will now allow students to speak the words “bless you” in his classroom. He just will find a less Draconian way to punish perpetrators, he said.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The controversy in Vacaville is just the latest example of what many in <a class="topicLine" href="http://www.christianpost.com/region/california/" style="color: #0156a2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">California</a>’s evangelical community perceive as growing anti-Christian, anti-religion bigotry in the state’s public schools.</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Just this month, in fact, a 3-judge panel of the <strong class="keyword" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals</strong> in San Francisco sided with school officials in Poway, Calif. who ordered high school math teacher Brad Johnson to remove two patriot banners he has displayed in his classroom for 25 years, which proclaim “<strong class="keyword" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In God We Trust</strong>,” “<strong class="keyword" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">God Bless America</strong>,” and “<strong class="keyword" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">God Shed His Grace On Thee</strong>.”</div><div style="font-size: 1.17em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Back in March, a 16-year-old high school student in El Cajon, Calif. sued the local school district after being suspended two days last year for bringing his bible to school and sharing his faith with interested classmates.</div></div></span>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-77151697303486185042011-09-30T06:34:00.002+09:302011-09-30T06:34:58.988+09:3029/9/11 - White House Condemns Possible Execution of Iranian Pastor<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div id="introduction" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><ul class="user-interaction" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f2f2f2; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; clear: both; display: block; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; zoom: 1;"><li class="print" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f2f2f2; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; float: left; font-weight: bold; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 16px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: -2px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/28/iranian-pastor-faces-execution-for-refusing-to-recant-christian-faith/print" style="cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal;"><br />
ite House condemned the conviction and possible death sentence for an Iranian pastor who refuses to renounce his Christian faith on Thursday, saying the execution would further demonstrate Iranian authorities "utter disregard" for religious freedom.</span></a></span></li>
</ul><div class="entry-content KonaBody" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Youcef Nadarkhani, 32, who maintains he has never been a Muslim as an adult, has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ, the 11th branch of Iran's Gilan Provincial Court has ruled. Iran's Supreme Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.</div><div class="sect vert" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="hmedia related-media m-7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 156px;"><div class="photo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="Yusuf Naderkhani and family" src="http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/World/156/88/youceffam640.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px;" /></div><div class="fn" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">An undated photograph circulated by religious rights organizations shows Yusuf Naderkhani and his family.</div></div><div class="hmedia related-media m-7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 156px;"><div class="photo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="Yusuf Naderkhani" src="http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/World/156/88/youcef640.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px;" /></div><div class="fn" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">An undated photograph provided by the American Center for Law & Justice shows Yusuf Naderkhani, an Iranian pastor who faces execution for refusing to recant his Christian faith.</div></div><dl class="related-mod" id="related-media" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-top-color: rgb(187, 0, 0); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 2px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px; width: 197px;"><dt style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span>RELATED</span> STORIES</dt>
<dd style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://www.fncstatic.com/static/all/img/global/bg-marker-1.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 6px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/09/28/facing-execution-for-crime-being-christian-in-iran/?intcmp=related" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Facing Execution for the 'Crime' of Being a Christian In Iran</a></dd><div class="ad qu" id="qu_story_2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; float: left; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><iframe border="0" frameborder="0" height="243" id="ifr-qu_story_2" scrolling="no" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="156"></iframe></div></dl></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"Pastor Nadarkhani has done nothing more than maintain his devout faith, which is a universal right for all people," the statement released by the White House read. "That the Iranian authorities would try to force him to renounce that faith violates the religious values they claim to defend, crosses all bounds of decency, and breaches Iran's own international obligations. A decision to impose the death penalty would further demonstrate the Iranian authorities' utter disregard for religious freedom, and highlight Iran's continuing violation of the universal rights of its citizens. We call upon the Iranian authorities to release Pastor Nadarkhani, and demonstrate a commitment to basic, universal human rights, including freedom of religion."</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah told The Associated Press on Thursday that his client has appeared before the appeals court over the past four days and expects a ruling by the end of next week. Dadkhah said he believes there's a "95 percent chance" of acquittal for Nadarkhani.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dadkhah said neither Iranian law nor clerics have ever stipulated the death penalty as punishment for converting from Islam to Christianity.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The judges in the case, according to the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), demanded that Nadarkhani recant his Christian faith before submission of evidence. Though the judgment runs against current Iranian and international laws and is not codified in Iranian penal code, the judge stated that the court must uphold the decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: "Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?"</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"To the religion of your ancestors, Islam," the judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"I cannot," Nadarkhani said.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">An unnamed source close to Nadarkhani's attorney told the American Center for Law and Justice that a judge has agreed to overturn Nadarkhani's death sentence, but the report could not be independently confirmed.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Even if the sentence is overturned, Jordan Sekulow, the executive director of the ACLJ, said the message is that it would be unlikely that Nadarkhani would be set free.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Nadarkhani is the latest Christian cleric to be imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs. According to Elam Ministries, a United Kingdom-based organization that serves Christian churches in Iran, there was a significant increase in the number of Christians arrested solely for practicing their faith between June 2010 and January 2011. A total of 202 arrests occurred during that six-month period, including 33 people who remained in prison as of January, Elam reported. </div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">An Assyrian evangelical pastor, Rev. Wilson Issavi, was imprisoned for 54 days for allegedly converting Muslims prior to his release in March 2010, Elam officials told FoxNews.com.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Nadarkhani, a pastor in the 400-member Church of Iran, has been held in that country's Gilan Province since October 2009, after he protested to local education authorities that his son was forced to read from the Koran at school. His wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, was also arrested in June 2010 in an apparent attempt to pressure him to renounce his faith. She was released in October 2010, according to Amnesty International.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for apostasy last September based on religious writings by Iranian clerics, including Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the fact that there is no offense of "apostasy" in the nation's penal code, Amnesty International reports.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In June, the Supreme Court of Iran ruled that a lower court should re-examine procedural flaws in the case, giving local judges the power to decide whether to release, execute or retry Nadarkhani. The verdict, according to Amnesty International, includes a provision for the sentence to be overturned should Nadarkhani renounce his faith.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Elise Auerbach, an Iranian analyst for Amnesty International USA, told FoxNews.com that an execution for apostasy has not been carried out in Iran since 1990. Nadarkhani's sentence is a "clear violation of international law," she said.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"The key is to keep up the pressure and to publicize the story because it obviously outrages most people," Auerbach said. "It's part of the pattern of persecution based on religion in Iran."</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Kiri Kankhwende, a spokeswoman for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organization that specializes in religious freedom, told FoxNews.com that Nadarkhani was asked for the fourth time to renounce his faith during a hearing early Wednesday and he denied that request.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"We're waiting to hear the final outcome," she told FoxNews.com. "We're still waiting to hear what they've decided."</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Kankhwende said Nadarkhani could be executed Wednesday or Thursday.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"Iran is unpredictable," she said. "We can't say when it might happen. It's a very real threat, but we can't say when exactly."</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Officials at the U.S. State Department declined to comment when reached on Wednesday.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">House Speaker John Boehner said Nadarkhani's case is "distressing for people of every country and creed," according to a statement released on Wednesday.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"While Iran's government claims to promote tolerance, it continues to imprison many of its people because of their faith," the statement read. "This goes beyond the law to an issue of fundamental respect for human dignity. I urge Iran's leaders to abandon this dark path, spare [Nadarkhani's] life, and grant him a full and unconditional release."</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Father Jonathan Morris, a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of New York and an analyst for Fox News Channel, said Nadarkhani's case is "unmistakable evidence" that Iran is executing Christians simply because they refuse to become Muslims.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Morris continued: "Will President Obama, and the free world, allow the United Nations to continue in its cowardly silence on this matter?"</div></div></div><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/28/iranian-pastor-faces-execution-for-refusing-to-recant-christian-faith/#ixzz1ZNTlLhmW" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/28/iranian-pastor-faces-execution-for-refusing-to-recant-christian-faith/#ixzz1ZNTlLhmW</a></span>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-79899933056969982802011-09-21T06:35:00.001+09:302011-09-21T06:36:26.408+09:3020/9/11 - CALIFORNIA CITY FINES COUPLE FOR HOLDING BIBLE STUDY IN THEIR HOME<ul class="social-tools" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: normal; height: 27px; line-height: 1; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><li class="comments" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: right; font-style: normal; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 3px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/california-city-fines-couple-for-holding-bible-study-in-their-home/#comments" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;" target="_self"><br />
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</ul><div class="clearfix" id="postContent" style="display: block; padding-bottom: 10px;"><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_139717" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 4px; float: right; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: center; width: 294px;"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-139717" height="210" src="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/bible2-620x460.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;" title="bible" width="284" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Photo via Flickr user Erwin Vogelaar</div></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">A southern California couple has been fined $300 dollars for holding Christian Bible study sessions in their home, and could face another $500 for each additional gathering.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">City officials in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. say Chuck and Stephanie Fromm are in violation of municipal code 9-3.301, which prohibits “religious, fraternal or non-profit” organizations in residential neighborhoods without a permit. Stephanie hosts a Wednesday Bible study that draws about 20 attendees, and Chuck holds a Sunday service that gets about 50.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The Fromms appealed their citations but were denied and warned future sessions would carry heftier penalties. A statement from the <a href="http://www.pacificjustice.org/news/city-religious-roots-fines-home-bible-study" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #d50b0b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Pacific Justice Institute</a>, which is defending the couple in a lawsuit against the city, said Chuck Fromm was also told regular gatherings of three or more people require a conditional use permit, which can be costly and difficult to obtain.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">“How dare they tell us we can’t have whatever we want in our home,” Stephanie Fromm told the<a href="http://www.thecapistranodispatch.com/view/full_story/15491252/article-Capistrano-Couple-in-Legal-Battle-for-Hosting-Bible-Study-in-Home?instance=eye_on_sjc" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #d50b0b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Capistrano Dispatch</a>. “We want to be able to use our home. We’ve paid a lot and invested a lot in our home and backyard … I should be able to be hospitable in my home.”</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">According to the Dispatch, the Fromms live in a neighborhood with large homes and have a corral, barn, pool and huge back lawn on their property, so parking and noise aren’t a problem.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">“There’s no singing or music,” Stephanie said. “It’s meditative.”</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The Dispatch reported a code-enforcement officer gave the Fromms a verbal warning about the meetings in May, then returned to issue citations in June and July. According to the paper, the city’s code-enforcement department is reactive, meaning they only respond to complaints.</div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
Stephanie said most of their neighbors are very supportive, although she said one has voiced concerns in the past.<br />
<br />
“We don’t like lawsuits, but we have to stand up for what’s right. It’s not just a personal issue,” she said. “Can you imagine anybody in any neighborhood, that one person can call and make it a living hell for someone else? That’s wrong … and it’s just sad.”<br />
<br />
San Juan Capistrano’s religious roots run deep — the city is best known for a historic Catholic mission built in the 1700s.<br />
<br />
“Imposing a heavy-handed permit requirement on a home Bible study is outrageous,” said Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute. “An informal gathering in a home cannot be treated with suspicion by the government, or worse than any other gathering of friends, just because it is religious.”<br />
<br />
“We cannot allow this to happen in America, and we will fight as long and as hard as it takes to restore this group’s religious freedom.”<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">(h/t <a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #d50b0b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Gateway Pundit</a>)</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><div class="clearfix" style="display: block; padding-bottom: 10px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div></span>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-16783667778840697422011-05-31T04:05:00.000+09:302011-05-31T04:05:17.468+09:3029/5/11 - Algerian Christian Given Five Year Prison Sentence for Blasphemy<h1 class="article_title"></h1><div class="article_meta_page"> <div class="links">Posted by Elisheba on May 29, 2011</div><div class="submitted"><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy_term_18 first last"><a href="http://www.rap-con.com/signs/persecution" rel="tag" title="News of persecution of Christians around the world.">Persecution</a></li>
</ul></div></div><br />
<!-- article image --> <div class="article_image_1_teaser"> <img alt="Algerian Christian Given Five Year Prison Sentence for Blasphemy" class="imagecache imagecache-article_med" height="300" src="http://www.rap-con.com/sites/rap-con.com/files/imagecache/article_med/images/djilali-oran-1171.jpg" title="Algerian Christian Given Five Year Prison Sentence for Blasphemy" width="224" /> </div><!-- BODY --> Algerian Christian Given Five Year Prison Sentence for Blasphemy<br />
Washington, D.C. (May 27, 2011) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that an Algerian Christian was sentenced to five years imprisonment for blasphemy in Oran on Wednesday after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. The verdict came days after authorities forced the permanent closure of seven Protestant churches in Algeria’s Béjaia province.<br />
<br />
Siagh Krimo was charged by the Criminal Court of the Djamel District in Oran, who based their decision on Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code which criminalizes acts that “insult the prophet and any of the messengers of God, or denigrate the creed and precepts of Islam, whether by writing, drawing, declaration, or any other means.” Krimo has ten days to appeal the sentence.<br />
<br />
Krimo, who is married with a nine month old child, was arrested on April 14, along with another Christian, Sofiane, after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. Sofiane was released soon after the arrest, while Krimo was detained for three days. Krimo was known to hold weekly prayer services at his home, which Algerian Christians suspect were being closely monitored by the police.Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-57101409351918119002011-05-24T04:06:00.000+09:302011-05-31T04:08:18.144+09:3024/5/11 - Christian Woman in Darfur, Sudan Arrested for Evangelizing<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_dateline"><span class="dateline"><strong><span class="citydate_b">KHARTOUM, Sudan</span></strong><span><strong> (CDN) </strong>— </span></span></span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_body">Sudanese National Security Intelligence and Security Service agents have arrested a Christian woman in a Darfur camp for displaced people, accusing her of converting Muslims to Christianity, said sources who fear she is being tortured.</span><br />
<span>At the same time, in Khartoum a Christian mother of a 2-month-old baby is wounded and destitute because she and her husband left Islam for Christianity.</span><br />
<br />
<span>In Darfur Region in northwestern Sudan, Hawa Abdalla Muhammad Saleh was arrested on May 9 in the Abu Shouk camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur state, sources said.</span><br />
<span>Abdalla has yet to be officially charged, but authorities have accused her of possessing and distributing Bibles to others in the camp, including children. Sources said she could also be tried for apostasy, which carries the death sentence in Sudan.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Abdalla has been transferred to an unknown location in Khartoum, sources said, adding that they fear she could be tortured as she was detained and tortured for six days in 2009. Intelligence agents, they said, have been monitoring her movements for some time.</span><br />
<br />
<span>“There is no guarantee of her safety,” said one source in Darfur.</span><br />
<span>The U.S. Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report 2010 notes that while Sudan’s Interim National Constitution provides for freedom of religion throughout the country, it establishes <em>sharia </em>(Islamic law) as a source of legislation in the north.</span><br />
<br />
<span>The arrest comes as northern Christians become more vulnerable to official and societal pressure with South Sudan set to split from the predominantly Muslim north on July 9. Adding to tensions was the north’s weekend military attack on Abyei Town, located in a disputed, oil-rich region to which both South Sudan and the north lay claim.</span><br />
<br />
<span><strong>Knife Attacks </strong></span><br />
<span>In Khartoum, the Christian couple with the newborn said they have come under attack for converting from Islam to Christianity.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Omar Hassan and Amouna Ahamdi, both 27, said they fled Nyala, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of El-Fashir, for Khartoum in June 2010, but knife-wielding, masked assailants on May 4 attacked the couple after relatives learned that they had converted from Islam to Christianity. Hassan told Compass that he and his wife were renting a house from her uncle in Khartoum, but he ordered them to leave after learning they had left Islam.</span><br />
<span>His wife was injured trying to protect him during the May 4 attack, he told Compass.</span><br />
<span>“I have been in Khartoum for six months, with no job to support my sick wife,” Hassan said. “Muslims invaded our house and, in an attempt to kill me, they knifed my wife in the hand.”</span><br />
<span>The knife pierced the palm of Ahamdi, who said her brother had stabbed her three times in the stomach nine months ago, seriously injuring her spleen, after she told him she had become a Christian.</span><br />
<span>“I feel pain, but my husband is alive, and we are praying that we get money for treatment for both my hand and the spleen,” she said.</span><br />
<br />
<span>In the violent outburst, her brother also broke her left leg. She was rushed to a local hospital, where personnel were reluctant to treat her because of her conversion, sources told Compass. Ultimately she was hospitalized in Nyala Teaching Hospital for three weeks – where she met Hassan, a recent convert who had also suffered for his faith who visited her after hearing how her family hurt her.</span><br />
<span>He said he found no one caring for her even though she was in agony. He called an Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) pastor to help her, and she was discharged after partial recovery – to the hostile home where she had been attacked.</span><br />
<a class="previouslinkblue ajaxLink" href="javascript:return%20false;"><span></span></a>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-57977929478670867112011-05-14T07:21:00.000+09:302011-05-14T07:21:52.266+09:3013/5/11 - Government-Christian tensions highlighted in China<!-- end: .hd --> <div class="byline"> <cite class="vcard"> By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press <span class="fn org">Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press</span> </cite> – <abbr class="timedate" title="2011-05-13T02:15:08-0700">Fri May 13, 5:15 am ET</abbr></div><div class="byline"><abbr class="timedate" title="2011-05-13T02:15:08-0700"> </abbr></div><!-- end .byline --> <div class="yn-story-content"> BEIJING – Leaders of underground Chinese Protestant churches condemned the government's persecution of a fellow congregation, while Catholics voted under the watchful eye of security forces for a new government-approved bishop, reports said.<br />
The developments illustrate growing tensions between Communist authorities and increasingly assertive Christian groups whose memberships are growing rapidly.<br />
<br />
While China's Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, Christians are required to worship in churches run by state-controlled groups. However, tens of millions of Christians are believed to worship in unregistered "house" churches which receive varying degrees of harassment.<br />
<br />
In Beijing, underground Protestant church leaders issued a petition to the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp legislature, calling for an end to persecution of Shouwang Church and its 1,000 members who have been blocked from their worship place in Beijing in recent weeks.<br />
<br />
Members who have sought to hold worship services have been briefly detained or confined to their homes.<br />
Asked about the authorities' actions, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Thursday avoided details, but said church members had been "gathering illegally many times and in order to keep social order, public security departments have adopted relevant measures."<br />
<br />
The petition, drafted by senior underground church leaders Xie Moshan and Li Tianen and signed by 17 church leaders from six cities, is a strong indication of nationwide support for Shouwang's plight.<br />
"With the incessant growth of the number of urban Christians and the continued expansion of the church, the conflict between state and church of this sort is likely to continue to break out," said the petition, dated Tuesday. It demanded that a law be passed to protect religious freedom.<br />
<br />
The expansion and growing influence of house churches has unsettled China's rulers, always suspicious of any independent social group that could challenge Communist authority.<br />
<br />
In southern Guangdong province, many security officers accompanied priests and lay people to cast votes Wednesday for Huang Bingzhang, 43, as the new bishop of Shantou, said ucanews.com, a news service that covers the Catholic church in Asia.<br />
<br />
Huang, the only candidate, received 66 of the 72 votes, its said. Huang is a member of the National People's Congress and head of the government-controlled Guangdong provincial Catholic Patriotic Association.<br />
Calls to the local religious affairs bureau rang unanswered Friday.<br />
<br />
Local authorities had sought to appoint Huang for several years, but had been thwarted by opposition from local Catholics, ucanews.com said. The website is run by the Union of Catholic Asian News, based in Bangkok.<br />
<br />
The Vatican-appointed bishop of Shantou, Zhuang Jianjian, has never been recognized by Beijing and has been under house arrest for over a month, it said.<br />
<br />
China and the Vatican have no formal relations and even informal contacts have recently been testy. That is largely due to Beijing's insistence that it has a right to assign bishops through carefully orchestrated elections in defiance of the pope's authority to make such appointments.<br />
<br />
An accommodation in which most new bishops received tacit approval from the Vatican appeared to break down last year. Chinese officials responded to criticism by accusing the Vatican of seeking to undermine the independence of the Chinese church and interfering in the rights of Chinese Catholics to practice their faith.<br />
China says about 6 million Catholics worship in 6,300 official congregations across the country, although millions more are believed to worship outside the official church. China says almost half of the country's 97 dioceses lack bishops and that it intends to move quickly to fill them — with or without Vatican approval.<br />
In a further sign of that determination, Li Zhigang — a priest with close government ties — was elected bishop of the southwestern diocese of Chengdu on Tuesday, ucanews.com said.<br />
</div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-42357849142360297222011-05-10T21:49:00.000+09:302011-05-10T21:49:01.052+09:308/5/11 - Church burning deepens tumult of Egypt transition<div class="hd"> <h1 id="yn-title">Church burning deepens tumult of Egypt transition</h1><div style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Egypt-violence/ss/events/wl/050811egyptclashes"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/fb/1fb44fd12b5718e723854226ab12be85.jpeg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);" /></a><div align="right" style="margin-top: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt;"><cite id="captionCite">AP Photo/Khalil Hamra</cite></div><cite align="left" class="byline">Egyptian Army soldiers stand guard outside the burned Virgin Mary church in the Imbaba neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 8, 2011. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Egypt-violence/ss/events/wl/050811egyptclashes"><span style="color: #0058a6;">More photos »</span></a></cite></div> <a class="provider-logo ult-section" href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/brand/SIG=11f589428/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ap.org%2Ftermsandconditions" id="yn-prvdlink"> </a><script type="text/javascript">
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</script> <!-- end: .tools --> </div><!-- end: .hd --> <div id="yn-story-related-media"> <div class="primary-media"> <div class="ult-section yn-style1" id="yn-story-main-media"> <div class="photo-big" style="display: none;"> <a class="media " href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Some-hundreds-Christians-and-Muslims-hurl-stones-each-other-during/photo//110508/481/urn_publicid_ap_org_bc86785f1b1a40918ccf78df2199e3cd//s:/ap/20110508/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_sectarian_clashes"> <img alt="Some hundreds of Christians and Muslims hurl stones at each other during clashes near the Corniche in Cairo, Egypt Sunday, May 8, 2011. The clashes o" height="141" src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110508/capt.bc86785f1b1a40918ccf78df2199e3cd-bc86785f1b1a40918ccf78df2199e3cd-0.jpg?x=213&y=141&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=271&q=85&sig=LlGlZjBtS6KcgSRYdtviiw--" width="213" /> </a> <cite class="caption"> AP – Some hundreds of Christians and Muslims hurl stones at each other during clashes near the Corniche in … </cite> </div></div><!-- end #main-media --> <div id="yn-story-minor-media"> <ul class="list2 list6 size1 ult-section" id="yn-story-related-links"><li class="ult-position first slideshow"> <a class="media media1" href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Egypt-violence/ss/events/wl/050811egyptclashes"> <img alt="Egypt violence" height="50" src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110510/thumb.photo_1304944544262-3-0.jpg?x=50&y=50&xc=30&yc=1&wc=73&hc=73&q=85&sig=EufIZ2O1V2596Q6SpT_W.A--" width="50" /> </a> <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Egypt-violence/ss/events/wl/050811egyptclashes"><strong>Slideshow:</strong>Egypt violence</a> </li>
</ul></div></div><!-- end .primary-media --> </div><!-- end .related-media --> <div class="byline"> <cite class="vcard"> By MAGGIE MICHAEL and SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press <span class="fn org">Maggie Michael And Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press</span> </cite> – <abbr class="timedate" title="2011-05-08T13:59:49-0700">Sun May 8, 4:59 pm ET</abbr></div><div class="byline"><abbr class="timedate" title="2011-05-08T13:59:49-0700"> </abbr></div><!-- end .byline --> <div class="yn-story-content"> CAIRO – Relations between Egypt's Muslims and Christians degenerated to a new low Sunday after riots overnight left 12 people dead and a church burned, adding to the disorder of the country's post-revolution transition to democracy.<br />
<br />
The attack on the church was the latest sign of assertiveness by an extreme, ultraconservative movement of Muslims known as Salafis, whose increasing hostility toward Egypt's Coptic Christians over the past few months has met with little interference from the country's military rulers.<br />
<br />
Salafis have been blamed for other recent attacks on Christians and others they don't approve of. In one attack, a Christian man had an ear cut off for renting an apartment to a Muslim woman suspected of involvement in prostitution.<br />
<br />
The latest violence, which erupted in fresh clashes Sunday between Muslims and Christians who pelted each other with stones in another part of Cairo, also pointed to what many see as reluctance of the armed forces council to act. The council took temporary control of the country after President Hosni Mubarak was deposed on Feb. 11.<br />
<br />
After the overnight clashes in the slum of Imbaba, residents turned their anger toward the military. Some said they and the police did almost nothing to intervene in the five-hour frenzy of violence.<br />
Analysts warned of signs of Coptic violence, especially with reports that some Christians have opened fire at Muslims.<br />
<br />
"The Coptic volcano is exploding," Coptic expert Youssef Sedhom said. "How would Copts respond if they find their back to the wall facing guns? They would have no option but self defense," adding, "don't blame Copts for what they do."<br />
<br />
Six Muslims were among the dead, according to Egypt's state-run news agency.<br />
The bloodshed began Saturday around sundown when word spread around the neighborhood that a Christian woman who married a Muslim had been abducted and was being kept in the Virgin Mary Church against her will.<br />
<br />
Islamic extremists declared the crowded district a state within a state in 1990s, calling it "the Islamic Republic of Imbaba," one of the country's hottest spots of Islamic militancy.<br />
<br />
The report of the kidnapping, which was never confirmed by local religious figures, sent a large mob of Muslims toward the church. Christians created a human barricade around the building and clashes erupted. Gunfire sounded across the neighborhood, and witnesses said people on rooftops were firing into the crowd.<br />
The two sides accused each other of firing first.<br />
<br />
Crowds of hundreds of Muslims from the neighborhood lobbed firebombs at homes, shops and the church. Residents say Christians were hiding inside. Muslims chanted: "With our blood and soul, we defend you, Islam."<br />
<br />
Rimon Girgis, a 24-year-old with a tattoo of a Coptic saint on his arm, was among the Christians who formed a human shield around the church.<br />
<br />
"They were around 40 bearded men chanting slogans like 'There is no God but Allah.' After rallying Muslim residents, they opened fire," he said. "We Copts had to respond, so we hurled stones and pieces of broken marble."'<br />
<br />
Some of the wounded were carried to the nearby St. Menas Church, where floors were still stained with blood hours later.<br />
<br />
"Every five minutes, an injured person was rushed into the church," said Father Arshedis. "We couldn't reach ambulances by phone. We called and no one answered. We tried to treat the injured. We used the girls' hair clips to extract the bullets."<br />
<br />
"The army is responsible because they took no action," he said. <br />
Later the same night, the Muslim crowd moved to a Christian-owned apartment building nearby and set it on fire. Piles of charred furniture, garbage and wood were mixed with remains of clothes, food and shoes. Shops on the ground floor of the buildings were destroyed.<br />
<br />
Some soldiers and police did fire tear gas, but failed to clear the streets for hours. <br />
By daybreak, the military had deployed armored vehicles and dozens of troop carriers to cordon off a main street leading to the area. They stopped traffic and turned away pedestrians. Men, women and children watching from balconies took photos with mobile phones and cheered the troops. <br />
Across the Nile river, in downtown Cairo, clashes broke out on Sunday afternoon. Muslim youths attacked Coptic Christian protesters, said Christian activist Bishoy Tamri. <br />
TV images showed both sides furiously throwing stones, including one Christian who held a large wooden cross in one hand while flinging rocks with the other.<br />
<br />
Scores were injured, but an army unit securing the TV building did nothing to stop the violence, Tamri said. <br />
Late Sunday thousands of Copts decided to camp out in front of the TV building overnight to press demands to bring the arsonists to justice and to make religious instigation a criminal offense. <br />
Islamic clerics denounced the violence, sounding alarm bells at the escalating tension during the transitional period following Mubarak's Feb. 11 ouster by a popular uprising.<br />
<br />
"These events do not benefit either Muslim or Copts," Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the sheik of al-Azhar, told the daily Al-Ahram.<br />
<br />
During the 18-day uprising that ousted Mubarak, there was a rare spirit of brotherhood between Muslims and Christians. Each group protected the other during prayer sessions in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution.<br />
<br />
But in the months that followed, there has been a sharp rise in sectarian tensions, as the once quiescent Salafis have become more forceful in trying to spread their version of an Islamic way of life. In particular, they have focused their wrath on Egypt's Christians, who make up 10 percent of the country's 80 million people. <br />
On Friday, a few hundred Salafis marched through Cairo to praise al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and condemning the U.S. operation that killed him.<br />
<br />
Critics say Egyptian military authorities have done too little to stem the religious violence. But authorities arrested 190 people after the church attack, sending them to military prosecutions and threatening the maximum penalty against anyone attacking houses of worship.<br />
<br />
Copts complain of widespread discrimination, including tight restrictions on building or repairing churches, while Muslim places of worship do not face such limits.<br />
<br />
In one of the worst attacks against them, a suicide bomber killed 21 people outside a church in the port city of Alexandria on Jan. 1, setting off days of protests. Egypt made some arrests but never charged anyone with the attack.<br />
<br />
Tensions have been building for the past year as Salafis protested the alleged abduction by the Coptic Church of a priest's wife, Camilla Shehata. The Salafis claim she converted to Islam to escape an unhappy marriage — a phenomenon they maintain is common.<br />
<br />
Because divorce is banned in the Coptic Church, with rare exceptions such as conversion, some Christian women resort to conversion to Islam or another Christian denomination to get out of a marriage. <br />
Shehata's case was even used by Iraq's branch of al-Qaida as a justification for an attack on a Baghdad church that killed 68 people and other threats by the group against Christians.<br />
<br />
On Saturday just before the violence erupted in Imbaba, Shehata appeared with her husband and child on a Christian TV station broadcast from outside of Egypt and asserted that she was still a Christian and had never converted.<br />
<br />
"Let the protesters leave the Church alone and turn their attention to Egypt's future," she said from an undisclosed location.<br />
<br />
In the Egyptian Sinai desert, hundreds of Bedouins forced authorities to set free a prisoner after laying siege to the main courthouse, firing gunshots in the air and burning tires, witnesses said.<br />
</div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-41849851216385301032011-04-25T06:40:00.000+09:302011-04-25T06:40:14.811+09:3024/04/2011 - Beijing detains illegal church members on Easter<div class="hd"> <h1 id="yn-title">Beijing detains illegal church members on Easter</h1><a class="provider-logo ult-section" href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/brand/SIG=11f589428/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ap.org%2Ftermsandconditions" id="yn-prvdlink"></a><script type="text/javascript">
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</script> <!-- end: .tools --> </div><!-- end: .hd --> <div id="yn-story-related-media"> <div class="primary-media"> <div class="ult-section yn-style1" id="yn-story-main-media"> <div class=""> <a class="media " href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Chinese-youths-detained-police-officers-area-members-unregistered-church-planned/photo//110424/481/urn_publicid_ap_org_ea68ac6c7ed54ee98f89741f104dcecc//s:/ap/20110424/ap_on_re_as/as_china_underground_church"> <img alt="Chinese youths detained by police officers from an area where members of a unregistered church planned to hold Easter service are led into a police st" height="134" src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110424/capt.ea68ac6c7ed54ee98f89741f104dcecc-ea68ac6c7ed54ee98f89741f104dcecc-0.jpg?x=213&y=134&xc=2&yc=1&wc=409&hc=257&q=85&sig=zmTLktfIac7vbDWg715ORA--" width="213" /> </a> <cite class="caption"> </cite></div><div class=""><cite class="caption"> </cite></div><div class=""><cite class="caption">AP – Chinese youths detained by police officers from an area where members of a unregistered church planned … </cite></div><div class=""><cite class="caption"> </cite> </div></div><!-- end #main-media --> </div><!-- end .primary-media --> </div><!-- end .related-media --> <div class="byline"> <cite class="vcard"> By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press <span class="fn org">Alexa Olesen, Associated Press</span> </cite> – <abbr class="timedate" title="2011-04-24T01:35:44-0700">Sun Apr 24, 4:35 am ET</abbr></div><div class="byline"><abbr class="timedate" title="2011-04-24T01:35:44-0700"> </abbr></div><!-- end .byline --> BEIJING – Chinese police detained at least 30 Christians belonging to an unregistered Beijing church as the congregation gathered Sunday for an Easter service, a church member said.<br />
<br />
Police stopped the worshippers from the unregistered Shouwang church as they gathered near a public plaza in the city's university district, then bused them to a local police station. The Associated Press saw about a dozen people taken away but a church member said at least 30 were detained.<br />
<br />
Shouwang members have been trying to meet at the plaza in Beijing's Haidian district every Sunday since the congregation was evicted from its usual rented place of worship three weeks ago, but they have been detained or put under house arrest each time.<br />
<br />
Lu Jia, a Shouwang member who was under house arrest from Saturday night until Sunday afternoon, said by telephone that he and his wife held a half-hour service at home using a sermon their pastor uploaded to the Internet.<br />
<br />
"Before hand, I went out and told the men guarding my door that I didn't want to argue with them but I had to tell them that what they were doing was illegal, that it violated my right to believe, to practice my faith," Lu said. "Then we had a short service reading the sermon together and selections from the Bible."<br />
Lu said all of the church's pastors and leaders were under house arrest and 30 Shouwang members were detained when they arrived at the designated meeting place. Lu and others were planning to go to the police station to try to negotiate their release, he said.<br />
<br />
While China's Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, Christians are required to worship in churches run by state-controlled organizations — the Three-Self Patriotic Movement for Protestants and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association for Catholics.<br />
<br />
However, more than 60 million Christians are believed to worship in unregistered "house" churches, compared to about 20 million in the state churches, according to scholars and church activists. The growth of house churches has accelerated in recent years, producing larger congregations that are far more conspicuous than the small groups of friends and neighbors that used to worship in private homes that gave the movement its name.<br />
<br />
Their expansion and growing influence have unsettled China's rulers, always suspicious of any independent social group that could challenge Communist authority.<br />
Shouwang members have for years been at odds with Beijing officials over their right to worship. They said in a statement last week that they tried to register with the government in 2006 but were rejected.<br />
In December 2009, the church bought property in northwest Beijing for regular Sunday services but government interference prevented the group from occupying the space, the statement said.Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-12816409374664532262011-04-21T11:24:00.002+09:302011-04-23T11:47:42.788+09:3021/04/2011 - Bombs found near Indonesia church; 19 arrested<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bombs found near Indonesia church; 19 arrested</span></span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> By Ali Kotarumalos Associated Press / April 21, 2011 </span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><img src="http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/etaf/pointer_top.gif" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /> <br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">JAKARTA, Indonesia—Terror suspects arrested Thursday led police to five massive bombs buried beneath a gas pipeline near a church just outside Indonesia's capital, officials said.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Djoko Suyanto, a security minister, said he believed Islamic militants had been plotting an attack ahead of Easter celebrations. The U.S. embassy urged Americans to be vigilant.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The explosives, safely defused at the scene, had been set to detonate by cell phone at around 9 a.m. Friday.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"The army and police are under high alert," Suyanto told reporters, adding that troops would be deployed at churches and other strategic locations. "We want to guarantee safety."</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has been battling extremists since 2002 when al-Qaida-linked militants attacked two nightclubs on Bali island, killing 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Several attacks since then targeted glitzy hotels, restaurants and an embassy, killing another 60. Hundreds of suspects have been arrested, convicted and thrown in jail.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In recent months, small bands of militants hoping to turn the secular nation of 237 million into an Islamic state have shifted their focus to local "enemies."</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They've gone after police, members of a minority Islamic sect deemed "deviant," Christians and moderate Muslim leaders.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the 19 suspects were arrested Thursday, including six accused in a series of mail bombs sent last month to liberal Muslim activists and a former anti-terror chief.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Several people were wounded in the parcel bombings, none seriously.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The arrested men eventually led police to the gas pipeline 100 meters (yards) from a Catholic church large enough to hold 3,000 people in Serpong, Pradopo said.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They discovered five bombs that together weighed 150 kilograms (330 pounds) and were rigged to be detonated by cell phone, according to Nardi Atmaja, a church official at the scene.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Earlier police had said there was just one bomb. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Local media quoted investigators as saying each explosion would have had a reach of up to 250 meters (yards), presumably engulfing the church in flames during Good Friday celebrations.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The U.S. embassy in Jakarta issued a statement urging Americans to be especially cautious over the weekend and to stay clear of demonstrations.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence," it said.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ninety percent of Indonesians are Muslim, though most practice a moderate form of the faith and abhor violence. A small, extremist fringe has become more vocal, and violent, in recent years.</span>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-28588896737972106642011-04-19T11:50:00.002+09:302011-04-23T11:52:15.267+09:3019/04/2011 - UZBEKISTAN: Raids and confiscations as state wants "religious organisations which will stay quiet" ?<table><tbody>
<tr><td><h1 class="content">UZBEKISTAN: Raids and confiscations as state wants "religious organisations which will stay quiet" ?</h1></td></tr>
<tr><td><div class="smaller">By Mushfig Bayram, </div></td></tr>
<tr><td><div class="content"><em>Uzbekistan's NSS secret police with other officials have carried out two raids on an officially registered Baptist church in the capital Tashkent, Forum 18 News Service has learned. Over 50,000 Christian books, a large quantity of printing and office equipment, and a sum of money personally belonging to one person were confiscated. In contrast to the confiscated literature and equipment, no official record was made of the confiscation of the money belonging to a church member was made. Later, three church leaders and the caretaker were given fines ranging between 50 and 100 times the minimum monthly salary. Officials have refused to give reasons for their actions, but there has recently been a harshening of official actions against the possession and supply of religious literature. One Tashkent Baptist, asked by Forum 18 what might be behind the raids and confiscations, commented: "The authorities are interested in having small pocket-size churches and religious organisations, which will stay quiet and not have much religious activity."</em></div></td></tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr><td><div class="content">Uzbekistan's National Security Service (NSS) secret police with other officials have carried out two large raids on an officially registered Baptist church in the capital Tashkent, Forum 18 News Service has learned. Over 50,000 Christian books, printing and office equipment, and a sum of money personally belonging to one person were confiscated, the Church being left with "almost nothing" a Tashkent Baptist told Forum 18 on 19 April. Later, three church leaders and the caretaker were given massive fines. Officials have refused to comment on the case.<br />
<br />
Raids<br />
<br />
The fines followed two raids on the Hamza District Church on 7 and 11 April. The first raid was led by Major Khamid Kurbonov of Hamza District Police, and broke into the 12 Kungrad Street Church building at 10 am in the morning. They then searched the Church for 12 hours, ending at 10 pm (22.00 hours). Officials seized 7,110 Uzbek-language booklets entitled 'Jesus, the Son of Abraham and David', as well as 1,120,000 Soms (3,580 Norwegian Kroner, 460 Euros, or 660 US Dollars at the inflated official exchange rate) which is the personal property of a church member.<br />
<br />
The Confiscation Protocol, which Forum 18 has seen, is signed by Major Kurbonov – but it only lists the literature. The confiscated money is not mentioned, and the booklets are described as having been "kept in the building for fifteen years".<br />
<br />
NSS secret police and the ordinary police made a second raid on 11 April at 10 am, breaking into a private flat on 87 Ashrafiy Street which belongs to the Church. The officials led by Hamza Police's Senior Lieutenant Nabi Abdurakhmonov carried out a search lasting 14 hours until midnight (24.00 hours).<br />
<br />
Printing equipment and other material confiscated<br />
<br />
The Confiscation Protocol, also seen by Forum 18, is signed by Senior Lieutenant Abdurkhmonov and records the confiscation of:<br />
<br />
- 52,130 books comprising 2,644 individual titles. Forum 18 was told that this is approximately 10 metric tonnes (9.8 tons) of printed literature;<br />
<br />
- 6 desktop computers, 7 computer processors (CPUs), 6 keyboards, 2 Uninterruptible Power Supply computer batteries, and 4 sets of audio speakers;<br />
<br />
- 6 black and white printers and 1 laser-colour printer;<br />
<br />
- 2 photocopy machines;<br />
<br />
- 2 scanners;<br />
<br />
- 1 book binding machine;<br />
<br />
- 1 photo camera;<br />
<br />
- 1 paper-cutting machine;<br />
<br />
- 2 videotape recorders;<br />
<br />
- 1 television set;<br />
<br />
- 160 video tapes and 334 audio tapes;<br />
<br />
- and 262 CD and DVD disks.<br />
<br />
The Protocol does not list the confiscated books, but Forum 18 was told that they included:<br />
<br />
- 426 Bibles and 638 New Testaments in Russian;<br />
<br />
- 284 Uzbek-language New Testaments;<br />
<br />
- 113 Bible Encyclopaedias;<br />
<br />
- 26 Commentaries on books of the Bible; <br />
<br />
- 15 Dictionaries of Biblical words and phrases;<br />
<br />
- and numerous books of fiction, sports and technical manuals, and school textbooks. <br />
<br />
A member of another registered Baptist Church of the Baptist Union in Tashkent, who for fear of state reprisals wished to remain anonymous, told Forum 18 on 19 April said that the confiscated books were "in fact the library of the Church collected for years." The Baptist asked "Does not a Church and Christians have the right to own Christian books and read them?" The Baptist commented that the officials left the Church with "almost nothing".<br />
<br />
"Expert analyses" - and then what?<br />
<br />
The confiscated literature was sent to the state Religious Affairs Committee for "expert analysis". "Church members are afraid that the Committee will decide not to return it to the Church", Forum 18 was told on 19 April.<br />
<br />
Such alleged "expert analyses" are routinely used as an excuse to confiscate any book the authorities decide to confiscate (see eg. F18News 20 May 2009 <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1298">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1298</a>). A very strict censorship regime is applied against religious literature and other material of all faiths (see F18News 1 July 2008 <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1153">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1153</a>).<br />
<br />
Fines<br />
<br />
Judge Javdat Ubaydullayev of Hamza District Criminal Court on 14 April fined four Church members under the Code of Administrative Offences' Articles 184-2 ("Illegal storage, production, import, or distribution of religious materials"), and 240 Part 2 ("Attracting believers of one confession to another (proselytism) and other missionary activity").<br />
<br />
Galina Shemetova, another Baptist from Tashkent – who was physically assaulted by police as she left hospital - was also in April fined 50 times the monthly minimum salary for allegedly breaking Article 240 Part 2 (see F18News 15 April 2011 <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1563">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1563</a>).<br />
<br />
From the Hamza District Baptists: Church Pastor Konstantin Malchikovskiy and Church Secretary Dmitriy Arzhanov were each fined 100 times the minimum monthly salary, 4,973,500 Soms (15,860 Norwegian Kroner, 2,030 Euros, or 2,930 US Dollars);<br />
<br />
- Choirmaster Boris Zabirko, the Choirmaster of the Church was fined 80 times the minimum monthly salary, 3,978,800 Soms (12,688 Norwegian Kroner, 1,840 Euros, or 2,344 US Dollars);<br />
<br />
- and Caretaker Aleksey Teselkin was fined 50 times the minimum monthly salary, 2,486,750 Soms (7,930 Norwegian Kroner, 1,015 Euros, or 1,465 US Dollars).<br />
<br />
Judge Ubaydulloyev's Assistant, who would not give his name, told Forum 18 on 19 April that he "cannot say why" the four Baptists were given such heavy fines. Judge Ubaydulloyev "is hearing a case at the moment," he added. "Please, call back in an hour and he will answer you." Called back, the Assistant refused to put Forum 18 through to Judge Ubaydulloyev saying that "he is busy." When asked if he could put Forum 18 through to the Court's Chair or one of the Deputies, he claimed that "everyone is busy" and put the phone down.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
A Tashkent Baptist, who for fear of state reprisals wished to remain anonymous, was asked by Forum 18 why they thought the authorities had acted in this way. They replied that the Uzbek authorities "are increasingly reducing Christian activity". They commented that "the authorities are interested in having small pocket-size churches and religious organisations, which will stay quiet and not have much religious activity." <br />
<br />
It is unclear why the authorities have decided to confiscate printing equipment, and no reason for this was given during the raids. However, the authorities have been adopting an increasingly harsh approach to the supply of all religious literature, Justice Ministry officials telling the Bible Society "there is no need to import Bibles" (see F18News 18 February 2011 <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1542">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1542</a>).<br />
<br />
Members of the Baptist Union in Tashkent have been accused in the state controlled mass media of turning people into zombies and encouraging people to sell their homes and give the money to the Church. One church member described the programme to Forum 18 as containing "outrageous lies". State-disfavoured Muslims, Protestant Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Methodists and Baha'is have been attacked in other broadcasts (see eg. F18News 22 February 2010 <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1411">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1411</a>).<br />
<br />
In 2010 the authorities forced a change in the leadership of Uzbekistan's Baptist Union, by imposing large fines on Baptist leaders and denying them the legal right to hold office (see F18News 22 February 2010 <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1411">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1411</a><br />
<br />
"I cannot talk to you over the phone"<br />
<br />
Senior Lieutenant Abdurakhmanov – who led the second raid - on 19 April asked Forum to call back in two hours later, saying that he "cannot talk at the moment". He evaded Forum 18's questions when called back and asked why did he other officials acted as they did. "I cannot talk to you over the phone," he stated. "Please, come to my office tomorrow, and I will tell you." He hung up the phone without answering, when Forum 18 asked whether the authorities are trying to strip the Baptists in Tashkent of all their printed literature and equipment to print literature.<br />
<br />
Artyk Yusupov, Chair of the state Religious Affairs Committee, was according to other officials on 19 April not in the office to comment. Chief Specialist Begzot Kadyrov's telephones went unanswered that day. (END)<br />
<br />
For a personal commentary by a Muslim scholar, advocating religious freedom for all as the best antidote to Islamic religious extremism in Uzbekistan, see <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=338">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=338</a>.<br />
<br />
For more background, see Forum 18's Uzbekistan religious freedom survey at <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1170">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1170</a>.<br />
<br />
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Uzbekistan can be found at <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?query=&religion=all&country=33">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?query=&religion=all&country=33</a>.<br />
<br />
A compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments can be found at <a href="http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1351">http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1351</a>.<br />
<br />
A printer-friendly map of Uzbekistan is available at <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=uzbeki">http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=uzbeki</a>.</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-25019144430858631342011-04-11T07:07:00.001+09:302011-04-11T07:07:54.262+09:3010/04/2011 - Chinese Christians arrested for trying to hold open-air service<div id="article-header" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div id="main-article-info"><h1>Chinese Christians arrested for trying to hold open-air service</h1><div class="stand-first-alone" id="stand-first">Members of Shouwang church bundled into vans in Beijing in latest Communist party suppression of protest and dissent and demonstrations.</div></div></div><div id="content" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div data-global-auto-refresh-switch="on" id="article-wrapper"><div id="main-content-picture"><img alt="Chinese police officers watch the area where Shouwang church worshippers had planned to gather" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/4/10/1302431392962/Chinese-police-officers-w-007.jpg" width="460" /> <br />
<div class="caption">Chinese police officers watch the area where Shouwang church worshippers had planned to gather. </div><div class="caption"></div></div><div id="article-body-blocks">Dozens of Christians who planned to hold an outdoor service in Beijing in protest at being made "homeless" from their place of worship have been arrested, in the latest Communist party crackdown on dissent and demonstrations. Police cordoned off the walkway where a mobile phone text message had said the service would happen. Officers and plainclothes guards took away dozens of people; it was unclear how many were church members, supporters or bystanders.<br />
<br />
The Shouwang church, a Protestant group with about 1,000 members, claims official pressure forced it out of a place of worship it had been renting. Bob Fu, of the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china" title="More from guardian.co.uk on China">China</a> Aid Association, a US-based group critical of China's controls on <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/religion" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Religion">religion</a>, said police had told one church elder the planned service would be an "illegal gathering". Police kept church elders and pastors in their homes to stop them trying to attend the service, and some were held in police stations, Fu said. "Many members of the church are professionals and students, and some are human rights lawyers, which also makes the church a target," he added.<br />
<br />
Reuters reporters were kept away from the site of the planned service, followed by police officers and shoved away by plainclothes guards who would not say whom they worked for. "We will live up to our duty to protect stability in Beijing. There's nothing happening here," said one police officer who stopped and checked reporters.<br />
<br />
The Chinese government has been alarmed about calls for protests inspired by anti-authoritarian uprisings across the Middle East. The artist <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/ai-weiwei" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Ai Weiwei">Ai Weiwei</a>, a prominent human rights advocate, was held by police this month during a wide security clampdown Fu said: "I think this reflects the overall panic mood of the government leadership over what's happening in the Middle East and north Africa. I don't see any possibility that the government will yield to [the church's] demands, given the climate there. It's reasonable to expect more clashes." Chinese authorities have detained many dozens, if not hundreds, of dissidents, human rights activists and persistent protesters. Many remain in custody.<br />
<br />
Ai Weiwei was detained by police a week ago, and the government has since said he is suspected of "economic crimes". His family has rejected that charge as unfounded. On Saturday Beijing dismissed a US state department report claiming its human rights restrictions and abuses were worsening, saying it wanted no interference in what it deemed internal affairs.</div></div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-38094644378241123112011-04-09T07:54:00.001+09:302011-04-09T14:14:15.573+09:30<a href="http://water-desert.wetpaint.com/page/Planet+X+-+Nibiru" target="_self"> </a> <br />
<ul style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </ul><ul style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></ul>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-67968049337902203322011-04-04T18:04:00.000+09:302011-04-09T18:04:51.930+09:304/04/2011 - Bangladesh Releasing Jailed Evangelist<div class="maincontentstyle" id="ajaxcontentarea"> <h1 class="newsheader">Bangladesh Releasing Jailed Evangelist</h1><div class="findus">Posted on: 2011-04-04 10:47:45</div><div class="news">DHAKA, BANGLADESH (<a href="http://www.worthynews.com/" title="christian news service">Worthy News</a>)-- Bangladesh was to release Friday, April 1, a young evangelist who was sentenced to one year imprisonment for "creating chaos" by selling and distributing Christian books and other literature near a major Muslim gathering.<br />
<br />
Trial observers said 25-year-old Biplob Marandi, a tribal Christian, was declared innocent by a court in Gazipur district reviewing the case.<br />
<br />
It was unclear whether international publicity and pressure had also played a role in the March 29 decision.<br />
<br />
In a statement, Marandi's attorney, Lensen Swapon Gomes, said the outcome proves that he didnot create chaos at a religious gathering as prosecutors had charged.<br />
<br />
Gomes said it was his impression that Muslim hardliners "harassed him" and handed the young man over to a local court as "they became angry" that he distributed Christian literature.<br />
<br />
RELIGIOUS PROVISIONS<br />
<br />
The attorney appealed the decision on grounds that his client's religious activities were "protected by the religious freedom provisions of the Bangladesh constitution."<br />
<br />
Marandi was sentenced February 28 after being detained in January near a gathering of the massive 'Bishwa Ijtema', or World Muslim Congregation, on the banks of the Turag River near the town of Tongi.<br />
<br />
Every year, several million Sufi Muslims take part in Bishwa Ijtema to pray and listen to Islamic theologians from around the world.<br />
<br />
Bangladesh compares the annual event with the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, commentators say.<br />
<br />
MIXED FEELINGS<br />
<br />
Although his lawyer welcomed the court's decision to free him, Marandi's case has underscored international concerns about reported violence against Christians and other religious minorities in the heavily Islamic, impoverished, Asian nation.<br />
<br />
In a recent report, the United States State Department said that "Although the government publicly supported freedom of religion, attacks on religious and ethnic minorities continued to be a problem during the reporting period."<br />
<br />
It added that religious minorities "are often at the bottom of the social hierarchy and, therefore, have the least political recourse."<br />
<br />
Christians comprise less than one percent of the population of some 160 million people, according to estimates by the United Sates Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).<br />
<br />
Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, with its people crammed into a delta of rivers that empties into the Bay of Bengal. Many are deeply poor with almost half the population living on less than one dollar a day, analysts say.</div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-33287391989403442562011-04-04T17:19:00.000+09:302011-04-09T17:20:13.817+09:3004/04/2011 - Iran Christians Face Blasphemy Trial; Death Sentence Possible<div class="maincontentstyle" id="ajaxcontentarea"> <h1 class="newsheader">Iran Christians Face Blasphemy Trial; Death Sentence Possible</h1><div class="findus">Posted on: 2011-04-04 11:05:39</div><div class="news">TEHRAN, IRAN (<a href="http://www.worthynews.com/" title="christian news service">Worthy News</a>)-- Five detained members of one of Iran's largest house church movements were to face a trial Monday, April 5, on charges of "blasphemy" which carries the death penalty in this strict Islamic nation, a church representative told Worthy News.<br />
<br />
Pastor Behrouz Sadegh-Khandjani, Mehdi Furutan, Parviz Khalaj, Mohammed Beliad and his wife Nazly Makarian Beliad,of the Church of Iran denomination, are already serving a one-year prison sentence for "crimes against the Islamic Order" at the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz.<br />
<br />
Now the other "trial of the servants of the Church of Iran has is been set for April 5. They have been accused of blasphemy against Islam," said a church representative with close knowledge about the situation.<br />
<br />
Worthy News did not immediately reveal his identity amid security concerns. The official said he has supporters of the embattled Church of Iran "to intercede and pray for them." The five Christians were initially arrested in June 2010 on charges of apostasy, political meetings, blasphemy and crimes against the Islamic Order. They spent eight months in jail before being briefly released on bail in February.<br />
<br />
<strong>APPEAL LAUNCHED</strong><br />
<br />
Their lawyer has appealed the one-year prison sentence for crimes against the Islamic Order and a decision is pending, trial observers said. It was initially assumed that the other charges against the five men had been dropped.<br />
<br />
However church sources say they will now face charges of blasphemy in a lower court, as lower courts are generally more likely to hand down guilty verdicts. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a major advocacy group, expressed concerns about their situation.<br />
<br />
"CSW is dismayed by the charges faced by the group," of Christians, said CSWs National Director Stuart Windsor."The international community must press Iran not only to rescind the unjust punishments to which these Christians have already been subjected, but also to acquit them at the upcoming trial," he told Worthy News.<br />
<br />
Rights activists say the case has underscored that the situation for Christians is worsening in Iran. Churches find it difficult to hold meetings, and many Christians are attempting to flee the country, according to CSW investigators.<br />
<br />
<strong>MORE CONCERNS</strong><br />
<br />
Christians in Iran are also increasingly concerned for Yousef Nadarkhani, the pastor of a large congregation in the city of Rasht, who was arrested in late 2009. He remains in prison after having been sentenced to death for the crime of apostasy, "despite there being no articles in the Iranian legal code that refer to such a crime,"CSW said<br />
<br />
Instead, the presiding judge in the Nadarkhani case reportedly based his ruling on texts by Iranian religious scholars. An appeal to the Supreme Court was filed in December, and a hearing is due within two months.<br />
<br />
"We are concerned that the judgment handed down in Pastor Nadarkhanis case did not follow due procedureunder Iranian law. As a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran has an obligation to uphold international standards of religious freedom for all its citizens, to follow due process and refrain from arbitrary judicial rulings based on open-ended legislation," Windsor said.<br />
<br />
The reported crackdown on devoted Christians has been linked to concern within Iran's government about the spread of Christianity among Muslims.<br />
<br />
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his officials have denied wrongdoing and the government has defended harsh sentences, including executions of political opponents and Christians as part of defending the Islamic state.</div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-68081245160353444772011-03-28T18:03:00.000+10:302011-04-09T18:03:58.258+09:3028/03/2011 - Terrorists Linked To Massive Killings Of India Christians, report says<div class="maincontentstyle" id="ajaxcontentarea"> <h1 class="newsheader">Terrorists Linked To Massive Killings Of India Christians, report says</h1><div class="findus">Posted on: 2011-03-28 07:26:09</div><div class="news">NEW DELHI, INDIA (<a href="http://www.worthynews.com/" title="christian news">Worthy News</a>)-- India's anti-terror agency was under pressure Monday, March 28, to investigate anti-Christian violence amid allegations that right-wing terrorists played a key role in the massive killings of Christians in India's state of Orissa and violence in Karnataka state.<br />
<br />
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) learned from a key suspect that her fellow activist, identified as Luitenant Colonel Prasad Srikant Purohit, "masterminded" the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Orissa in which over 100 people were killed, The Indian Express newspaper reported, citing an internal document.<br />
<br />
"He was into big things like blasts, etc., and had masterminded the Orissa and Karnataka disturbances,," the newspaper quoted Pragya Singh Thakur, who was arrested for planning seperate bombings targeting another religious minority, Muslims, in west India in 2008.<br />
<br />
Among Christians killed in Orissa were men and women who witnesses said were burned alive, or hacked to death.<br />
<br />
Also, in Orissa's Kandhamal district alone, over 6,600 homes were destroyed, 56,000 people rendered homeless, and thousands injured, according to Christian rights activists.<br />
<br />
<strong>INTELLIGENCE REPORT</strong><br />
<br />
Thakurs statement to the NIA followed a Directorate of Military Intelligence report saying Purohit had confessed to having killed at least two Christians in Kandhamal district.<br />
<br />
The Orissa violence followed the murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, the leader of the nationalist grouping Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or 'World Hindu Council'. Maoists reportedly claimed responsibility for the killing, but Hindus blamed Christians.<br />
<br />
Thakur reportedly also admitted to playing a role in the 2008 violence in Karnataka and other stateswhere activists say hundreds of churches were desecrated and Christians were beaten up by Hindu militants.<br />
<br />
The revelation by Thakur was not surprising, said John Dayal, secretary general of advocacy group the All India Christian Council.<br />
<br />
"We have held that the military precision of the Kandhamal riots, which spread fast and raged for months, could not be a work of mere common people, and that higher brains were at work to teach the Christians a lesson while sending out signals of their power lust to the entire nation," he said in published remarks.<br />
<br />
<strong>NEW MURDER?</strong><br />
<br />
In Orissa, tensions remained high Sunday, March 27, following reports of new violence. In one of the latest cases Angad Digal, a Catholic man from the town of Mondasoro im Kandhamal went missing this month. Residents said he was killed in Tilakapanga around March 10, when he travelled with Hindu acquaintances.<br />
<br />
For days, family, volunteers, and human rights activists in Cuttack diocese have been searching for his body, without success, Christians said.<br />
<br />
One of the men suspected in Digals murder has been arrested, said Laxmikant Pradhan, a local priest.<br />
<br />
It was not immediately clear what the suspect, who was not identified, had told authorities about the whereabouts of the missing man.<br />
<br />
"We must find Digals body and stop this culture of impunity," said priest Pradhan, who complained that authorities had not done enough to intervene.<br />
<br />
The case have underscored growing pressure on religious minorities in India, a predominantly Hindu nation, according to rights and church groups. (Worthy News's Santosh Digal in India and Stefan J. Bos at Worthy News Center contributed to this story).</div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-41519102688673142862011-03-28T17:21:00.000+10:302011-04-09T17:24:50.582+09:3028/03/2011 - Iran Secretly Executes Jewish-Armenian Couple; Christians Concerned<div class="maincontentstyle" id="ajaxcontentarea"> <h1 class="newsheader">Iran Secretly Executes Jewish-Armenian Couple; Christians Concerned</h1><div class="findus">Posted on: 2011-03-28 09:39:09</div><div class="news">TEHRAN, IRAN (<a href="http://www.worthynews.com/" title="christian news service">Worthy News</a>)-- Iran has secretly executed a Jewish-Armenian couple and three other persons, raising concerns about other religious minority prisoners in the strict Islamic nation, Iranian Christians and rights activists confirmed Sunday, March 27.<br />
<br />
The independent Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News said Adiva Mirza Soleiman Kalimi, a Jewish Iranian, and her husband Varoujan Petrosian, an Armenian Iranian Christian, were executed in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison. One other woman and two men, whose identities were not revealed, were also killed, the agency reported.<br />
<br />
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, founded by Iranian activists, said the execution was confirmed by a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Court based inside the Evin prison.<br />
<br />
It was not known on what charges the inmates had been sentenced to death. Iranian officials did not provide further details.<br />
<br />
There was some confusion about the exact timing of the execution, but several Iranian Christians and rights activists said they believe it happened between Sunday, March 13, and early Monday, March 14, local time.<br />
<br />
<strong>BODIES RETURNED?</strong><br />
<br />
Christians said they did not know when and if the bodies would be returned to the families of the executed prisoners, amid reports they have been threatened with arrest by agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence.<br />
<br />
Relatives of those who died had reportedly asked for the bodies to bury them according to their religious traditions.<br />
<br />
The executions were expected to increase concerns about other religious minority prisoners, including five Christians who rights activists said face charges of blasphemy that carry the death penalty.<br />
<br />
Pastor Behrouz Sadegh-Khandjani, Mehdi Furutan, Mohammad Beliad, Parviz Khalaj and Nazly Beliad -- all members of the evangelical oriented Church of Iran denomination -- are expected to face a blasphemy trial next month, explained advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).<br />
<br />
<strong>"ISLAMIC ORDER"</strong><br />
<br />
The Christians already serve one year imprisonment for "crimes against the Islamic Order", that fellow believers have linked to their Christian activities.<br />
<br />
Several other Christians are also jailed across the country, local residents and rights activists say, as part of a reported government crackdown on Christian converts, who include former Muslims.<br />
<br />
In one of the latest cases, three Christians, identified as Saleh Jahangir Zadeh, Hamid Najafi and his wife, Mahzar Najafi, were detained by intelligence officials outside Tehran while traveling to celebrate the Iranian New Year holiday, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.<br />
<br />
It said attempts by families to contact those Christians have remained unsuccessful. Some 48 hours after last week's arrest there was "still no information regarding their status and location," the organization added.<br />
<br />
CSW added that "The situation for Christians in Iran is worsening, with churches finding it difficult to hold meetings, and many Christians attempting to flee the country."<br />
<br />
<strong>PASTOR NADARKHANI</strong><br />
<br />
The group explained that Christians in Iran are also increasingly concerned for Yousef Nadarkhani, the pastor of a large congregation in the city of Rasht, who was arrested in late 2009.<br />
<br />
He remains in prison after having been sentenced to death for the crime of apostasy, "despite there being no articles in the Iranian legal code that refer to such a crime," CSW observed.<br />
<br />
The presiding judge in the Nadarkhani case reportedly based his ruling on texts by Iranian religious scholars. An appeal to the Supreme Court was filed in December, and a hearing is due within two months, according to trial observers.</div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-76037408948643273542011-03-28T17:11:00.000+10:302011-04-09T17:12:13.950+09:3028/03/2011 - Germany Jails Christian Parents Over Sex Education Row<div class="maincontentstyle" id="ajaxcontentarea"> <h1 class="newsheader">Germany Jails Christian Parents Over Sex Education Row</h1><div class="findus">Posted on: 2011-03-28 07:19:53</div><div class="news">BERLIN/BUDAPEST (<a href="http://www.worthynews.com/" title="christian news service">Worthy News</a>)-- A Christian father spent another day in a German prison Saturday, March 26, after refusing to pay a fine for not allowing his children to attend government-run "sexual education" classes, his lawyers said.<br />
<br />
Eduard Wiens is now serving a 40-day sentence that will end April 23, said the U.S. based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), an international group of Christian attorneys.<br />
<br />
The ADF said Eduard Wiens is one of several Christian parents being prosecuted by German authorities over the controversial sex-classes, adding that it asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to quickly review appeals filed last year on their behalf.<br />
<br />
Eduard and Rita Wiens, along wih Arthur and Anna Wiens, chose to keep their four children--a 9- and 10-year-old from each family--from attending obligatory sexual education in the town of Salzkotten that they believed taught students "an unbiblical view of sexuality," ADF said in a statement.<br />
<br />
"They were subsequently fined and sentenced to prison after they refused to pay. Arthur Wiens served two jail terms totaling 10 days last year. Eduard Wiens served five days last yearand is now serving a 40-day sentence," the group explained.<br />
<br />
Anna Wiens and Rita Wiens 43-day sentences were postponed, "due to the formers pregnancy and the latters nursing of her newborn," the ADF said.<br />
<br />
<strong>BAPTIST CHURCH</strong><br />
<br />
The troubles began in 2006 when the four parents, active members of the Christian Baptist Church, objected to their childrens attendance at both a mandatory stage play and four school days of so-called sexual education classes.<br />
<br />
"Each parent believed the programs contradicted their sincerely held religious beliefs. The Wiens kept their children at home during the programs and instead instructed them in their own Christian values on sexuality," the ADF said.<br />
<br />
A lower court disagreed and in June 2008 fined each parent 2,340 Euros (some $3,250).<br />
<br />
Children are not allowed to opt out of classes or school activities and homeschooling is illegal in Germany since Adolf Hitler outlawed it in 1938.<br />
<br />
Yet, the parents refused to pay the fine on what they called "legal and moral grounds", a move that led to the jail sentences.<br />
<br />
<strong>COMPULSORY PLAY</strong><br />
<br />
German school officials alleged that the purpose of the compulsory play Mein Kper Gehrt Mir ('My Body Is Mine') was to introduce preventative measures for sexual abuse amongst children.<br />
<br />
ADF attorneys argued that the play and sexual education lessons promoted a view of sex and sexuality that "strongly contradicts" the Wiens Christian beliefs.<br />
<br />
"Also, the Wiens contend that the programs didnt deter sexual abuse, but instead taught children to become sexually active, ultimately teaching that if something feels good sexually, then it was an acceptable practice," the ADF added.<br />
<br />
The group said it has three similar cases before the ECHR, involving the imprisonment of six Christian parents, that "violate" international human rights treaties signed by Germany.<br />
<br />
<strong>PARENTS RESPONSIBLE</strong><br />
<br />
"Parents, not the government, are ultimately responsible for making educational choices for their children, and jailing them for exercising this universal right is ridiculous," argued ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska.<br />
<br />
The imprisoned Eduard Wiens "was well within his rights under the European Convention of Human Rights to opt to teach his children a view of sexuality that is in accord with his own religious beliefs, instead of sending them to classes and an interactive play that they found to be objectionable," Kiska added.<br />
<br />
The cases could have wider implications, he warned. "The ADF also wants to head off any opportunity for activists in the United States to cite foreign court decisions as patterns to follow."<br />
<br />
Christian rights groups view the German prosecution of parents as part of efforts by several governments and employers in Europe to pressure devoted Christians to follow regulations that do not adhere to their Biblical principles. (With editing and reporting by Worthy News' Stefan J. Bos).</div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-79400353994966204602011-03-24T17:14:00.000+10:302011-04-09T17:15:01.670+09:3024/03/2011 - Christians in Turkey Acquitted of 'Insulting Turkishness'<div class="maincontentstyle" id="ajaxcontentarea"> <h1 class="newsheader">Christians in Turkey Acquitted of 'Insulting Turkishness'</h1><div class="findus">Posted on: 2010-10-24 00:35:12</div><div class="news">By Joseph C. DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent<br />
<br />
ISTANBUL, Turkey (<a href="http://www.worthynews.com/" title="daily christian news">Worthy News</a>)-- After a lengthy legal battle, a Turkish judge acquitted two Christians of insulting Turkey and its people by spreading Christianity, but not without imposing a heavy fine for another unrelated charge.<br />
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Turan Topal, 50, and Hakan Tastan, 41, were faslely accused of spreading their faith and "insulting Turkishness, the military and Islam."<br />
<br />
At Silivri court, Judge Hayrettin Sevim acquitted both defendants on charges they had insulted the Turkish state (Article 301) and its people (Article 216) by spreading Christianity on a lack of evidence.<br />
<br />
However, Sevim found them guilty of collecting information on citizens without permission (Article 135) and sentenced them to seven months imprisonment, or a $3,170 (US) fine.<br />
<br />
"For both Turan and me," said Tastan by telephone, "being found innocent from the accusation that we insulted the Turkish people was the most important thing for us, because we've always said we're proud to be Turks, but it is unjust that they are sentencing us for collecting people's information."<br />
<br />
At the time of their arrest, both men and had posted contact information from individuals interested in Christianity to the The Bible Research Center's website; their lawyer said they will appeal the decision of the court after they see the official statement.<br />
<br />
"We are free from the charges that we have insulted the Turkish state and the people of Turkey and we're glad for that," said Tastan, "but we are sorry about the court's sentence. We're happy on one hand, and sorry on the other."</div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-22197250808675081872011-03-23T17:25:00.000+10:302011-04-09T17:26:08.263+09:3023/03/2011 - Saudi Arabia Jails Indian Christians For "Proselytizing"<div class="maincontentstyle" id="ajaxcontentarea"> <h1 class="newsheader">Saudi Arabia Jails Indian Christians For "Proselytizing"</h1><div class="findus">Posted on: 2011-03-23 06:17:33</div><div class="news">RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (<a href="http://www.worthynews.com/" title="christian news">Worthy News</a>)-- Two Indian Christian men working in Saudi Arabia were behind bars Tuesday, March 22, after they were sentenced to 45 days imprisonment for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, rights activists said.<br />
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Vasantha Sekhar and Nese Yohan were detained and arrested March 11 in the Batha area of the capital Riyadh on charges of "proselytizing", or attempted conversion, said advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC), citing its contacts in Saudi Arabia.<br />
<br />
There was no immediate comment from Saudi or Indian officials.<br />
<br />
An ICC representative said his group believes the two workers were arrested to keep them from practicing Christianity privately in their home. "These two Christians have faced false charges and false evidence," ICC Advocacy Director Logan Maurer told Worthy News in a statement. "The Saudi government continues to engage in an array of severe violations of human rights as part of its repression of freedom of religion," Maurer added.<br />
<br />
APARTMENT RANSACKED<br />
<br />
While in prison awaiting trial, their apartment was reportedly ransacked, apparently by Saudi security forces.<br />
<br />
Christians said the two workers face uncertainty regarding their future. An employer has allegedly returned the passport of one of the Christians, saying his job is no longer available and that he will be expelled from the country. The other Christian awaits information regarding his legal status and job, ICC said.<br />
<br />
It was not immediately clear what impact the case would have on other foreign workers, including Christians, who have been a key element in Saudi Arabia's economy.<br />
<br />
Rights groups say Saudi Arabia, a strict Islamic nation, has a long history of cracking down on Christians. In 2004, 28 Indian workers were reportedly arrested in Messriam for practicing Christianity. The charges were eventually dropped, but in 2010 brought up again leading to the deportation of one worker, while another person was arrested, ICC explained.<br />
<br />
MORE ARRESTS<br />
<br />
In another case, 16 Indian workers were allegedly arrested in February 2008, and then released after three days. In 2010, eight left the country of their own accord and three of the remaining eight were issued deportation orders and expelled, ICC investigators said.<br />
<br />
ICC has urged its supporters to contact Saudi Arabia officials and "politely ask them to release and not expel vulnerable religious communities of Saudi Arabia."<br />
<br />
A recent United States State Department report on religious freedom expressed concerns about the situation of religious minorities in the country.<br />
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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner said the public practice of non-Muslim religions remains prohibited, and that the Saudi government has not acted on pledges to rid textbooks of religious incitement. "...There still continues to be in the Saudi textbooks, references, very negative, stereotypical references to Christians, Jews and others, which regard as offensive," he told reporters following the release of the report in November.<br />
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SAUDI AUTHORITIES<br />
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Saudi authorities have denied human rights abuses and recently urged political activists not to repeat pro-democracy demonstrations in other Arabic nations.<br />
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In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, the Interior Ministry said this month that demonstrations are prohibited "because these contradict the principles of Islamic law (Sharia) and the values and norms of the Saudi society; they further lead to public disorder, harm to public and private interests, breach of the rights of others, and to wreaking havoc that result in bloodshed." (With reporting by Worthy ews' Stefan J. Bos).</div></div>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358010592559017631.post-85678853609922121822011-03-21T17:38:00.001+10:302011-04-09T17:56:14.417+09:3021/03/2011 - Murdered Dutch Missionary Burried In Netherlands<table align="center" border="0"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div class="maincontentstyle" id="ajaxcontentarea"><h1 class="newsheader">Murdered Dutch Missionary Burried In Netherlands; Ebel Kremer Mourned Worldwide</h1><div class="findus">Posted on: 2011-03-21 08:11:23</div><div class="news"><div><ins></ins><ins id="aswift_1_anchor"></ins></div><br />
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<h2><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent with commentaries from Christians and missionaries across Africa, North America, New Zealand, the Netherlands and elsewhere</span></h2><br />
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NAIROBI/GRONINGEN (<a href="http://www.worthynews.com/">Worthy News</a>)-- A Dutch missionary who was murdered when armed robbers stormed a mission center in Kenya where he supported orphans, wasburied Monday, March 7, in the Netherlands.<br />
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Ebel Kremer, 36, was shot dead in the overnight attack by at least three suspects on February 25 at the complex of international Christian organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in the town of Athi River, some 50 kilometers (32 miles) outside Kenya's capital Nairobi.<br />
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Attackers reportedly also raped his wife Lora, 34, in front of their two small children. A night watchman was injured in the attack but is now recovering, YWAM said.<br />
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Journalists were banned from attending Monday's funeral in the Dutch city of Groningen to allow family members to calmly "cope with this loss and say farewell," explained the missionary couple's home church Vrije Baptistengemeente Groningen (VBG), or 'Free Baptist Congregation Groningen'. Ahead of the funeral, a special churchservice was held at the VBG.<br />
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Earlier,church members in the Dutch city of Groningen held prayer sessions, while a Dutch married couple flew to Kenya to pick up Lora Kremer and her children on behalf of the VGB, which financially supported the Kremers.<br />
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<b>CHRISTIAN IDENTITY</b><br />
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It has remained unclear whether the Christian identity of YWAM's mission center played a role in the attack, amid an ongoing police investigation.<br />
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In a comment, PS Cain, who said he had worked in Kenya, told BosNewsLife that the area where the attack took place "is primarily 'Christian' by name."Most likely, Cain said, "the robbers would consider themselves 'Christians' and run from any Muslim label. This is a sad truth about Kenya in my mind."<br />
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If the attackers were Muslims, they should be condemned, suggested 'Volk' a Muslim writer seeking contact with BosNewsLife. "I as a Muslim [of] 37-years old, feel sad about this incident. The Koran says that killing humans, and unacceptable sexual intercourse is very sinful," he wrote on Worthy News' partner website, BosNewsLife.com.<br />
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YWAM suggested earlier there was no evidence that the violence was sparked by Muslim extremism that has plagued the further away northeastern border region of Kenya with Somalia."The incident is being investigated as a robbery, " the organization said, amid reports that the attackers were searching for money.<br />
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<b>SECURITY CONCERNS</b><br />
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Yet, the attack underscored security concerns for Christians in Kenya where the Kremers worked since February 2008 as volunteers at the YWAM mission center in Athi River, said VBG spokesperson Jan Hooikammer. The complex includes Christian training schools, a preschool and facilities for orphaned children, known as 'Homes for Hope and Healing'.<br />
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Ebel Kremer was involved in building YWMA's 'Maanzoni Childrens Village' of eight such 'Hope' homes, with foster families caring for up to a dozen orphans each.<br />
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YWMA representative Karin Kea Sued acknowledged that the village's future was now uncertain. "Ebel was overseeing the building of the second of the eight homes...We were waiting for the homes to be completed before accepting more children."<br />
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The official said that "Our hearts are hurting as we are all in shock and disbelief that Ebel has been taken from us so suddenly, and in such a cruel and heartless manner." Her group, she said, "lost a fellow missionary and friend who beamed with energy and determination serving the One we all know to give perfect peace, comfort and eternal life."<br />
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<b>WORLDWIDE CONDEMNATION</b><br />
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As relatives and close friends prepared to burry Ebel Kremer, other missionaries and Christians in Africa and around the world contacted Worthy News' partner BosNewsLife to express their grief and shock.<br />
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"I am praying for Lora and her children. I have been praying for them since I heard this news," said Christine Enoch writing from Kenya in a comment on the website. "I am also praying for the extended family, as they are devastated by this news. I can only imagine their shock and pain."<br />
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She said she had lived in three countries in Africa for the past 23 years. "I thank God for His mercy and protection. I currently live in Nairobi, so this [news about the attack] comes close to home, and makes me realize that the only hope I have is to turn my eyes upon Jesus."<br />
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Another Christian, missionaryDean McClain, also suggested that life can be dangerous in Kenya. "I am praying for all involved and forwarding your article to all on my lists. My wife and I served as Baptist Missionaries in Kenya [from] 1989 [till] 2001. God helped me to keep a thief in Nairobi from being set on fire and a mob in Meru from killing a naked man who was throwing rocks at cars from a roof top!" However, he added, "We found the majority of Kenyans to be kind and as soon as I intervened they supported me to stop the mobs."<br />
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"I have great sympathy for the family. Im a Dutch missionary myself, YWAM-mer too, helping orphans too," said Cor Koelewijn, who described himself as "Missionary to the Orphans of East Africa." He said, "We are living just over the border on the Uganda side and are shocked at this type ofattacks. No matter who you are or what you do, it is absolutely horrific to go through this. I pray that God will help his wife and children to get over this and somehow pick up their life"<br />
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<b>MISSIONARIES TARGETED</b><br />
<div id="attachment_15861">Ebel and Lora Kremer worked for Youth With A Mission (YWAM), an international mission organization working around the world.<br />
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"It's so sad that all this is happening to people who are missionaries, working with the needy in Kenya," noted missionaries Ray, Eunice and Nicole of Youth With a Mission in Namibia, using only their first names.<br />
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"Our prayers are with you as we understand the pain and suffering Lora and the children are going through," they wrote to BosNewsLife. "We trust God will shine His light and shower them with His Love and comfort, through this challenging time."<br />
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Elizabeth Parker Kirouac, who also worked for YWMA, told BosNewsLife that "Ebel paid the ultimate cost to know God and make Him known. In a message to Lora Kremer she added: "I am sorry for your loss and pray that you would find deep comfort, healing and peace in the arms of our Heavenly Father. I am a former YWAM-er and have a brother and his family in Kenya."<br />
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"We are praying in Senegal, West Africa, for this family and this situation. We serve several missionaries from the Netherlands and have several teachers from the Netherlands also," wrote Brett and Krissy Molter, directors of the Bourofaye Christian School in Senegal.<br />
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<b>"SENSELESS INJUSTICE"</b><br />
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"This has been a difficult time for them, but we all are shocked to hear this terrible news. We pray that God will use this senseless injustice for His Kingdom glory, in His refining power," they told BosNewsLife.<br />
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They stressed that everyone was "Weeping for the family and the Body of Christ", a reference to Christians.<br />
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Outside Africa, Trevor and Kelly of YWAM in Oxford, New Zealand, said "Our hearts go out to Ebel and his family during this time. Our team was deeply impacted by the example that Ebel and Lora were living before our eyes in pouring out their lives for Christ and the orphans in Kenya."<br />
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And from Toronto, Canada, Max Rideout wrote BosNewsLife that he "was shocked and saddened" by this news. "We live in an evil world. Our prayers and thoughts are with Lora and her family."<br />
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<b>''CRUEL ACT" </b><br />
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Back in the Netherlands, Christians also mourned missionary Kremer outside his own home church, including in the international evangelical Vineyard Assen church in the Dutch city of Assen. "Our pastor was a close friend of the deceased...He is heartbroken and we as a church are saddened by the cruel act," said Isabella w.van Spijk, a Kenyan Christian who is married to a Dutchman, in a comment on the bosnewslife.com website.<br />
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"It was very sad in our [Vineyard Assen] church, I could not help crying out to God...The preacher could not hold back his tears now and then he kept stopping preaching."<br />
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It was, she suggested, a Biblical message that the missionary died while serving God, just as Jesus, before His resurrection from death.<br />
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"Our God and only Him understands why. I will personally keep praying for Lora and the Children that His will may prevail [and] comfort both families. God is on His throne and He will always remember them no matter what because we believe in a living God who is able to carry us through the storms."<br />
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</tbody></table><h3 class="footertext"></h3>Philiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385432987440389541noreply@blogger.com0