Persecution of Christians Reached Historic Levels in 2014. Will 2015 Be Worse?

January 8, 2015January 8, 2015 / newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

From sojourners

Persecution of Christians Reached Historic Levels in 2014. Will 2015 Be Worse?

by Jonathan Merritt 01-07-2015 | 4:02pm

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From imprisonment to torture to beheadings, more Christians worldwide live in fear for their lives than at any time in the modern era.

Open Doors USA’s 2015 “World Watch List.” Image via Open Doors / RNS

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Circle of Protection for a Moral Budget

A pledge by church leaders from diverse theological and political beliefs who have come together to form a Circle of Protection around programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world.

That’s the message from Open Doors USA, which released its annual World Watch List on Jan. 7. Christian persecution reached historic levels in 2014, with approximately 100 million Christians around the world facing possible dire consequences for merely practicing their religion, according to the report. If current trends persist, many believe 2015 could be even worse.

“In regions where Christians are being persecuted as central targets, the trends and issues we track are expanding,” said David Curry, president of Open Doors, a nonprofit that aids persecuted Christians in the most oppressive countries and ranks nations based on the severity of persecution.

North Korea tops Open Doors’ list as the worst oppressor of Christians for the 13th consecutive year, but the list is dominated by African and Middle Eastern nations. Iraq, which experienced the mass displacement of Christians from its northern region, ranked third. Syria was listed fourth, due to the reign of ISIS in that war-torn region. Nigeria ranked 10th, due in part to the more than 1,000 Christians murdered or kidnapped by terrorist groups such as Boko Haram. Also included in the top 10 are Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Eritrea.

Even though some Christian-majority nations are experiencing unprecedented levels of discrimination and oppression, Curry said Muslim extremists are the primary drivers of Christian persecution worldwide. This is the case in 40 of the 50 nations on this year’s list.

Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, a global ministry serving persecuted Christians in oppressed nations, agreed with Curry that Muslim extremism is the main source of Christian oppression.

“Wherever there is growing Islamic radicalism, there is growing persecution of Christians,” he said. “Even where moderate Islamic states offer peace — and that is rare — they almost never have freedom to practice their faith and are often marked for death.”

Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, said Islamic extremism is not just rampant in rogue terror groups, but also in the governments of nations such as Saudi Arabia (No. 12 on the list) and Egypt (No. 23). This has foreign policy implications, which Shea said has contributed to a failure on the part of the Obama administration to address the calamity adequately.

Curry and Nettleton also expressed disappointment in the administration’s response but said they hope that the appointment of Rabbi David Saperstein as the State Department’s ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom might signal a more aggressive approach. Conservatives criticized Obama for not filling the position sooner, and Saperstein’s critics say the rabbi’s liberal background may not bode well for his willingness to address global persecution aggressively.

Regardless, Open Doors leaders say something must be done to address the mounting persecution. The situation is reaching crisis levels: Christianity faces possible extinction in the Middle East and persecution is growing at alarming rates in Asia and Africa. Curry concluded:

“The 2015 Watch List is a wake-up call to Western countries to protect religious freedoms around the world.”

Jonathan Merritt is senior columnist for Religion News Service and a regular contributor to The Week. Via RNS.

Running From Isis

November 12, 2014 / newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

From “Sojourners“

Six weeks after ISIS overtook their village outside of Mosul, Iraq, Sief and Jacob Jebrita said they received an official cease and desist letter from the terrorist group saying their work was forbidden under Islamic law. The two brothers, partners in a small photography and videography business, lost their sole source of income. But that was just the beginning.

Sief Jebrita, who fled Iraq after ISIS took over his village, with his sons.

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Sief and Jacob shared their story while sitting in St. Mary, Mother of the Church in Amman, Jordan, with a delegation of religious media. The church, led by Fr. Khalil Jaar, has become home to more than 150 Iraqi Christian refugees who have fled their homes while ISIS continues to push through the region.

Because of their Christian faith, Sief, Jacob, and their families were targeted by ISIS. They told me of a soldier ripping an earring out of a girl’s ear, slicing it open because it was not acceptable for her to wear jewelry. As ISIS militants forced people out of their homes, they would not allow them to bring anything with them at all except the clothes on their backs. They told me the story of one mother walking with her little boy who was forced to leave behind his bottle of milk after a soldier knocked it to the ground and shouted at them. As the situation worsened, they said they saw Yazidi men killed for refusing to accept Islam, and Yazidi woman sold into slavery in Mosul – $500 for younger women and $100 to $300 for older women.

During the initial fighting to overtake their village, the brothers said that two of their neighbor’s children were killed. While the community was literally burying its dead, the militants attacked a second time. That was when the brothers decided to take their families and leave immediately, first to Erbil, where they were assured they could return home if only they paid a tax. But both told me that they knew in their hearts that they could never return.

“We can’t go back because not only of ISIS, but because our neighbors have turned against us too,” Sief lamented.

They spoke sadly of how all the people in their village, Muslims and Christians, had lived together peacefully. But when ISIS came, everything changed. They acknowledged struggles between Christians and Muslims have existed since 2001 – but not like what is happening now. They said their neighbors shunned them, possibly out of fear or apprehension of being seen as abettors.

So with only the barest of possessions, they left Erbil and eventually made it to Jordan, where they ended up at Fr. Jaar’s parish. Sief underscored that this is a tragedy for all Iraqi people, not just Christians. All are suffering at the hands of ISIS. Every night the refugees gather to pray and discuss their situation, trying to figure out what do to next. They are no longer living in constant fear — and they appreciate the generosity of Fr. Jaar and the Jordanians — but no one wants to go back. No one trusts the government — or the neighbors who turned against them.

But despite everything, they believe that from this terrible situation, God can make something good.

One night when some of the men began to despair at how much they had lost, an older woman they thought was sleeping suddenly sat up and said, “Do you want a clearer miracle than this? We have lost everything, but we did not lose our faith.”

With the help of Fr. Jaar, the Christian community in Amman, the Jordanian government, and the support of one another, they are acclimating to their new life. Fr. Jaar said any country would be lucky to receive these families — that they are good people with much to offer. He does not consider them refugees but guests.

I found the courage and fortitude of these displaced Iraqi Christians inspiring. Despite the hardships they faced and the daunting challenge of creating a new life in a new land, they remain faithful.

“This is the time to be strong, to love and help, and to be in solidarity with all people.” Jacob told me through an interpreter.

Amen.

Cynthia J. Martens is Senior Director of Circulation and Production for Sojourners.

‘Unique’ Religious Freedom Restrictions in Saudi Arabia

June 6, 2014June 6, 2014 / newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Disturbing news from Saudi Arabia. From the Christian Post.

‘Unique’ Religious Freedom Restrictions in Saudi Arabia:

Not a Single Church Exists, Entire Country Is ‘Sacred Mosque,’

Watchdog Reveals

“Not a single church or other non-Muslim house of worship exists in the country,” says Bandar al-Aiban, the director of the Saudi National Human Rights commission. Churches are not allowed to exist “because the entire country is a ‘sacred mosque’ for Islam’s holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina.”

International Christian Concern has highlighted the extent of the restrictions in Saudi Arabia, which is officially an Islamic state, and the consequences they have on the millions of Christians, who are mostly foreign workers, living there.

“Saudi Arabia remains unique in the extent to which it restricts the public expression of any religion other than Islam,” the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2014 Annual Report.

Operation World estimates that close to 2 million non-Muslim foreign workers live in Saudi Arabia, and around 1.5 million of them are Christians. Statistics on how many Saudis are Christians are harder to come by, as the government does not recognize such believers, but they face a situation in which there is not a single church in the entire country where they are allowed to publicly meet.

Saudi Arabia has close to 4,000 religious police officers entrusted to enforce its Islamic laws. Leaving the Islamic faith is considered apostasy and punishable by death, with non-Islamic prisoners often pressured to convert to the religion.

Other Christian groups have also documented the intense persecution Christians face in Saudi Arabia. Open Doors ranks it at No.6 on its list where Christians face the most persecution. In 2013, it was ranked at No.2, behind North Korea.

ICC pointed out that the United States government maintains a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, and in March President Barack Obama met with King Abdullah during an overseas trip. Obama failed to call out Saudi Arabia on its severe religious freedom violations, however.

“This visit was an excellent opportunity for the president to speak up on an issue that affects millions of Saudi citizens and millions more foreign workers living in Saudi Arabia,” ICC Middle East Regional Manager Todd Daniels said then.

“Only last month the president clearly stated that promoting religious freedom is a key objective of American foreign policy, and then reaffirmed that opinion in remarks following his meeting with Pope Francis on Thursday, according to the White House. On top of this, 70 members of Congress specifically asked him to publicly address the issue, as well as other human rights concerns, with King Abdullah today. How, despite all of this, the president could stay completely silent about religious freedom during his meeting is remarkable.”

Read the article here

Egypt- Every Friday is a Day of Death for Christians

April 23, 2014 / newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

From persecution.org

“Every Friday is a Day of Death” for Christians in Cairo

The situation in Egypt continues to deteriorate for the nation’s Christians. As systematic kidnappings of Christians plagues the Minia region to its south, reports confirm the brutal murder of a Christian woman by Muslim Brotherhood radicals in Cairo. Viciously stabbed to death, Mary Sameh George was murdered for hanging a cross from her review mirror. The mob responsible for her death set fire to Mary’s car shortly after taking her life, sending a message of repression and violence to Christians local to Ain Shams.

04/22/2014 Egypt (GlobalDispatch) – A shocking new report details an Islamic mob of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt attacking and murdering a Christian woman for having a cross hanging on her car mirror. The report on Monday chronciles eyewitness account of the beating, stabbing, and shooting death of Mary Sameh George in Cairo on Martch 28.

“Every Friday the supporters of Muslim Brotherhood organize a march after Friday prayer in Ain Shams,” the witness told the International Christian Concern (ICC). Identified only as Wahid, he says that “On this Friday afternoon, violent clashes took place between the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the security forces during their march.”

Mary, in her mid-20s, was parked near the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church to deliver medicine and food to the elderly after work that day. The protesters headed towards this church after the clash and attacked Mary when they saw her cross hanging from the rear view mirror of her car.

Wahid says the mob jumped on the car, collapsing the roof, and then dragged her from the vehicle, beating and stabbing her repeatedly. “They were chanting ‘Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar’ and cursing her while stabbing her,” Wahid said. “Then one of them shot her in the back and that led to her death. After killing her they set her car on fire.”

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