to the wide spread persecution of Christians and other minorities
in the Islamic World. Very few of the individuals and groups who
crusade on behalf of the Palestinians and against any incident of
discrimination against minorities in the United States and the
western world are largely silent when it comes to far more
wide spread and severe abuse of Christians.
Since this defies reason, I am tempted to turn to apply the
same form of condescending social and political psychoanalysis
to the left that they applied towards those who do not confirm to
their ideological vision. Through incessant indoctrination,
from the classroom to the newsroom, most progressives
have embraced a dualistic narrative in which Non-Western,
Non-Christian individuals are cast as victims and white,
Western, Christians are (at least potential) persecutors.
They are drawn to and energized by occurrences that conform
to this narrative and filter out incidents that run contrary to
the vision. For example, the "human rights community" was
up in arms over Israel's expulsion of 415 Radical Islamists,
but I do not recall a single protest when Kuwait expelled
450,000 Palestinian civilians! And during a Senate Hearing,
Attorney General Eric Holder stated that hate crime laws
would NOT apply to a US Soldier or Christian Minister
attacked for their identity and beliefs, because they are
not part of historically oppressed / protected classes. For
this reason, the tragic Trayvon Martin cases energized
the "civil rights community," whereas the far more brutal
Knoxville Massacre barely generated attention.
On a deeper, psychological level, a key element of this
irrational phenomena is the lack of faith and (at times even)
antipathy that progressives hold towards Western,
Judeo-Christian Culture. The embattled Coptic Christians of Egypt,
the Assyrians of Iraq and Christians of Pakistan elicit little
sympathy from progressives, precisely because they are suffering for the
defense of Christian and Western Culture, which segments of
the left have been undermining for over half a century. And
those who so passionately hate Israel, may not realize why,
but on a deeper level they detest Israel not in spite of,
but because of the fact that Israel is a successful,
unapologetic outpost of Western, Capitalist, Judeo-Christian
Civilization. The expulsion of the remnants of the indigenous
peoples of the Middle East, the violent end of the 4,000
year presence of Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians should
spark massive marches and protests in every University Campus.
But, there is a deafening silence that will remain until more of the
left come to terms with their gnawing doubt and self hatred. For few of the great social critics of the past are willing to sit on the other side the psychoanalyst's couch.
Muslim Persecution of Christians: January 2012
The beginning of the New Year saw only an
increase in the oppression of Christians under
Islam, from Nigeria, where an
in an effort to eradicate the Muslim
north of all Christians, to Europe,
where Muslim converts to Christianity are
still hounded and attacked as apostates.
According to the Chairmanof the U.S. Commission
on International Religious Freedom, "The flight
of Christians out of the region is unprecedented
and it's increasing year by year"; in our life time
alone, predicts "Christians might disappear
altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt."
An international report found that Muslim nations
make up nine out of the top ten countries where
Christians face the "most severe" persecution.
In response to these findings,a Vatican spokesman
said that "Among the most serious concerns,
the increase in Islamic extremism merits
special attention. Persons and
organizations dedicated to extremist
Islamic ideology perpetrate terrible acts
of violence in many places throughout
the world: the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria
is but one example.Then there is the climate
of insecurity that unfortunately in some countries
accompanies the so-called "Arab spring"
--a climate that drives many Christians
to flee and even to emigrate."
Categorized by theme, January's batch of Muslim
persecution of Christians around the world includes
(but is not limited to) the following accounts,
listed in alphabetical order by country,
not severity of anecdote.
APOSTASY
Iran: A Christian convert who was arrested
in her home has been sentenced to two years in
Previously she endured ive monthsof uncertainty
detained in the notorious Evin prison,where the
government hoped she would come to her senses
and renounce Christianity. She was convicted of
"broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by
formation of what is called a house church,
insulting sacred figures and action against
national security." Likewise, Iranian
Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani continues to suffer
in prison. Most recently, he rejected an offer
to be released if he publicly acknowledged
Islam's prophet Muhammad as "a messenger
sent by God," which would amount to
rejecting Christianity,
as Muhammad/Koran reject it.
Kenya: Muslim apostates seeking refuge
in Kenya are being tracked and attacked by
Muslims from their countries of origin:
An Ethiopian who, upon converting
to Christianity, was shot by his father,
kidnapped and almost killed,is now receiving
threatening text messages. Likewise,
a Ugandan convert to Christianity is in hiding,
his movements severely restricted since
I need protection and help."
Kuwait: A royal prince who openly declared
that he has converted to Christianity, confirmed
the reality that he now might be
targeted for killing as an apostate.
Norway: While out for a walk, two Iranian
converts to Christianity were
"infidels!"One of the men stabbed had converted in
Iran, was threatened there,and immigrated to Norway,
thinking he could escape persecution there.
Somalia: A female convert to Christianity was
paraded before a cheering crowd and publicly flogged
as punishment for embracing a "foreign religion."
Imprisoned since November,
"the public whipping was meant to mark
her release." She received 40 lashes as
hundreds of Muslim spectators jeered.
An eyewitnesssaid: "I saw her faint.
I thought she had died, but soon she
regained consciousness and her family took
her away." Likewise,"Somali Islamist
arrested a Muslim father after two of his
children converted to Christianity" and fled.
He is accused of "failing to raise his sons
as good Muslims,” because
"good Muslims cannot convert
to Christianity."
Zanzibar: After being robbed, a Muslim convert
to Christianity called police to his house;they
discovered a Bible during their inspection.
The course of inquiry immediately changed from
searching for the thieves to asking why he
"was practicing a forbidden faith.
" He was imprisoned for eight months without trial,
and,since being released, has been rejected by
his family and is now homeless and diseased.
CHURCH ATTACKS
Azerbaijan: A pastor has been threatened with
criminal proceedings following a raid on his
church during Sunday service. Earlier, he was told
that "a criminal case had been launched over
religious literature arousing incitement over other
faiths,"and was pressured by authorities to leave
the area, which he did, traveling great
distances each week to lead church services.
Egypt: Before a bishop was going to inaugurate
the incomplete Abu Makka church and celebrate
the Epiphany mass, a large number of
Salafis and Muslim Brotherhood members
entered the building, asserting that the church
had no licensea nd so no one should pray in it.
One Muslim remarked that the building would be
suitable for a mosque and a hospital.
Indonesia: A sticker on the back of the car
of a member of the beleaguered Yasmin church
saying "We need a friendly Islam,not an angry Islam,"
distributed by the family of the late
Muslim president, prompted
another Islamic attack on the church:
scores of Muslims "terrorized the
congregation and attacked several
church members." Since 2008, the
congregation has been forced
to hold Sunday services on the sidewalk
outside the church and then later in the home
of parishioners. Not satisfied, hundreds
of Muslims later searchedand found the
private home where members were congregating
and holding service and prevented them from
worshiping there as well:"It crosses the line now.
The protesters now come to the residential area,
which is not a public place." A new
report notes that tanti-Christian attacks
have nearly doubled in the last year.
Nigeria: Soon after jihadis issued an
ultimatum giving Christians three days to
evacuate the region or die, armed Muslims
stormed a church and "opened fire on
killing six, including the pastor's wife.
Then, as friends and relatives gathered
to mourn the deaths of those slain,
"Allahu Akbar" screaming Muslims
appeared and opened fire again,
killing another 20 Christians. Several other
churches were bombed, and seven more killed.
Pakistan: Enraged by the voices of children
singing carols ata nearby church, Muslims
praying in a mosque decided to silence them
--including with an axe: "The children were
preparing for mass to be celebrated the next
day which was a Sunday.
The loud cheers became terrified
whimpers when suddenly four men, one of them
with an axe, barged into the church. The men
slapped the children, wrecked the furniture,
smashed the microphone on to the floor and
kicked the altar. "You are disturbing our prayers.
We can't pray properly. How dare you use
the mike and speakers?"Islam forbids
Christians from celebrating loudly in
church,banning bells, microphones, etc.)
Also, a center owned by the Catholic church
for 125 years, and used for "charitable purposes"
--it housed a home for the elderly, a girls' school,
a convent and chapel for prayer--was demolished,
after it was discovered that its land is worth much
money; in the process, demolition workers
destroyed Bibles, crosses, and a statue of Our Lady.
Zanzibar: Muslims destroyed two churches: one
torched, while the other demolished
--all to yells of "Allahu Akbar."
DHIMMITUDE
[General Abuse, Debasement, and Suppression
of non-Muslim
"Second-Class Citizens"]
Denmark: In Muslim majority Odense, an
Iranian Christian family had two cars consecutively
vandalized--windows smashed,
seats cut up, and set ablaze
the family has since relocated to an undisclosed
location. Likewise, "Church Ministry" will change
its name to "Ministry of Philosophy of Life "
Egypt: In the latest round of collective punishment,
in a village because of a rumor that a Coptic man had
intimate photos of a Muslim woman on his phone
(denied by the man). Coptic homes and shops were
looted before being set ablaze. Three were injured,
while "terrorized" women and children who lost their
homes stood in the streets with no place to go.
As usual, it took the army an hour to drive
2 kilometers to the village and none of the
perpetrators were arrested.
Nigeria: Boko Haram Muslims set ablaze a
mostly orphansand the less-privileged,
were rendered homeless as a result.
Meanwhile, a top officer allowed the
mastermind behind the Christmas Day church
Islamists are in government.
Pakistan: A judge has denied bail to the latest
under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, despite the
lack of evidence against him:according to Sharia,
the word of a Christian is half that of his Muslim
accuser (his landlord).
Saudi Arabia: Officials strip-searched 29 Christian
women and assaulted six Christian men after arresting
them for holding a prayer meeting at a private home.
Imprisoned last month without trial, they have
not been told when or if they will be released.
Authorities conducted the strip searches of
the women, who insisted they had committed no crime,
in unsanitary conditions. As a result, some of the women
have been injured and are suffering illnesses,
but authorities have provided no medical treatment.
Sudan: Authorities threatened to arrest church
and fail to comply with an order for churches to provide
names and identifications:"The order was aimed at
oppressing Christians amid growing hostilities toward
Christianity…Sudanese law prohibits missionaries from
evangelizing, and converting from Islam to another
religion is punishable by imprisonment or death in
Sudan, though previously such laws were not strictly
enforced."Accordingly, days and weeks later,
Turkey: A Christian asylum seeker who fled from Iran
because of his faith "was brutally assaulted by his
of his Muslim employer,who "told him he had no rights
and that he would not pay him any money,"
after the Christian asked for his agreed wages.
He "is just one example of hundreds of Iranian
Christian asylum seekers who are living
in such situations in Turkey."
ABDUCTION, RANSOM, MURDER
Egypt: The abduction of a 16-year old Christian girl, who
disappeared over a month ago, has become a "tug of war
between the Christian family and Muslim lawyers."
The court sided with the Islamists, ordering the girl
to be held in a state-owned care home till she reaches
18--the legal age of conversion--instead of returning her
to her family.Coptic activists argue that the decision
"encourages Islamists to continue
unabated the abduction of Christian
minors for conversion to Islam."
Pakistan: A Christian girl who was abducted in 2001
when she was 15 and forced to marry a Muslim,
returned to her Catholic family after 10 years.
Her case is not an isolated case: "there are at
least 700 cases a year of Christian girls kidnapped
and forced to marry Muslims.” Likewise,
Sudan: After a large truck smashed through the
gates of a Catholic Church compound, Muslims
affiliated with Sudan's Islamic government
"severely beat" them and looted their living quarters,
stealing two vehicles, two laptops and a safe.Later,
the kidnappers forced the priests to call their bishop
with a ransom demand of 500,000
Sudanese pounds (US $185,530).
Switzerland: A Muslim man
for dating a Christian:were they dating in a
Muslim-dominated country,the Christian,
as so often happens, would have
likely received similar treatment.
Syria: The Christian community in Syria has been
hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders;
100 Christians were killed since the
anti-government unrest began;
"children were being especially targeted
by the kidnappers,” who,if they do not receive
the ransom demanded, kill the victim,
including some who are "cut into pieces and
thrown in a river." These latest reports are
reminiscent of the anti-Christian attacks
that have become commonplace in Iraq for a decade.
Tajikistan: A young man dressed as Father Frost
--the Russian equivalent of Father Christmas--was
bringing gifts. The Muslim mob beating and stabbing
him screamed "you infidel!" leading police
to cite "religious hatred" as motivation.
About this Series
Because the persecution of Christians in the
Islamic world is on its wayto reaching epidemic
proportions, "Muslim Persecution of Christians"
was developed to collate some--by no means
all--of the instances of Muslim persecution
of Christians that surface each month.
It serves two purposes:
1. Intrinsically, to document that which the
mainstream media does not:the habitual,
if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
2. Instrumentally, to show that such persecution
is not "random," but systematic and interrelated
--that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.
Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution,
it typically fits under a specific theme, including
hatred for churches and other
Christian symbols; sexual abuse of
Christian women; forced conversions to Islam;
apostasy and blasphemy laws;
theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (tribute);
overall expectations for Christians to behave
like cowed "dhimmis" (second-class citizens);
and simple violence and murder.
Oftentimes it is a combination thereof.
Because these accounts of persecution span
different ethnicities,languages, and locales
--from Morocco in the west, to India in the east,
and throughout the West, wherever there are
Muslims--it should be clear that one thing alone
binds them: Islam--whether the strict
application of Islamic Sharia law,
or the supremacist culture born of it.
By Raymond Ibrahim
Stonegate Institute
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