Tag: Persecuted Church

Saudi religious police arrest Ethiopian workers for practicing Christianity | Fox News Re-blog

Peanut gallery: The Saudis (World Watch List #2) are at it again… and Ethiopian Christians working in the country are their target… 53 arrested this month.

Nina Shea, the director of the Washington-based Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, told FoxNews.com that the arrests in Dammam are “part of Saudi Arabia’s policy to ban non-Muslim houses of worship and actually hunt down Christians in private homes.”

Suadi Arabia's Mutaween(Photo: Religious police during a training session in Riyadh September 1, 2007/Ali Jarekji)
Saudi Arabia’s Mutaween
(Photo: Religious police during a training session in Riyadh September 1, 2007/Ali Jarekji)

What are the Saudis afraid of… if their brand of Islam is so superior to all other religious expression? Or, maybe it isn’t… and they know it wouldn’t survive without their state-sponsored religious Gestapo.

As for Christians living in the country, they won’t get a lot of help from their embassies. Their countries are much too beholden to Arab oil and money to care much about the persecution of their Christian nationals. Politicians’ rebukes are meaningless unless backed up with action. Don’t hold your breath on that happening.

The best we can do is pray for Christian expats living in the country… no small thing. And let the world know that the Saudis are doing to expat Christians in their country.

Please read the full Fox News article below –

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Saudi religious police arrest Ethiopian workers for practicing Christianity
By
Published February 21, 2013

| FoxNews.com – Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers pray before the traditional Washing of the Feet ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City April 21, 2011, ahead of Easter. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers pray before the traditional Washing of the Feet ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City April 21, 2011, ahead of Easter. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Saudi Arabia’s notorious religious police, known as the mutawa, swooped in on a private gathering of at least 53 Ethiopian Christians this month, shutting down their private prayer, and arresting the peaceful group of foreign workers for merely practicing their faith, FoxNews.com has learned.

The mixed group of men and women was seized in a private residence in the city of Dammam, the capital of the wealthy oil province in Eastern Arabia, and Saudi authorities charged three Christian leaders with seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity. The latest crackdown on Christianity in the ultra-fundamental Islamic country comes on the heels of a brutal 2011/2012 incarceration and torture of 36 Ethiopian Christians, and drew a sharp rebuke from a U.S. lawmaker. Continue reading “Saudi religious police arrest Ethiopian workers for practicing Christianity | Fox News Re-blog” →

Please Pray for the Few Christians in Maldives – World Watch List # 6

Please Pray for the Few Christians in Maldives – World Watch List #6

Peanut Gallery: Sharia law in “paradise”… no place for Christians.

2013, Novemer 13, News from Maldives: “An American citizen linked to the Bangladeshi who was caught bringing books on Christianity written in Dhivehi into the country, has been blacklisted and banned from entering the Maldives. Maldives Customs said that the American, Kevin Thomas Greenson, was blacklisted following the collection of sufficient evidence by the Police of his connection with the Bangladeshi, Jathis Biswas, 44. Jathis Biswas has also been deported, following accusations of spreading other religions in Maldives in cooperation with a group of Maldivians. Customs found 11 books on Christianity with Jathis Biswas, who arrived in Maldives on 27 September 2012 on Sri Lankan Airlines.” (SunOnline)

image
The Maldivian economy is to a large degree based on tourism.

This is the only country in the world which requires all citizens to be Muslim. [The government does not distinguish between national and expat believers.] Conversion to another faith is prohibited by law and converts face extreme persecution from family and society – often having to leave the country. The authorities exert extensive control on the people to correct any deviation from Islam. There are no church gatherings or buildings. Religion is moving towards Deobandi Islam – the religion of the Taliban, whose mission is to cleanse Islam of all other influences. There are very few indigenous Christians. (Open Doors UK)

Pray:

  • For the handful of secret believers to grow in the love of God
  • For young people who seek education outside the islands. Pray that they will receive the gospel and return to share it with their communities
  • That the translation of the New Testament into the Dhivehi language would be completed.

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Open Doors Background: The Maldives are well-known as a dream destination for holidays. The islands are located in the midst of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by blue water and white beaches stretched out under the blazing sun. This is the picture authorities want to give to the outside world. The harsh attitude the government takes towards all Christian believers is less known, darkening the lovely picture of the country considerably. Continue reading “Please Pray for the Few Christians in Maldives – World Watch List # 6” →

Please Pray for Christians in Somalia – World Watch List #5

Peanut Gallery: Christian Persecution – Somalia #5 on World Watch List 

East-Africa-Map

It is too dangerous for believers to meet openly in this strictly Islamic state. Terrorist groups such as al-Shabaab target converts to Christianity and eliminate them.

Aid workers, Christian or otherwise, require tight security due to the risk of abduction.

The election of a new parliament and president in 2012 created a framework for a more legitimate government. But for Christians the future still looks bleak, as the provisional constitution does not allow for religious freedom. (Population: 9.8 million – a few hundred Christians)

Please Pray:

  • Al-Shabaab, which is backed by al-Qaeda, remains a serious threat. Pray that its influence will diminish
  • That Christian radio programmes will bring hope to isolated believers and those who are seeking God
  • Some of those who have returned to Somalia following the political changes have been exposed to Christianity. Pray this will bring more tolerance towards Christians.

Prayer: Heavenly Father – May your Kingdom come… and your will be done… in Somalia, as it is in heaven. Feed your people and deliver them from evil. Lord Jesus – Come in power to Somalia… break their bondage to sin and death… set them free – may your Word go forth with power accomplishing your Kingdom purposes. Holy Spirit – Move among your people… strengthening, encouraging, protecting them. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Somali-woman-mourns-near--007Persecution dynamics

Islamic leaders maintain that Somalia remains a strictly Islamic state with no room for Christians. Children attend mandatory Madrasa Islamic classes, people are buried with Islamic burial rights whatever their religion might be, and it is extremely difficult to openly declare faith. It is too dangerous to meet openly and families of converts are fearful that they might be suspected of conversion and risk execution. Continue reading “Please Pray for Christians in Somalia – World Watch List #5” →

Muslim Persecution of Christians: December, 2012 – Re-Blog

December, 2012
December, 2012

Peanut Gallery: Raymond Ibrahim’s stated purpose in cataloging these monthly incidents of “Muslim persecution of Christians” is twofold:

1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.

2) To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.

Whether or not it is “systematic and interrelated,” you can decide for yourself. But it certainly is pervasive. And for the Christians on the receiving end, it can be terrifying… and sometimes horrific.

Prayer: As you read through the list, please pray for those people and places that God places on your heart.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  – Ephesians 6.12 ESV

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Muslim Persecution of Christians: December, 2012
“Siad Deserved to Die Because He Was Not Committed to the Islamic Religion.”

by Raymond Ibrahim – February 6, 2013 at 4:00 am

Sweden: “Quite frankly we are at a loss why the Migration services [in Sweden] are so determined to deport [him]. People with weaker cases get permission to stay in Sweden, but not him.”
— Attorney for Reza Jabbari, a convert to Christianity seeking asylum in Sweden. If the Swedes return him to Iran, he is likely to face imprisonment or be sentenced to death for apostasy.

As usual, the month of Christmas saw an uptick in Christian persecution under Islam, in a variety of forms, from insults to murders. In Iran, Pastor Youssef Nadarkhani—after being imprisoned and tormented for years for converting to Christianity, then recently released thanks to international pressure—was rearrested again, on Christmas Day, to serve the remainder of his 45 days, which the court had earlier decreed could be served in the form of probation. In Syria, near Christmas, Islamic rebels beheaded Andrei Arbashe, a 38-year-old Christian man, and fed his body to dogs. In Nigeria, Christmas mass celebrations in several churches, were, once again, turned into scenes of carnage; and in Pakistan, Christians spent yet another “Dark Christmas.”

There were also the usual fatwas [Islamic legal decrees], forbidding Muslims to acknowledge Christmas: in “moderate” Indonesia, the nation’s top Muslim clerical body said that Muslims should not offer Christians greetings such as “Merry Christmas,” and that Muslims are forbidden from attending any Christmas celebrations. In Egypt, the Committee for Rights and Reform issued a similar fatwa, forbidding Muslims to congratulate Christians during Christmas. Even in the West, in Australia, the Lakemba Mosque issued a fatwa warning Muslims that it is a “sin” to wish people a Merry Christmas, because Christmas Day is among the “falsehoods that a Muslim should avoid … and therefore, a Muslim is neither allowed to celebrate the Christmas Day nor is he allowed to congratulate them [Christians].” Continue reading “Muslim Persecution of Christians: December, 2012 – Re-Blog” →

“Dhimmitude” – a word you should understand

Peanut Gallery: As events unfold in the Middle East, “dhimmitude” is a word you should understand- it directly affects Christians living in Islamic countries and explains why they are so often mistreated (see earlier post “Muslim Persecution of Christians”). islam for dhimmis

“dhimmitude […] represents a behavior dictated by fear (terrorism), pacifism when aggressed, rather than resistance, servility because of cowardice and vulnerability. […] By their peaceful surrender to the Islamic army, they obtained the security for their life, belongings and religion, but they had to accept a condition of inferiority, spoliation (plundering) and humiliation. As they were forbidden to possess weapons and give testimony against a Muslim, they were put in a position of vulnerability and humility.”[9] (Wikipedia)

To put it simply, non-muslims (dhimmis) living in Islamic countries are second-class citizens with little, or no, protection under Sharia law. They are essentially at the mercy of the enforcing religious authority.

If you read the entire Wikipedia article you will find that my characterization of “dhimmitude” and “dhimmis” is disputed by some scholars as “past history” and could be described as Islamophobic.  But disputed or not, there is growing evidence that Western observers of Islamic countries have turned a blind eye to the current wide-spread reality of “dhimmitude,” particularly in rural, or lawless, areas that are outside normal Western scrutiny. (I refer you again to “Muslim Persecuton of Christians.”)

This current post, however, was prompted by an article by Andrew G. Bostom posted on pjmedia.com, “Muhammad Morsi’s Islamic Jew-Hatred, Bernard Lewis’ Islamic Negationism” – asking the question: “Why do the media’s Middle East pundits ignore the Jew-hatred intrinsic to Islamic doctrine?”

The answer lies in the willful denial of the historic realities (past and present) of “dhimmitude.” Jew-hatred (and Christian persecution) are intrinsic to Muhammad Morsi’s Sharia inspired worldview. But it simply doesn’t fit the Western pundits’ “Arab Spring” narrative.

Continue reading ““Dhimmitude” – a word you should understand” →