Christianity Is 'Close To Extinction' In The Middle East

[longknife]

by War News Updates Editor [Canada]

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Christianity 'Close To Extinction' In Middle East -- The 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.

Read more ....Christianity 'close to extinction' in Middle East - Telegraph

My Comment: I have remarked on more than one occasion that this is one of the most under-reported stories of the past few years.

And the ONLY Mid-East country that protects Christians and their churches is ISRAEL!!!

 

[TheOldSchool]

Good. Christians you need to get the hell outta there. That place is bat shit crazy.

 

[Meathead]

No surprise there. My maternal grandparents were one of the first wave (Armenians in Turkey). To be fair, unlike my grandparents, many Christians move exactly because they realize they can go to a better world where their children can assimilate.

 

[waltky]

Boko Harem savagely kills Christians on Christmas Day...

More Christians Killed As Pope Decries ‘Savage Acts of Terrorism’ in Nigeria
December 26, 2012 – Suspected Islamist terrorists killed 12 Nigerians celebrating Jesus’ birth, hours before Pope Benedict XVI, in his traditional Christmas Day message, spoke out against “savage acts of terrorism” mainly targeting Christians in Africa’s most populous country.

Gunmen shot dead six Christians and set fire to an evangelical church in the northern state of Yobe, police said. Wire reports said the pastor was among the dead in the midnight attack. Separately, a Baptist church in neighboring Borno state was attacked. Nigeria’s The Nation said six church members were killed. The attacks cap the bloodiest year yet in Boko Haram’s violent campaign against Christians, with more than 700 fatalities, according to the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans. An Associated Press count puts the number at more than 770.

It was the third consecutive Christmas marred by terrorist attacks in Nigeria. On Christmas Day last year 44 Christians were killed in a series of attacks, most of them at a Catholic church near the capital, Abuja; On Christmas Eve 2010 the target was Christian areas of the central city of Jos, where at least 32 people were killed in three bombings.

Boko Haram says its demands include a ban on non-Islamic education and the extension across the country of shari’a (Islamic law), which is currently implemented in 12 northern states. Forty percent of Nigerians are Christians. Delivering his Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and the World) message from the balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope voiced hope for “concord in Nigeria, where savage acts of terrorism continue to reap victims, particularly among Christians.”

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Nigeria gunmen 'kill at least six Christians' in Yobe
25 December 2012 - Gunmen in the northern Nigerian state of Yobe have shot dead at least six Christians, the army and local officials say.

They say a church in Peri village near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe, was set on fire in an attack late on Christmas Eve. No group has so far said it carried out the attack. The Boko Haram Islamist militant group has targeted a number of churches in the north since 2010. It has killed hundreds in its campaign to impose Sharia law. A series of bomb attacks carried out by the group across the country at Christmas 2011 - including two at Christmas Day church services - left almost 40 people dead and many more injured.

'Savage acts of terrorism'

The head of the Network for Justice human rights group, Zakari Adamu, told the BBC that the gunmen also attacked the homes of Christians following the attack during the midnight mass service. The AFP news agency reported that the pastor of the church - a branch of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) - is among the dead. Military Spokesman Eli Lazarus told the Reuters news agency that six people were killed in the violence, which happened when "unknown gunmen attempted to attack Potiskum but were repelled by troops". "While they were fleeing, they attacked a church in a village," he said.

The military say that a suspected gunman has been detained, and security in the area has been stepped up to reassure residents. They could not say how many gunmen took part in the attack or whether they belonged to a particular organisation. The violence comes on the same day that the Pope - as part of his Christmas Day address - prayed for harmony in Nigeria, lamenting what he called "savage acts of terrorism" that frequently target Christians. The head of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Yobe, Idi Garba, told AFP that many worshippers at ECWA "are still missing". "I have been informed that six bodies have been recovered," Mr Garba said.

He said that some worshippers who lived near the church "fled their homes during the attack and it is assumed that they are still hiding in the bush". Correspondents says that while Yobe's population is overwhelmingly Muslim, Potiskum has a significant Christian minority. Peri is just 2km (1.24 miles) outside the city. Boko Haram has been able to carry out so many attacks in Yobe because it borders Borno state where the insurgent group is based. Nigeria is Africa's most populous state and its biggest oil producer. Most people in the south are Christian, whereas the north has a Muslim majority.

BBC News - Nigeria gunmen 'kill at least six Christians' in Yobe