Monday, September 23, 2013

Peshawar Anglican church bombing: an escalation in the Islamist war on Christians and Christianity in Pakistan?


Suicide bombers kill dozens at church in Peshawar in Pakistan

A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a 130-year-old Anglican church in Pakistan after the Sunday service, killing at least 78 people in the deadliest attack in recent history on Christians in the predominantly Muslim country.

Explosions struck the historic white-stone All Saints Church in the city of Peshawar, near the frontier tribal areas where Islamist militants have their strongholds, as hundreds of parishioners, many of them women and children, streamed out of the building.

"I heard two explosions. People started to run. Human remains were strewn all over the church," said one parishioner, who gave only her first name, Margrette.

Her voice breaking with emotion, she said she had not seen her sister since the explosions ripped through the area around the gate of the church enclosure. Keep reading

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How many more Christians should lose their lives in Pakistan?

I work supporting persecuted Pakistani Christians and hear often the horror stories of abduction, rape, false blasphemy accusations, and murders that they suffer. However, much like the rest of the world, I have been shocked by the scale of the attack on All Saints church in Peshawar.

Estimates put the death toll from the twin suicide bombing at around 75 with over a hundred more injured, far exceeding the death toll of the Gojra attack, which was horrifying enough with eight Christians burnt to death, and also exacting far more damage than the rampage in Lahore in May this year in which a hundred Christian homes were torched.

My fear is that this attack in Peshawar could be a game changer in the persecution against Pakistani Christians. What they have been used to up until now is radical elements within their communities taking pot shots at them, usually with a false accusation of blasphemy as the pretext to destroy their property or worse, kill them.

But Peshawar differs in respect to the level of premeditation behind it and its execution by a Taliban-linked militant group. This appears to have been a carefully planned attack similar in nature to what Nigerian churches are experiencing at the hands of another militant Islamist group, Boko Haram.

I do not consider it overstepping the mark to say that a war is being waged against Christians and Christianity in Pakistan, and what concerns me immensely is reports from eyewitnesses and survivors of the Peshawar attack who say that the security forces were slow to respond and that they felt abandoned in their moment of crisis. Keep reading

Also see
Pakistan Christians fear more persecution following church attack
Peshawar church bombings show the deadly outcome of religious intolerance

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Comment author avatarAnum Hafeez

Islam is a complete system.Islam has religious, legal, political, economic and military components. The religious component is a beard for all the other components.Islamization occurs when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their so-called "religious rights."When politically correct and culturally diverse societies agree to "the reasonable" Muslim demands for their "religious rights," they also get the other components under the table.Here's how it works (percentages source CIA: The World Fact Book (2007)).As long as the Muslim population remains around 1% of any given country they will be regarded as a peace-loving minority and not as a threat to anyone. In fact, they may be featured in articles and films, stereotyped for their colorful uniqueness:United States -- Muslim 1.0%Australia -- Muslim 1.5%Canada -- Muslim 1.9%China -- Muslim 1%-2%Italy -- Muslim 1.5%Norway -- Muslim 1.8%At 2% and 3% they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs:Denmark -- Muslim 2%
Germany -- Muslim 3.7%United Kingdom -- Muslim 2. 7%Spain -- Muslim 4%From 5% on they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population.They will push for the introduction of halaal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature it on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. (United States).France -- Muslim 8%Philippines -- Muslim 5%Sweden -- Muslim 5%Switzerland -- Muslim 4.3%The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5%Trinidad & Tobago -- Muslim 5.8%t this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islam is not to convert the world but to establish Sharia law over the entire world.When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions (Paris -- car-burnings). Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats (Amsterdam - Mohammed cartoons).
Guyana -- Muslim 10%India -- Muslim 13.4%Israel -- Muslim 16%Kenya -- Muslim 10%Russia -- Muslim 10-15%After reaching 20% expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings and church and synagogue burning:Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8%At 40% you will find widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and ongoing militia warfare:Bosnia -- Muslim 40%Chad -- Muslim 53.1%Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%From 60% you may expect unfettered persecution of non-believers and other religions, sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels:Albania -- Muslim 70%Qatar -- Muslim 77.5%Sudan -- Muslim 70%After 80% expect State run ethnic cleansing and genocide:Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%Egypt -- Muslim 90%Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%Iran -- Muslim 98%Iraq -- Muslim 97%Jordan -- Muslim 92%Morocco -- Muslim 98.7%Pakistan -- Muslim 97%Palestine -- Muslim 99%Syria -- Muslim 90%Tajikistan -- Muslim 90%Turkey -- Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates -- Muslim 96%100% will usher in the peace of "Dar-es-Salaam" -- the Isla mic House of Peace -- there'sAfghanistan -- Muslim 100%Saudi Arabia -- Muslim 100%Somalia -- Muslim 100%Yemen -- Muslim 99.9%Of course, that's not the case. To satisfy their blood lust, Muslims then start killing each other for a variety of reasons."Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world. And all of us against the infidel. --