CHRISTIANS: On the Front Lines of Muslim Violence

[Valin]

War on Christmas? It's more like 'War on Christians' in many parts of the world

Juan Williams

December 19, 2013

 

Is there a War on Christmas? The bigger question is about a war on Christians.

 

As part of Americas Christian majority I have never been threatened or persecuted for my faith in Jesus as God in the flesh. But I have had to make the case for my beliefs.

 

(Snip)

 

But even as we debate religion in American life we cannot forget a bigger threat -- the violent, global War on Christians.

 

Here are some of the worst examples of Christian persecution around the world

 

(Snip)

[Geee]

What the Middle East would be like without Christians

 

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK

The pews at First Baptist Church of Bethlehem fill quickly as congregants stream in on a Sunday night, some with fancy purses, others with worn shoes and KFC takeout bags. Latecomers have to settle for plastic chairs in the back.

As the service gets under way, hands arc in the air as worshipers sing and thank God for a recent revival that drew more than 1,300 people to hear the message of the Bible – a testament to the theme of the sermon on this night: responding to the invitation of Christ.

In a city heralded as the place where Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary, the church is something of a modern miracle. Founded in a two-bedroom apartment three decades ago by the Rev. Naim Khoury, First Baptist was bombed 14 times during the first intifada, struggled with financial difficulties, and is now facing a legal battle with the Palestinian Authority, which doesn't recognize it as a church.

Thousands of Christians in Bethlehem have faced similar political and economic strife over the past few decades, leading many of them to flee the city where Christianity's central figure was born in a straw-filled manger. Christians, who once made up 80 percent of the population, now represent 20 to 25 percent. But First Baptist defies the trend. Its congregation is 300 members strong – and growing.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/1222/What-the-Middle-East-would-be-like-without-Christians

[Valin]

@Geee

 

First Baptist was bombed 14 times during the first intifada

I'm sorry, I don't want to hear someone talking about persecution of Christians in America. Getting your church bombed 14 time is what persecution really looks like.

[Geee]

Far From Happy Christmas for Christians in the Holy Land

 

Far From Happy Christmas for Christians in the Holy Land The Christians who still live in the Holy Land face a Christmas that will be far from happy, merry or bright. They are a persecuted minority.

“O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie…” This hymn, and dozens like it will be sung all over the world soon, as they are every Christmas. Cards depicting the scene of the holy birth will decorate millions of houses. Nativities will be set up in homes, in shopping malls, in churches. But as people prepare to celebrate the humanity of a man known as Jesus of Nazareth, his homeland is no longer a safe place to be for those who follow him.

There are 14 million Christians throughout the Holy Land but they are a rapidly dwindling minority. Many of them are so desperately vulnerable that they feel they have no choice now but to emigrate. In Iraq alone, since the fall of Saddam, a startling two-thirds have fled. Since 2003 at least a million have left. Most of them went to Syria. Now they face a second wave of displacement as they are no longer protected there. There have been reports of rape, murder and attacks directed at them and the Christian community lives in terror. When they feel they have to run for their lives they head for Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. It is said that the ancient Syrian Armenian community has all but gone.

Egypt has seen churches being burnt and anti-Coptic rioting. In Gaza and on the West Bank, Christians are caught up in chaotic uncertainty. To be Christian in the Holy Land, the birthplace of Jesus, is to live in fear. The Vatican has confirmed as credible the estimate that 100,000 Christians are killed every year for their beliefs.

 

http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/far-from-happy-christmas-for-christians-in-the-holy-land/

[Geee]

Persecution at Christmastime

 

During this holy season, Christians turn their thoughts to that first Christmas and to the early Christians. This year, we should prayerfully reflect on the fact that those church communities founded by Thomas, Mark, Paul, Andrew, and the other disciples of Jesus, communities that have remained faithful for 2,000 years, are now suffering mightily for their faith.

 

The reason is religious persecution. Christians will always be persecuted, the Scriptures tell us, but the unbearable scope of this wave is due to burgeoning extremism within some Muslim sectors. It now poses an existential threat to Middle Eastern Christians — though it is not limited to the Middle East.

 

At an address this month in Rome before Georgetown University’s Religious Freedom Project, Archbishop Louis Sako of Baghdad, the Chaldean Catholic patriarch of Babylon, expounded on this development:

For almost two millennia Christian communities have lived in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East. . . . Unfortunately, in the 21st century Middle Eastern Christians are being severely persecuted. . . . In most of these countries, Islamist extremists see Christians as an obstacle to their plans. Some nations, dominated by extremist ideas, do not want so-called “Arab Spring” democracy. Freedom and pluralism are dangerous to them and their goals.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/366956/persecution-christmastime-nina-shea

[Geee]

The Jihadist Cleansing of Christianity from the Holy Land

 

Christians in Muslim countries are awaiting Christmas not with joy, but with trepidation.

 

Fox News reported that in Iraq, “Christians are afraid to put up a Christmas tree or other decorations, according to one Christian pastor in Iraq. Such displays of faith in an increasingly extremist nation can bring threats and violence, say human rights groups. Christian churches must be regularly guarded, but congregants are even more on edge during their holiest days.”

 

And in Nigeria, according to Reuters, “fearing attacks by Islamist militant group Boko Haram over Christmas, Nigerian police said on Sunday they had ordered extra patrols, surveillance and covert operations to better secure potential targets during the festive period. The militants have struck every Christmas for the past three years, most dramatically in 2011, when they bombed three churches. One of them, on St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, on the edge of Abuja, killed 37 people and wounded 57.”

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/robert-spencer/the-jihadist-cleansing-of-christianity-from-the-holy-land/

[Geee]

Christmas Holiday, Islamic Horror

 

As Christians in the West go to church and worship during this Christmas season, it is well to reflect on how these two simple acts—going to church to worship—can be life-threatening for Christians in the Islamic world, especially on Christmas. Raymond Ibrahim, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, has written extensively on the plight of Christians under Islam. The following excerpt from his book, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (pgs. 42-45), provides a glimpse at the horrors and humiliations Christians throughout the Muslim world are exposed to whenever they try to meet and worship in church on Christmas and other Christian holidays.

 

Christians in the Islamic world today are suffering attacks motivated by the very same diabolical animus as a thousand years ago under Hakim [Egyptian caliph who ordered the destruction of reportedly 30,000 churches in the 10th –11th century]. Proof of this is that some of the most terrible assaults occur precisely on Christian holidays—Christmas, Easter, and New Year’s Eve (which is a major church day in the Middle East). And no wonder, considering that some Muslim clerics insist that “saying Merry Christmas is worse than fornication . . . or killing someone.”

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/christmas-holiday-islamic-horror/

[Geee]

Bomb attacks on Christians in Baghdad kill 37

 

BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in two separate bomb attacks in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 37 people, officials said.

 

In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church during Christmas Mass in the capital’s southern Dora neighborhood, killing at least 26 people and wounding 38, a police officer said.

 

A little bit earlier, a bomb ripped through an outdoor market in the nearby Christian section of Athorien, killing 11 people and wounding 21, the officer added.

 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but Iraq’s dwindling Christian community, which is estimated to number about 400,000 to 600,000 people, has often been targeted by al-Qaida and other insurgents who see the Christians as unbelievers.

 

Along with Christians, other targets include civilians in restaurants, cafes or crowded public areas, as well as Shiites and also members of the Iraqi security forces, who are targeted in an attempt to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government and stir up Iraq’s already simmering sectarian tensions.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/25/bomb-attacks-christians-baghdad-kill-37/

[Valin]

Pope Francis Speaks Out For Persecuted Christians

John Hinderaker

12/26/13

 

(Snip)

 

It will be interesting to see whether his other themes are deemed equally newsworthy. Today is St. Stephens Day, which honors Christianitys first martyr. Francis addressed visitors to St. Peters Square and, taking advantage of the commemoration of St. Stephen, amplified points he made in his Christmas message about the persecution of Christians. I havent been able to find the full text of his remarks, but this is how they were reported by the Associated Press:

 

 

Pope Francis is urging people to speak out against persecution of Christians, whom he likened to the Churchs first martyrs.

 

His denunciation of discrimination suffered by Christians came a day after three Christmas day bombings targeted Christians in Iraq.

 

Francis didnt cite any countries in his remarks to tourists and pilgrims in St. Peters Square as the church Thursday recalled its first martyr, St. Stephen. Francis said unfortunately more Christians are suffering discrimination and violence now than in Christianitys early times. He said some countries guarantee human rights on paper but not in practice, leaving Christians subject to limitations and discrimination.

 

Francis said injustice must be denounced and eliminated.

The Pope mentioned Iraq specifically in his Christmas message, which presumably was written before Muslim terrorists in that country murdered 37 Christians on Christmas Day. This video, via Gateway Pundit, is graphic. It shows the immediate aftermath of one of the Islamic bombings in Baghdad. We are not talking, here, about discrimination or injustice, we are talking about mass murder and extermination:

 

(Snip)

[SrWoodchuck]

Muslims Kill Christians, Bottle Their Blood, And Sell It For $100,000 A Piece To Saudis

 

Walid Shoebat: http://shoebat.com/2013/12/26/muslims-kills-christians-bottle-blood-sell-100000-piece-saudis/

 

By Theodore Shoebat

 

A nun in Germany has recently done a presentation in a conference of an independent investigation she conducted of the treatment of Christians in Syria under the hands of Muslim fundamentalists. She revealed that Muslims are butchering Christians, draining their blood in bottles, and selling each bottle for $100,000 to Muslims in Saudi Arabia who take it to wash their hands in Christian blood, with the belief that it atones for their sins.

 

[Valin]

Muslims Kill Christians, Bottle Their Blood, And Sell It For $100,000 A Piece To Saudis

 

 

By Theodore Shoebat

 

A nun in Germany has recently done a presentation in a conference of an independent investigation she conducted of the treatment of Christians in Syria under the hands of Muslim fundamentalists. She revealed that Muslims are butchering Christians, draining their blood in bottles, and selling each bottle for $100,000 to Muslims in Saudi Arabia who take it to wash their hands in Christian blood, with the belief that it atones for their sins.

 

I read it on the internets...so it must be true.

 

Reverse Blood Libel?

[SrWoodchuck]

 

Muslims Kill Christians, Bottle Their Blood, And Sell It For $100,000 A Piece To Saudis

 

 

By Theodore Shoebat

 

A nun in Germany has recently done a presentation in a conference of an independent investigation she conducted of the treatment of Christians in Syria under the hands of Muslim fundamentalists. She revealed that Muslims are butchering Christians, draining their blood in bottles, and selling each bottle for $100,000 to Muslims in Saudi Arabia who take it to wash their hands in Christian blood, with the belief that it atones for their sins.

 

I read it on the internets...so it must be true.

 

Reverse Blood Libel?

 

 

1.) Do you believe Walid Shoebat & his son....who report on the Middle East?

 

2.) Do you believe a Catholic nun? Think she'd lie?

 

3.) Read my tag line again.

 

Edited to add:

 

4.) Think salafist a-holes aren't capable of the greed & depravity? Or that rich Saudi's wouldn't do this?

Edited December 27, 2013 by SrWoodchuck

[Valin]

4.) Think salafist a-holes aren't capable of the greed & depravity? Or that rich Saudi's wouldn't do this?

Or that it happened at all.

[SrWoodchuck]

 

4.) Think salafist a-holes aren't capable of the greed & depravity? Or that rich Saudi's wouldn't do this?

Or that it happened at all.

 

 

Your 2 cent opinion has been registered.

[righteousmomma]

Then the nun proceeds to show a video from Sept. 16, 2004. This is only one of 174 that she says families have given her. The video is like many the world has already seen.

The video has a radical Muslim towering over a kneeling hostage who we find out is a Christian from Baghdad named Joseph as a statement of hate and rage is read over him. The nun explains, "it's their (radical Muslims) ceremony when the jihadists slaughter people."

The video has the extremists saying the usual things like, "you will be sacrificed for God" and "we only fulfill the word of God," before they behead Joseph. The video was given to the nun by his sister.

The nun says a priest told here there's someone you have to meet. She is then introduced to a man in the video who was, at Joseph's execution. According to the sister, this man was one of the killers. She also said he had severe psychological problems and had become a Christian.

Toward the end of the Youtube video, the nun says she asked the man, "what do you do with the blood you collect?" She then drops a startling revelation by saying the man told her, "that's a big business." The man tells her, "a small bottle of Christian blood sent to the fanatics in Saudi Arabia is worth $100,000."

The nun tells how after Islamic conception, the radicals wash their hands with the bottled blood. They believe when they wash their hands in this blood they become part of this "sacrificing" for Allah. She said, "it's not our God, their Allah. It's their Allah, who asks for human sacrifice. It's not the same God, for heaven's sake."

The accusation of radicals selling Christian blood, shows how brutal and barbaric racial Muslims are. Perhaps this is the reason a Syrian bishop is calling on Christians to arm themselves for self-defense against racial Islamists.

 

This was in something called the Christian Examiner and from the same video.

[Valin]

Indonesian Christians stage Christmas protest at palace

AFP, Jakarta

Wednesday, 25 December 2013

 

Hundreds of Indonesian Christians held a Christmas service Wednesday in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta to protest at the closure of their churches due to pressure by Muslim hardliners.

Some 200 people from two churches near the capital sang hymns, recited prayers and lit candles by a busy road alongside three Christmas trees constructed out of plywood and bamboo.

The service, involving people of all ages from toddlers to the elderly, began under the scorching sun and continued for hours even after the weather changed abruptly and heavy rain fell.

 

Christians are coming under increasing pressure from extremists in Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim-majority country, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been criticized for failing to tackle the growing intolerance.

We want to remind our president once again that he has not yet resolved the issue of religious intolerance in this country, Bona Sigalingging, a spokesman for one of the churches, told AFP.

 

(Snip)

[Draggingtree]

Muslims v. Christians in “New” Worldwide Jihad

 

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Pamela Geller

 

The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and now The New York Post are finally reporting on the war on non-Muslims in Muslim countries. The very thing they have attacked my colleagues and me for reporting on for years. I am sure they are penning their apologies as we speak. Not. http://dcclothesline.com/2013/12/29/muslims-v-christians-new-worldwide-jihad/

[Draggingtree]

What a bunch of Turkeys: “Santa Punched in Face”

 

Posted by Leslie Eastman Saturday, December 28, 2013 at 11:52am

 

Christmas is a celebration of “peace on Earth, goodwill toward men”, and Santa Claus is famed for spreading joy to children throughout the world.

 

However, reports from Turkey and the Balkans show that the image of Saint Nick is taking a beating. Literally.

 

From the Hurriyet Daily News, which covers Turkey and the region:

 

The Blaze reports the image has spread to the Balkans:

A Muslim youth group and a neighborhood authority led two separate anti-Santa campaigns on the eve of Christmas in Turkey.

 

The Istanbul University branch of a group called Anatolia Youth Association (AGD) released an illustration of a Muslim youth punching Santa Claus in the face and announced that it would make a press statement against Christmas on Dec. 26 in Istanbul.

 

The group announced the event with a statement titled “Muslim, return to yourself!” adding that “Christmas is a Christianity practice.” The group also criticized the celebration of New Year’s Day, saying that the two dates were “mixed” and “united.” It claimed that celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Day was “wrong” and constituted “a blow dealt to Muslimism.”

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/what-a-bunch-of-turkeys-santa-punched-in-face/

 

[Draggingtree]

Islamic Jihad Against Christians – How Muslims Have Been Celebrating Christmas

Posted By Pamela Geller on Dec 30, 2013

With their typical mutual respect, devout Muslims have been celebrating Christmas the world over. Jihad bombers murdered 34 people as Christians were coming out of church on Christmas morning in Baghdad, and Muslims threatened and protested against Christmas celebrations all over the world. Two days after Christmas, Lebanon’s former ambassador to the U.S. and at least four other people were murdered in a car bombing in Beirut. That same day, jihadists killed 10 people with a bomb in a restaurant in Mogadishu and three soldiers with a homicide car bombing in Kabul.

 

Of course, we all know that it’s Islamophobia that’s the real problem – although I suspect that the victims might not agree.

 

http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/12/islamic-jihad-christians-muslims-celebrating-christmas/

[Draggingtree]

December 30, 2013

 

Nigeria: Muslims murder 12 Christians in attacks on two Christian villages -- 8 at wedding reception

 

The Christian leaders who are silent about who does this killing and why, for fear of offending their Muslim "dialogue" partners in the West, have a great deal to answer for.

 

"Extremists kill 12 in Nigerian Christian villages," from the Associated Press, December 30 (thanks to Kenneth):

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Witnesses say suspected Islamic militants killed 12 civilians in weekend attacks on two Christian villages

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/12/nigeria-muslims-murder-12-christians-in-attacks-on-two-christian-villages----8-at-wedding-reception.html

[Geee]

Iran Steps Up Its Campaign Against Christians

CNSNews.com) – One of the few Iranian churches still serving Christians who are not from minority ethnic groups – and are therefore more likely to be converts from Islam –reportedly has told these Farsi-speaking believers that they are no longer welcome.

The announcement at St. Peter Church in Tehran, reported by the independent Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News, is the latest in a stepped-up campaign by the regime aimed at curbing the growth of Christianity in Iran, especially among former Muslims.

 

Mohabat News said churches in Iran are coming under pressure to stop all activities in Farsi, including sermons.

 

Critics say that despite the election of a president last year viewed as reform-minded, the situation has, if anything, gotten worse.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/iran-steps-its-campaign-against-christians

[Valin]

Malaysian authorities seize bibles in Allah row

AFP, kuala Lumpur

Thursday, 2 January 2014

 

The seized Bibles, imported from neighboring Indonesia where Malay is also spoken, were in Malay and Iban, a language spoken by one of the countrys indigenous groups. (File photo: Reuters)

 

Malaysian Islamic authorities on Thursday seized hundreds of Bibles from a Christian group and detained two of their officers, one of them said, amid tensions over the use of Allah.

 

A court in October barred a Malaysian Catholic newspaper from using Allah to refer to the Christian God in its Malay-language edition -- a verdict welcomed by Muslim conservatives, but which sparked concern among Christians, a minority in the multi-faith country.

 

After the verdict, Prime Minister Najib Razak, walking a tightrope between pleasing his conservative Muslim ethnic Malay base without alienating the countrys non-Muslim minorities, assured Christians their practice would not be threatened.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Egypt Interim President Visits Coptic Pope; Rare Meeting Could Lead to New Attacks on Christians?
Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter
January 6, 2014

Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, paid a historic visit to Coptic pope Tawadros II on Sunday, the first such meeting in 40 years. While the meeting was aimed at reassuring Christians that the new government will be better than the Muslim Brotherhood, a watchdog group has warned that it remains to be seen whether this move will benefit Christians, or if it will lead to new attacks instead.

 

"This visit could be seen as a positive or negative. Of course, under former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, Christians were even more singled out and persecuted," Open Doors USA Media Relations Director Jerry Dykstra told The Christian Post in an email on Monday.

 

The watchdog group has closely monitored the attacks Christians in Egypt suffered this past year following the fall of Morsi, when Islamist groups attacked and burned down Christian churches, schools, orphanages and bookstores. Open Doors even asked for emergency support of $430,000 in August following news that followers of Christ were also being murdered.

 

(Snip)

[leilani]

Glad you're still cataloguing all this Gee & Valin & others! From Ed M.@HotAir today, "Christian Martyrs Double in 2013":

 

Hot Air readers ranked the global persecution of Christians as the second-most important under-reported story of 2013, and new data from Open Doors bolsters that case. CBS notes the report of deaths from the persecution of Christians have doubled over 2012, mainly because of the war in Syria. However, another country still takes top honors in that regard:

 

Reported cases of Christians killed for their faith around the world doubled in 2013 from the year before, with Syria accounting for more than the whole global total in 2012, according to an annual survey.

 

Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said.

 

“This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm,” said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by other Christian groups put the annual figure as high as 8,000.

 

The Open Doors report placed North Korea at the top of its list of 50 most dangerous countries for Christians, a position it has held since the annual survey began 12 years ago. Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were the next four in line.

 

<snip>

 

More here: http://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/08/christian-martyrs-double-in-2013/

[Valin]

@leilani

 

Open Doors Reveals the 50 Worst Countries to be a Christian
Leah Barkoukis

Jan 08, 2014