Tag: Persecuted Church

UPDATE: Iran Jails Two Christian Converts As Part Of Crackdown – Re-blog

Iran Jails Two Christian Converts As Part Of Crackdown

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service

image
Two Christian converts among the latest believers to be imprisoned in Iran.

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– Two Christian converts are already over 50 days in Tehran’s feared Evin prison as part of a crackdown on spreading Christianity in heavily Islamic Iran and it remains unclear when they will be released, BosNewsLife learned Monday, March 4.

Shahrzad Y., a 25-year-old woman, and a man named as Sam S. 27, were both detained on January 9 after security forces raided their homes in western Tehran, Iranian Christians said.

The two university students were reportedly charged with the “formation and promotion of house churches and holding gatherings intended for committing crimes.”

Iranian police also confiscated personal belongings including laptops, Christian books and notes, Christian song Compact Disks and cameras, reported Mohabat News, a news agency of Iranian Christians and activists.

Their arrests came shortly after some 50 other Christians were reportedly detained on similar charges, though it remained unclear how many of them remained behind bars Monday, March 4.
Continue reading “UPDATE: Iran Jails Two Christian Converts As Part Of Crackdown – Re-blog” →

Shut up! – Muslim cleric at Al-Azhar warns: “The new pope must not attack Islam” – Re-blog Jihad Watch

Peanut Gallery: The Muslim “Vatican” is firing a warning shot over the upcoming Papal Conclave in Rome – Shut up about Muslim persecution of Christians, particularly Coptic Christians in Egypt. “Stay quiet and you’ll be OK.” Really…

Muslim persecution of the Egyptian Christians is widespread and increasing, but Al Azhar was infuriated not with that persecution, but with the Pope’s daring to notice it. He should have heeded the advice Muhammad Atta gave to the passengers on the plane he hijacked on September 11, 2001: “Stay quiet and you’ll be OK.” Except they weren’t.

Muslim/Christian dialogue typically goes like this: Christians tell the Muslims what they like about Islam. And then Muslims tell the Christians what they like about Islam.

Robert Spencer unmasks the sham in the following article – well worth the read.
___________________________________

Muslim cleric at Al-Azhar warns: “The new pope must not attack Islam” 
posted by Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch

Cairo - Islamic district - Al Azhar Mosque
Cairo – Islamic district – Al Azhar Mosque

In other words, the new pope must not speak the truth about jihad and Islamic supremacism — or else. The papacy of Benedict XVI offered numerous illustrations of this. “Muslims Seek Dialogue With Next Pope,” by Harvey Morris for the New York Times, March 1:

LONDON — As the Catholic Church’s cardinal electors gather at the Vatican to choose a new pope, Muslim leaders are urging a revival of the often troubled dialogue between the two faiths.

During the papacy of Benedict XVI, relations between the world’s two largest religions were overshadowed by remarks he made in 2006 that were widely condemned as an attack on Islam.

Not by rampant, worldwide Muslim persecution of Christians. No, that didn’t hurt relations at all. Only Benedict’s remarks were at fault. Continue reading “Shut up! – Muslim cleric at Al-Azhar warns: “The new pope must not attack Islam” – Re-blog Jihad Watch” →

Please pray for Christians in Iran – 2013 World Watch List #8

Persecuted Church: Iran – 2013 World Watch List #8

iranian-women-resized-600Leader: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Population: 75.6 million (450,000 Christians)
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic republic 
World Watch List Rank: 8
Source of Persecution: Islamic extremism/ Dictatorial paranoia

Fearful of the increasing numbers of Christians, particularly in house churches, the authorities closely monitor Christian activities, particularly churches that reach out to Muslims. Evangelism, Bible training and publishing Scriptures in Farsi are illegal. Detentions of Christians are common. Several persecuted Christians were forced to leave their homes or flee the country. Muslim-background believers face most pressure – any Muslim who leaves Islam faces the death penalty. In September 2012 Pastor Nadarkhani was released after three years in prison on charges of apostasy.

Please Pray:

  • For Pastor Nadharkani and his family as he adjusts to life after prison
  • For justice for Christian prisoners and lawyers who try to defend them.
  • Many disillusioned Iranian Muslims are becoming curious about Christianity. Pray that they will find hope in Jesus.

 

Persecution Dynamics: 

Islam is the official religion and all laws must be consistent with the official interpretation of Islamic law. Of all types of Christianity, believers from a Muslim background face most persecution, as well as Protestant evangelicals. There is relatively less pressure on the historical ethnic Armenian and Assyrian Christian minority, as long as they do not evangelise Muslims.

Ethnic Persians are by definition Muslim, according to the state. Evangelism, Bible training and publishing Scriptures in Farsi are all illegal, yet this has only fuelled the flames of church growth.

Any Muslim who leaves Islam faces the death penalty. The regime’s focus is on those reaching out to converts and even well-established Christian denominations are not safe from harassment. Church activities are closely monitored, members identified and taken note of. In addition, Christians were physically harmed, a number while in jail. The Iranian authorities’ fear of increasing numbers of Christians, particularly in house churches, is based on fact with many disillusioned Iranian Muslims becoming curious about Christianity.

“Are Christians the New Jews?” – Rabbi Yitzchok Alderstein Re-Blog

Peanut Gallery: Special thanks to Rebecca Hamilton at Public Catholic for bringing this article to our attention. I have re-blogged Rabbi Alderstein’s entire article below – it’s well worth the read.

persecuted Christians

Today, Christians—especially those who take their faith most seriously—report that they feel like a scorned stepchild within general culture. They are mocked and derided, and treated as intellectual pygmies who have nothing to offer the better, more enlightened people around them.

Hamilton’s article is also worth the read “Christian Persecution: Are We the New Jews?” In it she applies Rabbi Alderstein’s analysis to the current state of the Roman Catholic Church in this critical time of change. She quotes Cardinal Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI) comments from 1969, “The church will become small”:

And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death. 

In an earlier post I lamented my feelings of frustration at becoming marginalized in America’s post-Christian culture. Rabbi Alderstein reminds me that Christians are not alone… and Pope Benedict XVI reminds me that God is in the midst of it all.

____________________________________

Are Christians the New Jews?

If you are fortunate enough to possess the truth, you do not compromise or sacrifice it, even if it means that you continue on only as tiny fleck of mankind.

By Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, February 20, 2013

“If you want to understand us, study our story, learn of our pain.” That is what Jews told Christians who wanted to build new bridges of respect after the Holocaust. Ironically, when Christians begin listening to the story of the Jews, they are finding reflections of themselves.

Christians who listened learned of a Jewish history written in blood from ancient to modern times. When they thought of Christian martyrdom, on the other hand, they had to turn for the most part to antiquity, to early Christianity under the thumb of Roman emperors.

That has all changed. While Jews feel threatened by the massive explosion of global anti-Semitism in the last years, coupled with Iranian and Islamist calls for the genocidal destruction of all Jews, very few Jews in 2013 are dying because of their faith or their roots. Christians, on the other hand, have become the New Jews. Continue reading ““Are Christians the New Jews?” – Rabbi Yitzchok Alderstein Re-Blog” →

Please Pray for Christians in Mali – World Watch List #7

Persecuted Church: Mali – World Watch List #7

Map of Mali
Map of Mali

Population: 16.3 million (351,000 Christians)

Until recently, Mali was a relatively stable, constitutionally secular state with a moderate Muslim population. However, following a military coup in March 2012, Islamist fighters and Tuareg rebels seized control of the north, declaring it an independent state and establishing a harsh Islamic regime. Tens of thousands of Malians fled south or left the country, including many Christians. There is now a very high degree of hostility towards Christianity in the north – Christians simply cannot exist.

Mali4Please Pray:

  • For those providing aid and shelter to Christians who have fled to the south
  • That international forces will intervene successfully against the occupation of the north, and restore peace and stability
  • That the tendency towards religious radicalisation in Malian society would be reversed.

Persecution Dynamics:

Mali’s appearance towards the top of the WWL is surprising. The country has always been a typical West-African state with a moderate version of Islam and a secular constitution, which proscribes religious political parties, even though a high percentage of its population is Muslim. In the north, the situation has been more difficult than in the south, but international missionaries have even been able to work there.

Islamists terrorize Mali, Christian leader beheaded
Islamists terrorize Mali, Christian leader beheaded

However, the situation changed with the capture of the north of the country by Tuareg separatist rebels and Islamists fighters, and the creation of the independent state of Azawad in northern Mali. The Islamists soon established an Islamic state with a stern Sharia regime in the north. Christians couldn’t stay. They were also very hard on traditional Muslims, killing people, amputating limbs and destroying Sufi sanctuaries. Since the fighting started in March 2012, tens of thousands of Malians have fled to the south or to neighbouring countries. There is a very high degree of hostility – Christians and churches simply cannot exist. In the south, Christians can live but have to be cautious.

Malian refugees in a makeshift shelter in Burkina Faso
Malian refugees in a makeshift shelter in Burkina Faso

There is widespread concern that Mali is fast becoming a Jihadist hub. Much will depend on the success of the intended intervention of the international community against the occupation of northern Mali. In October 2012, the UN stated that they were ready to send international forces to help the Malian government reclaim its lost territories in the North. Preparations for this are expected to take several months.