A Christian response to the godless 10 non-commandments

 

I.  Be open minded and willing to Revisit your beliefs with new evidence. But test the evidence thoroughly.

II. Strive to understand what is most likely to be true, not to believe what you wish to be true. 

III. The scientific method is the most reliable way of understanding the natural world. But, unfortunately the scientific method has been abandoned, giving way to the commercial method.

IV. Every person has the duty, responsibility, to control their own body.

V. God is not necessary to be a good person or to live a full and meaningful life. He is also necessary to have a good life in Eternity.

VI. Be mindful of the consequences of all your actions and recognize that you must take responsibility for them. And you will take responsibility for them if you refuse the Grace of Jesus Christ.

VII. Treat others as you would want them to treat you, and can reasonably expect them to want to be treated.  The Golden Rule - Jesus, Sermon on the Mount!

VIII. We have the responsibility to consider others including future generations. Love your neighbour as yourself - Jesus. Consider the future of babies in the womb and the trust that God has shown you. Consider also the Eternal future of others and yourself.

IX. There is no one right way to live. But there are a million wrong ways, and being godless, or believing in a false god, is top of the list.

X. Leave the world a better place than you found it. Impossible without God!

GWM

Islam's War on Christianity > Pakistani Justice not for Christians; 166 Christians arrested in Iran last year; 15 Catholics killed at Mass in Burkina Faso; Islam calls for murder of First Lady - a Christian

 

Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Christian gets life

in prison after confessing under torture that

 he insulted Muhammad

FEB 26, 2024 8:00 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER

These blasphemy cases are transparent fabrications. Who in his right mind would insult Muhammad publicly in Pakistan today? Everyone knows what the result would be. And in this case, “the phone on which the Facebook comment was made had been stolen from him in 2019.”

The persecution of Fanson Shahid, however, doesn’t fit the media narrative, and those who dare to report on it at all will be dismissed as “Islamophobes,” and the world will go on its merry way, while Fanson Shahid spends the rest of his life behind bars for nothing.

Christian Sentenced to Life in Prison under Blasphemy Law

Morning Star News, February 19, 2024:

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A judge sentenced a Christian to life in prison under Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes for a social media message that relatives say was posted using a phone stolen from him, sources said.

Fanson Shahid, 56, had been beaten in his home in Lahore when arrested in March 2022 and tortured into confessing after he was accused of posting a derogatory remark about the prophet of Islam in a comment on a post that another Christian had shared, his wife said.

The phone on which the Facebook comment was made had been stolen from him in 2019, she said.

Justice Zafar Yab Chadhar of the Additional Sessions Court Gujranwala District, Punjab Province, handed down the sentence on Jan. 24, but the family did not disclose it until now.

“We were praying for Shahid’s acquittal because he’s innocent, but the verdict has shattered our hopes for justice,” his sister, Sonia Shahid, told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

Investigators found Fanson Shahid’s Facebook account was logged on in the new phone they recovered in 2022 and presented that as evidence that he had made the comment. His wife, Safia Shahid, said at that time, “We believe that the lost phone was misused by someone to post the blasphemous comment, because my husband did not use a passcode for its security, and his Facebook account was also logged in.”

Fanson Shahid was convicted under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes, which calls for a mandatory death sentence for derogatory comments about Muhammad, but Chadhar cited as a “mitigating circumstance” that the comment was posted “only once.”

“If a single doubt or ground is available creating reasonable doubt in the mind of the court/judge to award even death penalty or life imprisonment, it would be sufficient circumstance to adopt alternative course by awarding life imprisonment instead of death sentence,” Chadhar wrote in the verdict.

He also handed Fanson Shahid a fine of 100,000 rupees (USD 358). Shahid was also convicted under Section 295-A, which prohibits hurting religious sentiments, and sentenced to three years in prison….

At Least 166 Christians Arrested in Iran Last Year

for Their Faith

Iran Wire, February 19, 2024:

Christian rights organizations have documented a significant increase in the number of arrests of Christians in Iran last year, raising concerns about religious freedom in the country.

According to Article 18’s annual report published on January 19, at least 166 Christians were arrested across the country in 2023, compared to 134 the previous year.

Arrests came in waves in 2023, with “just a handful reported prior to June, then over 100 within the next three months, before a further rash of arrests at Christmas,” says the report, which was released in collaboration with Open Doors, CSW and Middle East Concern.

“However, very few of those arrested agreed to publicise their cases, leading to an increasing number of faceless victims.”

“By the end of 2023, at least 17 of the Christians arrested during the summer had received prison sentences of between three months and five years, or non-custodial punishments such as fines, flogging, and in one case the community-service of digging graves,” the report says….

At least 15 Catholic worshippers killed in attack during a service in Burkina Faso

by Chinedu Asadu, Associated Press, February 25, 2024:

ABUJA, Nigeria — At least 15 Catholic worshippers were killed in a Burkina Faso village on Sunday when gunmen attacked a community as they gathered for prayers in the country’s conflict-hit northern region, church officials said.

The violence in the village of Essakane was a “terrorist attack” that left 12 of the Catholic faithful dead at the scene, while three others died later as they were being treated for their wounds, according to a statement issued by Abbot Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, vicar-general of the Catholic Diocese of Dori, where the attack happened.

No further details were provided about the attack, which no group claimed responsibility for. But suspicion fell on jihadis who have frequently attacked remote communities and security forces, especially in the northern region….

About half of Burkina Faso is outside government control as jihadi groups have ravaged the country for years. Fighters have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people, further threatening the stability of the country that had two coups in 2022….

Islamic Cleric Asks Muslims To Attack

President Tinubu’s Wife For Being A Christian

by Ikenna Ngere, Naija News, February 22, 2024 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

An Islamic cleric has stated that Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, should be condemned to death for her affiliation with the church.

The cleric’s comments in a viral video criticized the Muslim/Muslim ticket that secured President Bola Tinubu’s election victory as fraudulent, and he controversially stated that Oluremi Tinubu should be condemned to death for her role as a pastor.

According to SaharaReporters, the unidentified cleric insisted that the president’s wife, deemed an infidel, ought to be executed according to Quranic law, although he failed to cite relevant Quranic passages.

In the video, the cleric could be heard speaking in the Hausa language, saying, “Now, Tinubu, his wife, is an infidel (Christian). As an infidel, she is a leader among the infidels.

“God’s judgement says she must be killed. She’s a pastor… a leader of infidels (Christians); Allah says they must be killed…”…

=========================================================================================== 

War on Christianity > Finland tries again to close Bibles with respect to homosexuality

..

It has been obvious for several decades now that the LGBTQ lobby would challenge the Bible in courts around the world in an effort to prevent people from sharing God's view of homosexuality and other abominations. Abomination is what God calls it in both the Old Testament and the New. 

So far, no one has been able to shut the Bible up. But in Finland, they are trying again.

Christian MP back in court to face 'hate speech' charges

for quoting the Bible

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor

Päivi Räsänen holds a bible as she arrives with her husband, Niilo Rasanen, to attend a court session at the Helsinki District Court in Helsinki, Finland, on January 24, 2022. | Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtukuva/AFP via Getty Images

Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen, acquitted more than a year ago after being prosecuted for voicing her traditional Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality, is back in court, facing charges of "hate speech."

Räsänen, a parliamentarian with over 25 years of service, and Bishop Juhana Pohjola arrived at the Helsinki Court of Appeal this week to face the prosecution's appeal of their acquittal, said the human rights group ADF International, which is supporting the case.

"Everyone should be able to share their beliefs without fearing censorship by state authorities. With God's help, I will remain steadfast," Räsänen told her supporters.

The prosecution kicked off the proceedings with arguments against the defendants, focusing on a booklet written by Räsänen nearly two decades ago and stating that the content was "insulting" and violated "sexual rights."

The prosecutor argued that the use of the word "sin" in Räsänen's booklet was "degrading" and that her interpretation of Bible verses was "criminal."

"The point isn't whether it is true or not but that it is insulting," 

the prosecutor stated, according to ADF International.  

"We can limit freedom of expression in the outward expression of religion," the prosecution added. "You can cite the Bible, but it is Räsänen's interpretation and opinion about the Bible verses that are criminal."

Last year, the Helsinki District Court cleared both Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland of similar charges. The prosecution appealed this decision, arguing that the court had "misinterpreted" Räsänen's tweet and reached an incorrect conclusion.

Paul Coleman, Executive Director of ADF International, was present in court to support the defendants.

"Criminalizing speech through so-called 'hate-speech' laws shuts down important public debates and endangers democracy," he said.

Räsänen is facing multiple charges related to the content of the 2004 booklet, her participation in a radio debate in 2019 and a tweet containing Bible verses directed at her church leadership.

War crimes and crimes against humanity????

Bishop Pohjola is also facing trial for publishing Räsänen's pamphlet, Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity, nearly 20 years ago. The charges against both defendants fall under the "war crimes and crimes against humanity" section in Finnish law, adding another layer of gravity to the case.

The case originated when Räsänen questioned her church's sponsorship of the LGBT event Pride 2019 in a tweet. Following this, she was subjected to 13 hours of police interrogations over several months.

During these interrogations, Räsänen was repeatedly asked to explain her understanding of the Bible. The extent and nature of these interrogations raised concerns about the state's role in matters of personal belief and religious expression.

In March 2022, a three-judge panel on the Helsinki District Court determined in a unanimous ruling that the government should not be interpreting "biblical concepts" and that the speech in question was not "hate speech." The court ordered the prosecution to pay the legal costs for the trial. Räsänen could have faced two years in prison and a fine if convicted.

Räsänen has been a member of the Finnish parliament since 1995. She was reelected in April 2023. She has also served as the chair of the Christian Democrats from 2004 to 2015 and was the Minister of the Interior from 2011 to 2015. As Minister of the Interior, Räsänen was responsible for church affairs in Finland.

"Cases like Päivi's create a culture of fear and censorship and are becoming increasingly common worldwide," Coleman said.

Räsänen insists that she has no ill will toward the LGBT community and claims those accusing her of hate speech are the ones dabbling in hatred.

"We all are sinners and we need Jesus. But now, I think there is a heavy hatred against Christian values in our society," Räsänen earlier told The Christian Post. "If you speak about gender issues — that there are two genders or that marriage belongs to one woman and one man — it arouses hatred against you in our society."

War on Christianity > Christian Pastor jailed for 8 years in China; 3 Christians killed, church destroyed in Nigeria; Illinois Masters Student restricted for being Christian

..

Chinese court jails Christian pastor for 8 years:

‘Fraud for preaching the Gospel’

By Anugrah Kumar, 

Christian Post Contributor| 

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Catholic worshipers attend a morning mass on Easter Sunday at a Catholic church in a village near Beijing on April 4, 2021. | JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images

A court in China’s Hubei province has sentenced a female Christian pastor to eight years in prison on charges of “fraud for preaching the Gospel” after her house church refused to join the state-controlled body that regulates Protestant churches, according to reports.

The Ezhou Echeng District People’s Court sentenced Pastor Hao Zhiwei of Egangqiao Church in Ezhou city to eight years in prison earlier this month, UCA News reported.

The 51-year-old pastor had been charged with fraud for preaching the Gospel and receiving donations from church members without approval from the state-run Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches and the Christian Council, her lawyer, Si Weijiang, was quoted as saying.

The lawyer added that Hao, who was arrested in July 2019, is the first pastor of a house church in the country who has been implicated in a fraud case, and added that she will appeal her sentencing, watchdog group Church in Chains said.

Hao’s church building had been demolished in August 2019 and was facing ongoing persecution, the group said, adding that after the pastor’s arrest, the authorities arrested several more house church pastors on the same charge, including Elder Zhang Chunlei of Guiyang Renai Reformed Church and Elders Hao Ming and Wu Jiannan of Deyang Early Rain Qingcaodi Church.

The Chinese Communist Party uses the new Regulation on Religious Affairs, which took effect in 2018, to persecute house churches in various ways, Elder Li Yingqiang of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church wrote in an article last November.

Those ways include "Sinicization," or seeking to align Christianity to China’s culture, religious and political ideology; “removing crosses, sealing up and demolishing church buildings; and banning church offerings.”

“Other charges include: ‘illegal business operations,’ ‘inciting subversion of state power,’ ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble,’ and so on. These charges are thorns on loyal preacher’s head and God’s crown for His loyal servants,” Li added.

Pastor Hao’s youngest son, Moses, who goes to a middle school, suffers from severe depression, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern said.

“Her husband passed away a few years ago, and her oldest son started college in 2020, so he can no longer take care of his younger brother. Moses dropped out this semester and began locking himself in a room. He refuses to interact with people and only has one meal per day,” ICC said.

Pastor Hao’s health is deteriorating in prison and she has lost a significant amount of weight, the group added. “After being detained for more than two years, she has developed acute pancreatitis four times and was sent to the emergency room. She nearly lost her life.”

Hao has “strong faith that she can be released without charge.”

With Beijing hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, many have expressed outrage about China’s treatment of religious minority communities. While China is being accused of genocide for its detainment of Uyghur and other ethnic Muslims in western China, human rights activists have voiced concern for years about the Chinese government’s yearslong crackdown on unregistered churches and house church movements.

Open Doors USA, a watchdog organization that monitors persecution in over 60 countries, warns that the monitoring of unregistered house churches in China increased over the last year as more house churches have experienced “harassment and obstruction once their activities have been discovered.”

Open Doors warns that many unregistered churches have been “forced to split up into small groups and gather in different locations, keeping a low-profile so as not to be detected by the sub-district officer or neighborhood committee.”

Ezhou city, Hebei

Islamic terrorists kill 3 Christians, destroy church in Nigeria

By Anugrah Kumar, 

Christian Post Contributor| 

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Suspected terrorists from the Islamic State West Africa Province have killed three Christians and destroyed a church in an attack in a village in northeast Nigeria’s Chibok area, according to reports.

The attack took place in the predominantly Christian village of Kautikari in Borno state on Friday evening in which three Christians were killed and the building of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria was destroyed, Morning Star News reported Sunday, citing area residents.

Nigerian newspaper the Daily Post identified the deceased as Bulama Wadir, a traditional ruler’s son, and two internally displaced persons.

The Kautikari community, which lives on the fringes of Sambisa forest, a base of ISWAP terrorists, was also attacked in mid-January, when 24 Christian women and children were captured and taken into captivity, with 20 of them still held captive. The four others managed to escape in late January.

A worship auditorium of the local Church of the Brethren in Nigeria was also damaged in the January attack.

Kautikari village is near Chibok, where over 200 girls were kidnapped from a school in 2014.

Chibok leaders were quoted as saying that their communities have been attacked more than 72 times since the 2014 kidnappings. After eight years in which 57 girls escaped on their own and others were released, 110 of the girls remain in captivity, according to the Chibok Area Development Association.

In an earlier interview with The Christian Post, Emeka Umeagbalai of the Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law said kidnappings of Christians happen for various reasons.

Boko Haram, ISWAP and radicalized members of the Fulani herding communities are motivated by money, while others are inspired by Islamic radicalism.

That doesn't make any sense!

Security analysts say kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative industry in Nigeria as weapons are becoming available to militants in Nigeria thanks to war-torn Libya.

In Nigeria’s northeast, Boko Haram and ISWAP have killed thousands and displaced millions.

The U.S.-based persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern warns that the Nigerian government “continues to deny any religious motivation behind the attacks and has recently convinced the U.S. Department of State to do the same.”

The Nigerian President, Buhari, is a Muslim. I believe he not only doesn't want Islam blamed for the horror show in northern Nigeria, but I seriously doubt that he wants it to stop.

Many have raised concerns about what they perceive as the government’s inaction in holding terrorists accountable for the rising number of murders and kidnappings.

However, last November, the Biden administration removed Nigeria from the U.S. State Department’s list of “countries of particular concern,” a designation reserved for the countries that tolerate or engage in some of the world's worst violations of religious freedom. Nigeria was added to the CPC list in December 2020 during the final months of the Trump administration. ICC identified the African country as one of its 2021 “Persecutors of the Year.”

This deal was brokered by Anthony Blinken as a reward for supporting Biden's LGBTQ language at the UN. This is one of the most morally corrupt actions I can recall by a western government.

“Nigeria is one of the deadliest places on Earth for Christians, as 50,000 to 70,000 have been killed since 2000,” the ICC Persecutor of the Year report states.

According to Open Doors USA’s 2022 World Watch List report, at least 4,650 Christians were killed between Oct. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021, up from 3,530 the previous reporting year, and more than 2,500 Christians were kidnapped, up from 990 the previous reporting year.

University Orders Christian Student Not to Talk to Students

Who Disagree with Her

Michael Foust |

ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

An Edwardsville, Illinois, university violated a Christian student’s constitutional rights by ordering her not to have contact with three students who disagreed with her faith-centric viewpoint, according to a legal organization.

Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter late last month to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville after it ordered Maggie DeJong, a student in the master’s in art therapy counseling program, from having “any contact” or “indirect communication” with three students. The students, according to ADF, complained to the university that her viewpoint would not be “welcome or appropriate.”

The university offered no basis for the orders, which “limit her speech and physical presence on and off campus” through the end of the semester, the letter says. Further, the letter says the university acknowledged DeJong’s conduct did not violate university policy. According to the letter, the university said the non-contact orders were to “prevent interactions that could be perceived by either party as unwelcome, retaliatory, intimidating, or harassing,” according to the letter.

“Universities, especially classrooms where topics are supposed to be vigorously debated, should be marketplaces of ideas, not an assembly line for one type of thinking,” said Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel and director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom. “Maggie has always respectfully expressed her viewpoint in class, which every student is entitled to do under the First Amendment. The university must immediately rescind the no-contact orders and revise its policies to adequately safeguard students’ constitutional rights.”

Langhofer told The Daily Citizen that DeJong’s Christian beliefs are the source of the dispute. At one point, Maggie informed a fellow student that “her personal beliefs are grounded in objective truth by the gospel of Jesus Christ,” according to The Daily Citizen.

The no-contact orders have prevented DeJong from “fully” participating in her educational activities, the letter says. Because of the orders, she cannot fully participate in classes with the three students. She also cannot participate in group chats in which any of the three students are present.

The orders violate DeJong’s free speech protections as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the letter says. The letter says legal action is possible if the university does not withdraw the orders.

War on Christianity > 5% of Reformed Church Splits off; Afghanistan worst place for Christians; Pastor murdered in Pakistan

..

Congregations leave Reformed Church in America to form 

new denomination amid LGBT debate

By Michael Gryboski,

Christian Post Reporter 

Thursday, January 13, 2022

The Reformed Church in America General Synod discusses a plan to restructure the denomination in response

to an ongoing debate over homosexuality and scripture interpretation in October of 2021. | Maria Orr

After months of preparation, a theologically conservative denomination has broken away from the Reformed Church in America, with 43 congregations joining the new body on New Year’s Day.

Known as the Alliance of Reformed Churches, the new denomination was created as the RCA continues to deal with a debate over its official stance on LGBT issues.

Dan Ackerman, director of Organizational Leadership at ARC, wrote in a blog post last June that there were “three primary convictions” that led to the formation of the new denomination.

“The Bible as understood within Reformed theology — its understanding of God, sin and the world — provides a thoughtful faith that can engage people facing today’s uncertainties,” wrote Ackerman at the time.

“The mission of Jesus in the world, entrusted to the local church, can be better served by a more agile form of ministry and governance than what we’ve inherited from the 1500’s.”

“The nature of the organization is to hold a high value on congregational mission and vision so that the organization provides added value to its congregations while, in turn, receiving its funding from those same congregations as partners,” Ackerman continued. 

Jeff Walton of the theologically conservative think tank Institute on Religion & Democracy noted in a blog post published Wednesday that the number of churches leaving the RCA for the ARC represents about 5% of the denomination.

“Now the realignment that began in the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is reaching the Dutch Reformed – but without the lawsuits and acrimony that characterized some of those prior splits,” wrote Walton.

“Delegates to the RCA General Synod in October approved recommendations that allow transferring churches to retain assets and church buildings.”

In recent years, there has been much debate in the RCA over whether the denomination should become accepting of homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

In July, an earlier task force known as Vision 2020 recommended a “restructuring” of the RCA, believing that the debate over sexual ethics was part of a broader trend of division.

“There have been numerous points, especially in the last 70 years, where the RCA has been at an impasse. Points of disagreement and tension have included differences of views on things like ecumenical partnerships, social justice/political involvement, merging with another denomination, communism, internal restructuring,” stated the Vision 2020 report.

“This means we currently face something we have previously weathered, but it also means that we are likely to be here again if we do not find a way to handle conflict differently.”

At its general synod last October, the denomination voted to create a task force that would consider proposals to resolve the debate within the approximately 186,000-member RCA. 

Churches that celebrate LGBTQs and same-sex marriage are churches where the Holy Spirit is not enlightening the leadership with the word of God. 5% of mainline churches with a real relationship with Jesus Christ is about right.

============================================================================================

'Seismic Shift': Afghanistan Is the New Number 1

Most Dangerous Place for Christians

Michael Foust | ChristianHeadlines.com

| Thursday, January 20, 2022

Afghanistan, Afghanistan may become 'epicenter of Jihadist terrorism' after withdrawal

Afghanistan has supplanted North Korea as the world's most dangerous country for Christians, according to an annual watchdog report that says conditions have gone from bad to worse following the Taliban's 2021 takeover.

The Open Doors 2022 World Watch List places Afghanistan as No. 1 among the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian, followed by North Korea, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen. Among other notables: Iran is No. 9, Iraq No. 14 and China No. 17.

Most of the countries on the list are located in South Asia and North Africa.

It is the first time Afghanistan has been number one. David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors, told Christian Headlines that it's the most "seismic shift" in the report's history. The situation in North Korea, he said, has not improved. Rather, conditions in Afghanistan have gotten worse.

"With [the Taliban] controlling the entire region," Curry said, "Christians have left the country – and those that have stayed are either in hiding or on the run."

The report lists the number of Christians in the country as in the "thousands."

"It is impossible to live openly as a Christian in Afghanistan," the report says, warning that believers face likely death if they are found.

The Taliban's promises of a more free society, Curry said, haven't proven to be true.

"The Taliban is trying to roll this out as Taliban 2.0," Curry told Christian Headlines. "But even as of today, there's nearly 4 million children that are out of school – 60 percent of them are girls. That promise was broken.

"... From the first day they seized control, they got a list of prominent Christians [and] they began going door to door trying to find them. So, we know what they're doing on the ground. And then none of it has to do with anything that would be recognized as a democratic system or a fair system."

The world, Curry said, must take "decisive action" to "prevent a religious genocide against Christians." That includes, he said, accepting refugees.

"These are people who, if sent back, will likely be killed," Curry said. "... That's the first and most pressing human rights issue."

The World Watch List, Curry added, is filled with countries whose governments collapsed and are ruled by extremists. Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Eritrea, he said, are examples.

"This is a tipping point into other chaotic issues that people of all faiths are going to be forced to deal with [such as] terrorism and the drug trade," Curry said. "The drug trade in Afghanistan is going to go through the roof with their opium trade because it will be the only economically sustainable crop for many people. So you're going to go through a number of issues because [the U.S.] decided to handle this transition in such an insecure way."

Pakistani pastor shot dead in ambush attack after Sunday service;

mourners chant 'Long live Jesus Christ'

By Anugrah Kumar, 

Christian Post Contributor| 

Monday, January 31, 2022

BANARAS KHAN/AFP via Getty Images

In what police called a “terrorist act,” two unidentified men followed a pastor returning home in his car after a Sunday worship service and shot him to death in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, which in 2013 was the scene of one of the deadliest attacks on Christians in the country.

The pastor, identified as 75-year-old William Siraj of Shaheed-e-All Saints Church from the Church of Pakistan denomination comprising Methodist and Anglican churches, was shot twice in the abdomen as he and his colleague, identified as Pastor Patrick Naeem, were driving home from church on Sunday.

The shooting occurred near Ring Road in the city’s Gulbahar area, leaving Pastor Siraj dead and Pastor Naeem injured, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported, adding that Naeem had been discharged from the hospital where he was treated for minor injuries.

Pastor Siraj’s body had been handed over to his family.

News channels showed emergency services removing the pastor from the car as people chanted “Long live Jesus Christ” while carrying his body on a bed through the streets to a house, according to Reuters.

“We demand justice and protection of Christians from the Government of Pakistan,” tweeted Bishop Azad Marshall from the Church of Pakistan.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby also responded to the news of the attack. “… We pray for the light of Christ’s justice, hope and peace for our sisters and brothers in the Church of Pakistan,” he wrote on Twitter.

Capital City Police Officer Abbas Ahsan called it a “terror attack” and said, “We are determined to protect minorities.”

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Chief Minister Mahmood Khan offered his condolences to the Christian community and the family of the deceased.

On Saturday, Pakistan’s interior minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed warned of possible terrorist strikes across the country over the next two months as security agencies had learned about sleeper cells of militant outfits in that region, The Times of India reported.

No one had claimed responsibility for the shooting as of Monday.

The country’s northwestern areas bordering Afghanistan have seen a rise in militant attacks on security forces in recent days, many of them claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is close to the Afghan Taliban, Reuters said.

In 2013, at least 81 Christians were killed after two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a church belonging to the Church of Pakistan denomination in Peshawar as hundreds of worshipers were leaving Sunday mass.

About 400 worshipers were exchanging greetings after the service at the 130-year-old All Saints Church when the two bombers, each carrying about 13 pounds of explosives, launched the attack. The walls were pockmarked with ball bearings that had been packed into the bombs to cause maximum carnage in the busy church.

There are about 70,000 Christians in Peshawar. The community accounts for about 2% of the 180 million people in Pakistan.

Muslim minorities, including Shias and Ahmaddiyas, also often face attacks by Sunni terror groups in Pakistan.

War on Christianity > Hindu Extremists Attack School as Police Watch; A Christian in Pakistan; Algeria Closing Churches

..

Hindus and Muslims react violently to Christianity because they are unable to compete with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They have nothing to compare with the living God of the New Testament, and certainly no answer to grace.

Hindu Extremists Attack Christian-Run School in Madhya Pradesh, India

ChristianHeadlines.com

NEW DELHI, January 3, 2022 (Morning Star News) – Incited by false information on YouTube, a mob of hundreds of Hindu extremists last month threw stones that smashed through the glass of a Christian-run school in Madhya Pradesh, India where 12th-grade students were taking critical exams, sources said.

Shouting Hindu nationalist slogans like Jai Shri Ram (Victory to Lord Ram) and Bharat Mata Ki Jai (Hail mother India), 400 to 500 people with iron rods on Dec. 6 ransacked St. Joseph School in Ganj Basoda, Vidisha District, incited by false reports that school personnel were converting Hindu students to Christianity.

The assailants broke chairs and pots, damaged vehicles and threw stones that terrorized staff members and students during mathematics testing known as board exams that are key in the course of students’ academic lives and careers.

Some of the stones landed near the classroom where 16 students were taking the exams, said Bishop of Sagar Diocese James Athikalam, whose diocese includes the area where the school is located.

“Stones had reached near the classrooms, and the exam had to be stopped and the children shifted to a safer location where they could continue their exam,” Athikalam told Morning Star News.

School Principal Antony Pynumkal said the mob formed at noon at a site five minutes away.

“They made a big noise,” Pynumkal said. “They all together pushed the gate, and the lock of the gate broke, and they came inside. They had iron rods and stones, and once inside, they started to pelt stones. All the elevations of the school structure are made of glass. Teacher vehicles were also parked here, which they vandalized as well.”

The attack followed a YouTube post by a Hindu extremist group asserting two provocative falsehoods – that eight children baptized at St. Joseph Church in Ganj Basoda on Oct. 31 were Hindus, and that they were students at St. Joseph School.

There is much more on this story on Christian Headlines:

The Harrowing Life of Being a Christian in Pakistan

Voice of the Martyrs (VoM)

Today's Pakistani Christians come from diverse faith backgrounds, including traditional and evangelical denominations. Regardless of their roots, these followers of Christ experience opposition for their Christian identity at many levels – whether it be from neighbours, local governmental leaders, members of the police, and/or federal officials.

The country's controversial blasphemy laws pose tremendous risks for those who are not Muslim. Individual business or personal disputes can result in one party accusing the other of blasphemy in order to gain an advantage. Accused Christians frequently endure lengthy periods in jail and, if convicted, may be sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment or even the death penalty.

Thankfully, there have been cases this year in which Christians were acquitted of false charges; those specifically involving Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar (June 2021) and Sajjad Masih Gill (November 2021). Unfortunately, even if ultimately proven innocent by the courts, these believers are often at increased risk of vigilante attacks by disgruntled community members who refuse to accept the validity of their acquittals. Though released from prison, these endangered believers may be required to relocate for their safety, some having to move with their families to an undisclosed location in a different country.

In Pakistan, young Christian women face the added dangers of kidnappings and forced marriages. There have been numerous accounts of young girls being abducted for this reason. Forged documents stating that these girls have "converted" to Islam are created by their captors, who either force the young women to wed the attackers or to comply with unethical monetary transactions for the purpose of future marriage. Such arrangements often result in forced labour. When taken to court, the judges frequently side with falsified birth certificates and marriage documents rather than the heartfelt pleas petitioned by distraught families longing for the rescue of these young women.

Such prayer alerts are provided to raise awareness of the need for urgent prayer on behalf of these women and other Christians encountering life-threatening situations and other forms of persecution in this strict Islamic country. To review previously posted reports covering current and past incidences of persecution in Pakistan, go to https://www.vomcanada.com/pakistan.htm.

Algeria Closing Churches and Jailing Leaders

The Voice of the Martyrs (Canada)

 

While Christianity has had a small part in Algerian society since the arrival of Islam, there is evidence of significant church growth taking place across the country. Since 2017, however, the government has carried out a concerted campaign against churches, particularly targeting the federation of Protestant churches known as the Église Protestante d'Algérie (EPA), even though it was officially recognized by the government. In July of this year, three more EPA churches were forcibly sealed after being ordered to close by the governor.

Individual Christians, including pastors, have also faced charges for practising their faith. The pastor of a church that operated a Christian bookstore, along with the manager of the store, were charged with "shaking the faith" of Muslims through the literature they had available for sale. Thankfully, their two-year sentence was later reduced on appeal to a one-year suspended sentence with a fine.

More recently, during the month of December, the president of the EPA was arrested, together with three other Christians. All four believers were charged with "practising non-Muslim rites without permission," as well as organizing an assembly in connection with an earlier rally to oppose the church closures. 

To help you pray more specifically for the church in Algeria, further information is available at https://www.vomcanada.com/algeria.htm