Thursday, September 26, 2013

Muslim persecution of Christians on the rise: More violent and more wide-spread


Life as a Christian in the Middle East: Insight Into Challenges, Growth of Christianity Amid Intensifying Persecution

Todd Nettleton is a spokesperson for Voice of the Matyrs, an advocacy group for persecuted Christians around the world.

Here he speaks to The Christian Post to offer an insight into the situation in Pakistan, Syria, Egypt and Iraq as well as the Middle East as a whole, and what it is like for Christians in the region. Keep reading

Turkish military linked to Christian murders

Nearly six years into the court trial over the murder of three Christians in southeastern Turkey, documents have emerged confirming that secret military units were involved in those assassinations and others.

Malatya's 3rd Criminal Court is forcing prosecutors and the military to turn over previously secret documents, throwing light on a shadowy network believed to be behind several decades of assassination and coup plots in Turkey.

The court is conducting the trial of five men accused of stabbing, torturing and then slashing the throats of Turkish Christians Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel and German Christian Tilmann Geske in the Malatya office of Zirve Christian Publishing on April 18, 2007. Keep reading

Islamabad: Christian community asked to hire private guards for security of churches

The city district government Wednesday asked the Christian community to make arrangements for private guards for security of churches.

Presiding over a meeting with clergymen of churches of Rawalpindi division here on Wednesday, Commissioner (Rawalpindi) Khalid Masud said that Christian leaders should arrange for private security guards from their own community along with efforts made by government agencies to maintain security arrangements of churches.

He also stated that female private guards should also be deputed for the purpose so that the internal security of the churches should be done by their own private guards and external security should be arranged by the police department. The training of private security guards would be arranged under Rescue 1122 in their respective districts. The list of private security guards should be furnished to DCO office for onward transmission to the Home Department to issue arms licenses for them after scrutiny of their particulars, he added. Keep reading

Christians now suffering mass martyrdom, says Archbishop of Canterbury

The Most Rev Justin Welby said that there had been more than 80 Christian “martyrs” in the last few days alone.

He was speaking about the bombing of All Saints Anglican church in Peshawar, Pakistan, in which 85 were killed and more than 200 injured.

But he said that Christians were also being singled out for violence in a string of other countries.

Christian communities which have existed “in many cases since the days of Saint Paul” are now under threat in countries such as Syria and Egypt, he said.

Last month around 100 Christian sites were attacked amid the turmoil in Egypt, with 42 churches burnt to the ground. Ancient Christian communities in Syria have also been singled out for violence. Keep reading

As Lambs in the Midst of Wolves

Over the weekend, enemies of Christ made themselves apparent by attacking his followers. One of the attacks was carried out by the Islamist terrorist group Al-Shabaab, in a Nairobi mall. The attackers killed at least 62 people, injuring 175. Witnesses say they let Muslims go free before they began shooting people. The other attack occurred at the hands of two suicide bombers in a Pakistani church of 500. 81 were killed, and 120 are wounded. The terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the attack is a “splinter group” of the Pakistani Taliban.

How are believers supposed to respond to such violent opposition? From 1 Peter, let me suggest six godly reactions. Keep reading

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