Persecution

Muslims kill about 800[+] Catholics (UPDATED)

Published by Papa Giorgio

When I first read about this (thanks to Drudge) the very first thing I did was follow the rabbit trail. I typed in “Alassane Ouattara Muslim” in Google search… guess what? These followers of Ouattara and Ouattara himself are Muslims. I thought to myself that most likely the people murdered were Christians. Guess what, Libertarian Republican has this story.

NEW INFORMATION!! Massacre of 800 Catholics in Ivory Coast likely work of Islamists

….From the UK Telegraph “Ivory Coast: aid workers find 1,000 bodies in Duekoue”:

The single biggest atrocity in the long battle for control of Ivory Coast has emerged after aid workers discovered the bodies of up to 1,000 people in the town of Duekoue.

Patrick Nicholson, a spokesman for the Catholic charity Caritas, said his team had counted 1,000 bodies, adding that some had been hacked with machetes.

From Deutsche Presse-Agentur (via M&G News):

‘The secretary general expressed particular concern and alarm about reports that pro-Ouattara forces may have killed many civilians in the town of Duekoue in the west of the country,’ the UN said.

The Catholic charity Caritas has said that up to 1,000 people had been massacred in Duekoue, which forces loyal to Ouattara seized earlier this week.

Breaking from the HeraldScottland.com “The next Rwanda?”:

A massacre in a Roman Catholic mission compound in the heart of the Ivory Coast’s cocoa-producing region could come to be seen as a crucial moment in the West African state’s escalating civil war.

Early reports suggested that more than 800 people, largely from the Gbagbo-supporting Gueré tribe, were killed in a single day at the sprawling Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekoue, 300 miles west of Abidjan towards the Liberian border. The attackers seem to have been largely soldiers descended from Burkina Faso immigrant Muslim families loyal to Ouattara…

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UPDATE: Libertarian Republican has a graphic video of the dead with this note prior to it:

The attackers seem to have been largely soldiers descended from Burkina Faso immigrant Muslim families loyal to Ouattara…

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Christian Journalist Jailed in China

Published by Papa Giorgio

My son is in China, and one of the gifts — out of the many — he is giving the host family is the book, Genesis and the Mystery Confucius Couldn’t Solve. Pray that if his host family is not saved that this book [via the new information about the reality of God spurned on by the Holy Spirit] will be instrumental in leading them to the Lord. Related to China is this story of a Christian journalist getting 10-years in jail for writing articles in foreign publications that the Chinese government would disagree with. Pray that the many people like these would have a miraculous freedom from the hand of their captors. And if not, pray that their time in jail is as fruitful as Paul’s (or pray for both). My son is only in China for 10-days, but any and all prayers for his safety are much appreciated:

Chinese Christian journalist gets 10-year sentence for articles government doesn’t like

A veteran Chinese political dissident and writer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, but it’s not his first stay behind bars. Liu Xianbin received the harsh sentence for simply writing articles for overseas publications that the government did not like.

Bob Fu of ChinaAid tells OneNewsNow that Liu has been persecuted since 1989 when he was a student. “As a result of that he was sentenced to more than two years,” Fu states, “and after that in 1999 he was sentenced to another 13 years.”

The government will not tolerate internal dissidence, says Fu. “Basically if you want to speak up your mind or write a few articles deferring from the party line,” he says, “this is the way they will handle you — put you in jail.”

Chinese authorities barred all but immediate family from the sentencing.

“Only his wife and another relative were allowed to be in the court,” Fu adds. “He was only allowed to speak a few sentences declaring himself basically innocent and denouncing this human-rights violation.”

Liu is a Christian and is the 35th person convicted of inciting subversion of state power since 1997. ChinaAid is encouraging Americans to pray for Liu and to write letters in his support to their elected representatives in Washington, DC.

More Attacks in Egypt by Muslims

Published by Papa Giorgio
  • On march 8 2011, Coptic Christians have been attacked by angry radical muslims, up until now, 7 are killed and more than 60 critically injured.

Libertarian Republican points out well that since the fall of the government in Egypt, Christians have been under increasing attack. There was video of an attack by the Egyptian military I highlighted from LR a while ago that seems to be becoming the norm.

About 15,000 Muslims attacked Coptic Christians in a suburb near Cairo on Wednesday. 9 Christians were killed.

The LA Times called the violence, the “deadliest unrest since President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.”

From AINA:

According to Father Abram Fahmy, pastor of St. Simon the Tanner Monastery in Mokatam Hills, on the outskirts of Cairo, Copts were killed and injured today in a fresh attack by Muslims. It was reported the Egyptian army fired live ammunition on Copts. The attack has claimed until now the lives of 9 Copts and injured 150, 45 seriously.

Muslims threw fire balls at the Monastery from the top of the hills. Coptic youth have arrested five of them, who are now being held within the Monastery grounds, waiting to be handed over to the authorities.

Indonesian Churches Burned via the Religion of Peace

Published by Papa Giorgio

Muslim Mob Burns Churches in Indonesia

A hardline Muslim mob clashed with police and burned two churches in Indonesia Tuesday to protest what they considered a too-lenient sentence given a Christian for blaspheming against Islam.

The U.S. ambassador in Jakarta expressed concern about the burnings and also deplored an earlier mob attack on a minority Muslim sect in which three people were stabbed and beaten to death.

The Christian, 58-year-old Antonius Bawengan, was given the maximum five-year sentence Tuesday on charges of distributing books and literature that allegedly spread hatred about Islam.

But a crowd estimated at more than 1,000 people attacked police with stones outside the courthouse in central Java, saying the man should have received a death penalty. The mob then set two churches on fire, burning the roofs, and damaged a third.

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Creeping Sharia notes the escalating attacks in Idonesia:

Indonesia: Muslim on Christian attacks spiked in 2010

More tolerance from the Religion of Peace, via Attacks on Indonesian Churches Spiked in 2010, Group Says

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Violations of Christians’ religious freedom in Indonesia jumped from 12 incidents in 2009 to 75 last year, according to a report from the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace.

Setara Institute researcher Ismail Hasani said at a press conference last week that 43 incidents involved attacks on churches and other security threats, sealing of worship venues and prohibition of activities, among other violations. Other incidents among the 75 violations included blocking churches from establishing places of worship and banning services and other religious activities.

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Islamo-Nazis Kill Teenagers for Reading Their Bible (Plus: Pat Condell)

Published by Papa Giorgio

This comes from Religion News Blog:

NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)– Suspected Islamic militants have killed two Christian teenagers who were reading the Bible in the disputed Kashmir valley, divided between India and Muslim Pakistan, BosNewsLife established Tuesday, January 8.

The victims were identified as Arifa, 17, and Akthar, 19, the daughters of Gulam Nabi Dar, said local missionary Mercy Ciniraj, who knew them well. “The [murdered] girls were believers and used to read the Bible through underground ministries.”

She told BosNewsLife that “the girls were shot dead” last Monday, January 31, in the Baramulla area in Indian-controlled northern Kashmir, bordering Pakistan.

They were “brutally murdered” by at least three fighters of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan based Islamic militant “terrorist” group, she explained. Local police reportedly said in statements that they found two bodies near their home and that militants were to blame.

ISLAMIC STATE

Lashkar-e-Taiba, or the ‘Army of the Righteous’, seeks to introduce an Islamic state in South Asia and to “liberate” Muslims in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

India has identified the group as the alleged masterminds behind the the 2008 terror attack on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai that killed 166 people.

The killings of Arifa and Akthar show that militant attacks also include targetting devoted minority Christians, Ciniraj suggested.

The girls’ involvement in Bible reading was among several projects of mission group Salem Voice Ministries (SVM), which supports evangelism and aid among MuslimsHindus in India, including through underground house churches in Muslim-majority Kashmir. and

BELIEVERS IN FEAR

After last week’s killings, however, local “believers are totally in fear,” added Ciniraj, who founded SVM with her husband, Indian pastor Paul Ciniraj, a former Muslim.

The January 31 attack was believed to be the first incident of civilian killings by militants in the Kashmir valley, this year. The violence also added to other difficulties of Christians in Kashmir valley, as they suffered of diseases, explained Mercey Ciniraj to BosNewsLife.

“Since the last one and half months we all are fed up with different types of sickness. Few days we suffered with reddish eyes one by one [and] after that we were attacked with viral fever too,” she said, adding that local believers asked for prayers.

Despite their concerns, local Christian workers plan to continue preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ who they believe gives eternal life to everyone who believes in Him, Ciniray stressed. “By God’s grace now we recovered [of illnesses] and are fully active with the underground church ministries and reaching the Gospel at any cost who never have a chance to hear it.”

…(source)…

This following video is VERY GRAPHIC and I do not recommend it for the faint of heart. It is Islamic violence against fellow Muslims (maybe a sharia law killing? Or the people being killed were moderate Muslims?). You can see that this religion of death feeds on itself as well as other faiths, and non-faiths for that matter. You can watch it HERE.

Egyptian Police Officer Shoots 6 Christian While Yelling Allahu-Ahkbar

Published by Papa Giorgio

Libertarian Republican h/t:

From ArabianBusiness.com “Muslim policeman shoots Egyptian Christian dead” Jan. 12:

A Muslim policeman shot dead an Egyptian Christian on a train on Tuesday and wounded five, sources said, less than two weeks after a church was bombed in Egypt’s deadliest attack on Christians in years.

[….]

Update! Various media are reporting this morning that the gunman yelled “Allahu-Ahkbar” as he shot the passengers.

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Suicide Bomber in Egypt Kills Man Christians (RAW FOOTAGE of Religion of Peace Attack)

Published by Papa Giorgio

The Wall Street Journal reports:

CAIRO—A bomb detonated outside a church in the northern port city of Alexandria early Saturday, killing more than 20 and injuring dozens.

The attack struck Christian worshippers as they were leaving midnight mass at the Church of Two Saints in Alexandria. The death toll shot up Saturday morning, from an early estimate by officials of just seven.

By midday, Egypt’s state media reported 21 dead and nearly 80 injured. Egypt’s interior ministry said the bombing was a suicide attack…..

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Two Stories of Persecution by the Religion of Peace

Published by Papa Giorgio

These come from Religion News Blog:

Local Pakistani Christians and the family of a Christian youth are facing potential death threats and the terrorization of “dire consequences” following the elopement and marriage of a Christian young man who has converted to Islam and his young Muslim bride.

A Christian lawyer and minority rights advocate has revealed that homes of local Christians were attacked, women were abused and household items vandalized by Muslim fanatics searching for the youth.

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An evangelist is still recovering from burns after six young Muslim men beat him with clubs and belts and set him on fire last month in a village near this Punjab Province city.

Aamir Masih, a Christian elder of the same village, said that the young Muslim men mistakenly regarded verses in the pamphlet describing the resurrection of Jesus as derogatory to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

“This angered the Muslim men, and they ordered Augustine to leave the village at once and stop preaching the gospel in Village 96-NB immediately or face the consequences,” Masih said.

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News From Christians Abroad

Published by Papa Giorgio

Religion News blog has a couple of interesting stories that should tilt the head of the missions minded person. This first one is out of Chittagong, Bangladesh:

Buddhist extremists held eight Chakma Christians for four days to force them to return to Buddhism

The Buddhists held a pastor, a church secretary, a village leader and five members from a Baptist church in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, said Caroline Anderson , a well-informed writer in Asia for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, a major mission group.

The captives were all forced to wear Buddhist robes, shave their heads, bow down before a statue of Buddha and clean the temple; they were also threatened with beatings and even death if they tried to escape, she reported.

TEMPLE CONFINED

Detained August 23, they were initially told they would be confined to the temple for one to two weeks, but after four days the Christian captives were released provided they remained Buddhist, missionaries said.

“They are not allowed to pray to Jesus, nor read Bibles, but they say they are still Christian in their hearts,” added a missionary who did not want to use her real name amid security concerns. Despite the difficulties, 10 new Chakma churches have been established with about 300 Chakmas professing their faith in Jesus, Christians said….

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Here is the other story coming from New Delhi, India:

A legislative panel in Nepal has proposed retaining a ban on converting others in the country’s new constitution.

Parliament has yet to decide on the proposal, but Christian leaders said they fear it is likely to be approved given that Nepal’s largest political party, led by former Maoist rebels, sympathizes with the deposed king’s wishes for such a ban. The country is forging a new constitution as part of its transition from a Hindu monarchy to a democracy.

[….]

Asked if the proposal violated international conventions such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Nepal is a signatory, Pandey said the committee looked at “all relevant conventions” as well as “Nepal’s own unique socio-political context” before reaching the consensus.

Pandey is from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist).

Bishop Anthony Sharma, the first ethnic Nepalese to be ordained as a Jesuit priest, said the panel’s proposal will not alter his congregation’s Christian activities.

“We do not have any fear, and we will continue to do what we are doing, whether it’s a Hindu constitution or a secular one,” he said. “Conversion is by God; people simply respond to Him. Our philosophy is, ‘We propose and not impose.’ The growth of the church in Nepal is due to the Christian witness, and not just by preaching.”

The Rev. Dr. Mangalam Mahajan, president of Koinonia Church Fellowship, said he was hopeful that the new constitution would carry the same provisions as in the Indian Constitution, which allows for free profession, practice and propagation of religion – though some Indian states have “anti-conversion” laws outlawing forced or fraudulent conversion.

“The restriction will affect the Christian work in Nepal,” Mahajan said.

Though the ban on encouraging conversions has been in force for more than five decades, it is unclear how it would be interpreted and implemented in the new constitution. Christians fear that Hindu nationalist groups would misuse the ban to restrict public meetings and social work that could be suspected of being aimed at conversions.

Proselytizing was outlawed in the Himalayan nation in its 1959 Constitution, which replaced the country’s first interim constitution of 1951. Since then, all consecutive constitutions have retained the ban, including the 2007 interim constitution issued a year after the abolition of the world’s only Hindu monarchy.

[….]

The bishop of the Believers Church, Narayan Sharma, said he was not surprised at the proposed continuation of the ban.

“We know that the new constitution will restrict conversions to ‘protect’ the country’s demography and thereby its culture,” Sharma said. “But Nepalese Christians live as per the country’s culture. I myself never wear a tie, which is seen as Western.”

He added that the only upside of such a ban would be that restrictions could filter out conversions that are less than genuine.

“Only those who are willing to pay the price will remain,” Sharma said. “It is surprising, though, that socially Nepal is very progressive – homosexual marriages are legal – but when it comes to religion, it becomes conservative.”

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