The National Catholic Register recently reported on two countries where life is about to get even more dangerous for the resident Christian minority: Iraq (because of the US withdrawal) and Pakistan.
Concerning the Pakistanis, NRC writes:
The study cited an incident in which 11-year-old Nadia Iftikhar was severely beaten by her teacher when the girl said that she was both a Pakistani and a Christian. The teacher shouted at Nadia that, according to the school textbook, all Pakistanis were Muslims, before thrashing her.
The report has also documented in detail half a dozen incidents of young women, including teenagers who have been kidnapped, raped and forced to convert to Islam and marry their abductors. Those who resisted had been killed, and their parents have been harassed for reporting the cases to the police, who turn a blind eye to the perpetrators of such crimes.
Amid such worsening religious intolerance, the Catholic Commission has urged the government to bring out major constitutional changes by implementing “human-rights frame work and standards.”
terri
November 8, 2011
This is sobering to say the least. And yes, I fully expect Iraqi Christians will have a hard way to go very soon.
Our insulation from this level of persecution in the West (so far) is something that we need to be aware of. We need to pray for our persecuted sisters and brothers around the world.
Hearthrose/Hearthie
November 8, 2011
Do you get Voice of the Martyrs? It’s very sobering reading.
Alte
November 8, 2011
No, I don’t have that. NCR is already depressing enough. They also had an article about the government’s growing ABC policy (Anything But Catholics).
http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/hhs-defunds-bishops-program/
Stadt-Land-Fluss
November 8, 2011
http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/index.php
David Alexander
November 8, 2011
Iraq (because of the US withdrawal)
During the high water mark of the occupation, I argued that it was likely that we would end up with some refugees once we left. Given that comment, I suspect we may eventually have to take in the Christians and soak up the some of the Sunnis that backed us once everybody goes into “kill all the Shiites/Sunnis/Christians/Kurds” mode.
pukeko
November 8, 2011
David, the Iraqi Christians should be welcome. And it is interesting that China (which used to be hardline) has softened (praise God) but Pakistan — which under the Raj was multireligious — is now doing this.
There are a lot of Christians in the Muslim world. There are even missionaries there. But they are generally underground.
Ingemar
November 8, 2011
Kyrie eleison!
Clarence
November 8, 2011
David Alexander:
I agree one hundred percent. IF they will put aside Jihad I would welcome the Iraqi Sunni’s and of course, Iraqi Christians. Understand there is one thing Iraq did fairly well, and that is educate its population. Even from a secular point of view these immigrants are probably better for the US than most of the ones coming across our southern border and also this is at least partly OUR mess. By the way, I’m too lazy to look it up. Does anyone know how Saddam treated Iraqi Christians? I would guess that unless there was tremendous political capital to be had persecuting a religious or nationalistic minority (e.g the Kurds) he wanted all his subjects to get a long and subjugate themselves to him. Am I right?
Alte
November 8, 2011
The Christians were tolerated and not actively persecuted under Saddam, as far as I know.
Stewart
November 8, 2011
Aid to the Church in Need Iraq profile:
Elusive Wapiti
November 9, 2011
The sad thing to consider is just how the US, a supposedly Christian nation (post Christian is more accurate) has become a tool of the worldwide spread and rooting down of Islam. Her military has merely become a tool for the installation of powerful Islamic governments to replace the secular authoritarian or disorganized Islamic ones, and the continued elimination and/or suppression of the Christian faith worldwide.
Afghanistan didn’t have many Christians in it to begin with (and the US military has openly burned Bibles written in Dari and Pashto rather than risk the appearance of proseletyzing to Moslems, while the USG condems a single Florida pastor burning the Koran. The US military also burnt excess Bibles in its trash…oh, the symbolism!). Egypt’s Copts haven’t fared much better, as military aid sent to the Egyptian military is now routinely used to ethnically / religiously cleanse a sect that pre-existed Islam by more than half a milennium.
Persecution of Christians, albeit of a much less lethal sort, has now engaged full-on in the US military. Putting aside Mikey Weinstein’s successful hijinks at scrubbing all vestiges of Christianity from the military, the repeal of DADT removed homosexuality as a bar to military service and it is now hate speech and unlawful discrimination to express opposition to homosexuality in the military outside of a pastoral setting. Yes, Christians in the US military can largely no longer communicate that they find homosexuality immoral or distasteful…and to do so risks their career.
I had a colleague I was chatting with the other day ask me if I would support S3 (or S1, or S2, for that matter) joining the military. In times past, I would have said “yes” without reservation. My hesitation in response to her recent query gave me pause…and I had to stop and think about it because the sort of anti-Christian / pro-Universalist stance described above, plus the US military’s role in spreading / strengthening Islam abroad. I must say that I had to give an “it depends” to her answer, and–this was the most shocking part to me–that my support would be contingent upon what my child hoped to get out of his participation in that institution. “What’s in it for him” was on my mind, for I have come to believe that the negatives are close to outweighing the positives.
the tree lady
November 9, 2011
the negatives are close to outweighing the positives.
You are correct about that.