Anti-conversion Laws Stoke Violence in India | DW News

Feb 2, 2022 • There has been an increase in the number of attacks on churches and Christian gatherings in India in recent years. These are often sparked by allegations of forced conversions of Hindus to Christianity. Several states have now enacted strict anti-conversion laws. Critics say these laws are often abused by right-wing groups to harass Christians and attack their churches.

Narendra Modi has traces of god in him, says BJP minister as personality cult grows »

Christians Facing Persecution in Turkey | DW Documentary

The Turkish directorate of religious affairs is set to seize over 50 churches, monasteries and cemeteries belonging to the Christian Syriac community in southeastern Turkey.

Douglas Murray - Islam, Putin & Persecuted Christians

‪Christians Are Being Persecuted In Pakistan‬

Captured, Sold, Raped: ISIS Turns Thousands of Christian Women and Children into Sex Slaves

Since the Iraqi city of Mosul was captured by ISIS many women and children have been kidnapped by ISIS fighters.

An organisation to help save those victims has been founded recently by Steve Maman. It uses crowd funded donations to pay for the captives' release, but does not have any contact with - and does not pay ransoms to - ISIS fighters.

Franklin Graham Says Obama's 'Sympathy to Islam' Will Lead to Christian and Jewish Persecution in America

THE CHRISTIAN POST: The Rev. Franklin Graham has warned in an interview that President Barack Obama is "very sympathetic to Islam" and that America's foreign policy is influenced by Muslims. He added that this influence could lead to Christians and Jewish people being persecuted in the United States.

"There are Muslims that have access to him in the White House. Our foreign policy has a lot of influence now, from Muslims. We see the prime minister of Israel being snubbed by the president and by the White House and by the Democrats and it's because of the influence of Islam. They hate Israel and they hate Christians, and so the storm is coming, I believe," Graham told Gordon Robertson, host of CBN's "The 700 Club" interactive program.

Graham further pointed out that Obama had a Muslim father, and that as a child the president went to school in Indonesia, which has the largest Islamic population in the world.

"So, growing up his frame of reference and his influence as a young man was Islam. It wasn't Christianity, it was Islam," the evangelist said.

Graham has criticized Obama's foreign policy on a number of occasions, including the president's refusal to call terror group ISIS "Islamic."

"The truth is — their barbaric murderers openly said they killed them because they were 'people of the cross.' Why is the president seemingly continuing to protect Islam and refusing to open his eyes to the truth?" Graham asked when an initial statement by the White House in February failed to identify the 21 Copts beheaded by ISIS as Christians. » | Stoyan Zaimov, The Christian Post | Tuesday, March 03, 2015

Prince of Wales’s Plea to Muslims over Christian Persecution

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Prince Charles insists faith leaders must not remain ‘silent’ over suffering of minorities as the royal says recognising the role of religion is central to ‘our future as a free society’

Muslim leaders have a duty to warn their own followers about the “indescribable tragedy” of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and around the world, the Prince of Wales has insisted.

He said that faith leaders must ensure their followers respect believers in other faiths “rather than remaining silent”.

His comments came in a special message recorded for the publication of a new report which concludes that Christians are the “most persecuted religious minority” in the world and that Muslim countries dominate the list of places where religious freedom is most under threat.

While emphasising the importance of his own personal Christian faith, he also signalled that he saw his role as to “defend” followers of other faiths including Islam.

Britain’s “future as a free society” depends on recognising the “crucial role” played by people of faith, he said.

But he warned that freedom of religion is also being “challenged” in Western countries. (+ video) » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Tuesday, November 04, 2014


MAIL ONLINE: Prince Charles calls on Muslim leaders to stop 'indescribable tragedy' of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East »

Iran's Non-Muslims Face Prison, Execution, Despite 'Reform' Claims, Says New UN Report

FOX NEWS: Iran’s regime conducted a raid on an Easter service and arrested Christians, subjected Christian converts to death threats and psychological abuse and shut down licensed churches, according to a UN report that will be submitted to world leaders on Tuesday.

While persecution of religious minorities is nothing new in the Islamic Republic, the 28-page catalog of horrors compiled by Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Right in the Islamic Republic of Iran, undermines the claim that President Hassan Rouhani has ushered in a new era of tolerance.

“At least 49 Protestant Christians are currently detained, many for involvement in informal house churches,” the report states. “In April 2014, security forces reportedly raided an Easter service in a private home in southern Tehran and detained six individuals.” » | Benjamin Weinthal | Monday, October 27, 2014

Dozens of Christians 'Including Women and Children' Are Arrested in Saudi Arabia after Tip-off to State's Islamist Police Force

DAILY MAIL: 28 people were arrested at home of Indian man in the eastern city of Khafji / Reports claim women and children were among the congregation / Human rights activists have appealed to the U.S. to help secure release / In Saudi Arabia it is against the law for Muslims to abandon their faith

Islamist police in Saudi Arabia have stormed a Christian prayer meeting and arrested its entire congregation, including women and children, and confiscated their bibles, it has been reported.

The raid was the latest incident of a swingeing crackdown on religious minorities in Saudi Arabia by the country's hard-line Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

The 28 Christians were said to be worshipping at the home of an Indian national in the eastern city of Khafji, when the police entered the building and took them into custody. They have not been seen or heard from since, raising concerns among human rights groups as to their whereabouts.

Nina Shea, director of the Washington-based Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, told FoxNews.com: 'Saudi Arabia is continuing the religious cleansing that has always been its official policy.

'It is the only nation state in the world with the official policy of banning all churches.

'This is enforced even though there are over two million Christian foreign workers in that country. Those victimized are typically poor, from Asian and African countries with weak governments.'

Activists are now calling on the U.S. to use its considerable influence in the region to help secure the release of the incarcerated Christians. Read on and comment » | Matthew Blake for MailOnline | Monday, September 15, 2014

Saudi anti-Christian sweep prompts calls for US involvement » | Benjamin Weinthal | Sunday, September 14, 2014

US Silent as Christians Are Persecuted in Egypt? Obama Supports the Muslim Brotherhood!

Punjab, Convert to Islam or Die: The 20 Year Long Nightmare of a Christian Family
ASIANEWS.it: Since the late 1980s Sadiq Masih Zafar and his family have been living under the constant threat of Islamist groups. In 1998, his daughter was kidnapped and seriously injured. Today her sister is being threatened with a similar fate. Despite reporting these threats, the police has never intervened. Lahore Priest: extremists enjoy impunity.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - For more than 20 years, a Pakistani Christian family has been living in a constant state of fear, the victim of threats from extremist groups and under constant pressure from the radical fringe to convert to Islam. A tragic story in a country increasingly hostage to the Islamists, in which young people prefer Sharia law and the military to the democratic model proposed by the West and branded as "corrupt." In recent times, threats and pressures against the Zafar family have increased. And the father has been forced to lock one of his daughters indoors for fear she will become a victim of kidnapping, as was the case in 1998 when her older sister was abducted and subjected to torture.

Sadiq Masih Zafar, born in Muridke, a town in the district of Shaikhupur, in the province of Punjab, was appointed to oversee the construction of a church between 1988 and 1989, by the Lahore Church Council that had previously purchased the land. Since then Islamic extremist groups have showered him with threats and injunctions, ordered him to stop building places of worship and convert - with his family members - to Islam.

In 1990, a raid of fanatics led to the demolition of the structure and the confiscation of the land. In the context of the assault, the Islamists also violently attacked Zafar and some relatives[.] His reporting of the incident to police proved futile, who closed the case without proceeding to any investigation. A similar result, a few months later, when the man filed a complaint against the daily threats of fundamentalists who want him to convert to Islam. » | Jibran Khan | AsiaNews | Monday, April 08, 2013

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Christianity 'Close to Extinction' in Middle East

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.

The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.

And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.

It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.

The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.

"A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.”

It cites estimates that 200 million Christians, or 10 per cent of Christians worldwide, are “socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs.” » | Edward Malnick | Sunday, December 23, 2012

Britain's Christians Are Being Vilified, Warns Lord Carey

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Christians are being “persecuted” by courts and “driven underground” in the same way that homosexuals once were, a former Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.

Lord Carey says worshippers are being “vilified” by the state, treated as “bigots” and sacked simply for expressing their beliefs.

The attack is part of a direct appeal to the European Court of Human Rights before a landmark case on religious freedom.

In a written submission seen by The Daily Telegraph, the former leader of more than 70 million Anglicans warns that the outward expression of traditional conservative Christian values has effectively been “banned” in Britain under a new “secular conformity of belief and conduct”.

His comments represent one of the strongest attacks on the impartiality of Britain’s judiciary from a religious leader.

He says Christians will face a “religious bar” to employment if rulings against wearing crosses and expressing their beliefs are not reversed.

Lord Carey argues that in “case after case” British courts have failed to protect Christian values. He urges European judges to correct the balance. Read on and comment » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Friday, April 13, 2012

My comment:

Why are Christians persecuted for wearing a crucifix/cross in this country, while Muslim women can wear the hijab with impunity? Each and every supermarket in this country now seems to have its token hijab–wearing Muslimah, but the practising Christian employees lose their jobs for showing their faith.

Considering that Christianity is supposed to be the established religion of this country, with the Queen as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, it seems rather strange and unfathomable to me. Why is Islam given a pass whilst Christianity is not? – © Mark

This comment also appears here.

Persecution of Christians Rising in Islamic Countries
CBN: JERUSALEM, Israel -- With Islamists poised to take over governments overthrown during the "Arab spring," Christians and other minorities may soon be subject to Sharia (Islamic) law.

Some say assurance by Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafis, and Ennahda, that non-Muslims would not be mistreated under Sharia is, at best, questionable.

In Egypt, attacks on Coptic Christians have increased exponentially since the fall of Hosni Mubarak's regime last year.

Egyptian Christians have been beaten, shot and stabbed to death, and their homes and churches have been fire bombed by angry Muslims.

On Monday, Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament held its first session. The Muslim Brotherhood now holds 47 percent of the seats, and the Salafist al-Nour party 25 percent.
Syrian Christians have also come under increasing persecution.

"The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians have now been killed since the anti-government unrest began," the Jerusalem Post quoted the Pakistan Christian Post. » | Tzippe Barrow | CBN News Internet Producer – Jerusalem | Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Inside Story - The Plight of 'Persecuted' Christians
Is the Pope's Christmas address a religious message of support or a political stand?

Deadly Sectarian Clashes Erupt in Cairo
Christians marching against the military in the Egyptian capital and calling for more rights have come under attack.

While some blamed hardline Muslims, others said the attack is symptomatic of rampant lawlessness in the country following the revolution that overthrew long-time leader, Hosni Mubarak.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh reports from Cairo.

Car Bomb in Egypt Kills At Least 21 Outside Christian Church
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A car bomb has killed at least 21 people outside a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.


The blast hit worshippers as they emerged from a New Year's mass at the Mass at the Saints Church in the Mediterranean port city in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Nearly 1,000 Christians were attending the service and were just leaving the church when the car exploded at 12.30am on New Year's Day.

Sectarian tensions have been on the rise in Egypt and after the blast, enraged Christians clashed with police and stormed a nearby mosque.

Fights and stone throwing broke out between groups of Christians, Muslims and the police.

Although no one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, authorities in Egypt blamed al-Qaeda for the attack.

Al-Qaeda's Iraq affiliate threatened Egypt's Copts late last year after claiming an attack on a Baghdad church on October 31 that left 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces dead. >>> | Saturday, January 1, 2011


LE FIGARO: Les chrétiens d'Égypte visés par un attentat sanglant : Une explosion à la sortie d'une messe, vendredi soir à Alexandrie, a fait 21 morts et 79 blessés. Samedi, les heurts se sont intensifiés entre chrétiens et policiers. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Samedi 1 Janvier 2011

NZZ ONLINE: Über 20 Tote bei Selbstmordanschlag auf Christen in Ägypten: Bombe explodiert nach Neujahrsmesse in Alexandria >>> sda/afp/dpa/Reuters | Samstag, 1. Januar 2011

WELT ONLINE: Ausschreitungen nach Anschlag auf christliche Kirche: Nach dem Selbstmordattentat mit 21 Toten greifen junge Kopten Sicherheitskräfte an. Beim Begräbnis entlädt sich die Wut auf die Regierung erneut. >>> AFP/dapd/ks/jw | Samstag 1 Januar 2011


ÉGYPTE - La communauté copte endeuillée par un attentat meurtrier
LE POINT: Une explosion devant une église copte d'Alexandrie a fait plusieurs dizaines de victimes pendant la nuit du nouvel an.

Un attentat kamikaze a fait des dizaines de victimes à la sortie d'une messe du nouvel an, à Alexandrie. Photo : Le Point
La nuit de la Saint-Sylvestre a été endeuillée, en Égypte, par un attentat qui a frappé la communauté chrétienne égyptienne, la plus importante du Moyen-Orient. L'explosion, non revendiquée, s'est produite vers minuit et demi alors que des fidèles sortaient de l'église des Saints (al-Qiddissine), située dans le quartier de Sidi Bechr d'Alexandrie. L'attaque a fait au moins 21 morts et 79 blessés.

L'hypothèse d'une voiture piégée initialement mentionnée par les autorités a été écartée en milieu de journée par le ministère de l'Intérieur, qui a déclaré que le massacre avait "probablement" été perpétré par un kamikaze. La bombe, de fabrication locale, contenait des bouts de métal "pour atteindre le plus grand nombre" de personnes, selon un communiqué du ministère. Le président Hosni Moubarak a condamné dans une allocution télévisée un "acte criminel odieux qui a visé la nation, Coptes et musulmans", et dénoncé, sans plus de précisions, "l'implication de mains étrangères" dans ce massacre. Continuez à lire et vous pouvez écrire un commentaire
>>> Source AFP | Samedi 1 Janvier 2011

Primary School Receptionist 'Facing Sack' after Daughter Talks about Jesus to Classmate
Photo of Jennie Cain courtesy of The Telegraph
A primary school receptionist, Jennie Cain, whose five-year-old daughter was told off for talking about Jesus in class is now facing the sack for seeking support from her church.

Mrs Cain sent a private email to close friends to ask for prayers for her daughter after she was called into the school where she worked in Crediton, Devon, to be reprimanded.

Her daughter Jasmine had been overheard by a teacher discussing heaven and God with a friend and had been pulled to one side and told off.

Mrs Cain contacted 10 close friends from her church by email but the message fell into the hands of Gary Read, the headmaster of Landscore Primary School where she works.

The 38-year-old mother of two is now being investigated for professional misconduct for allegedly making claims against the school and its staff.

Mrs Cain has been told she may be disciplined and was warned she could face dismissal.

Her case is being supported by the Christian Institute who said Mrs Cain was the latest example of a Christian being persecuted by society. >>> By Caroline Gammell | February 11, 2009

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