Muslim Persecution of Christians

[waltky]

CIA statistics show Mooslamics persecute Christians...

9 of 10 Worst Countries for Persecution of Christians Have 50% or Greater Muslim Populations
January 8, 2015 – Nine of the 10 countries with the worst records for persecution of Christians have populations that are at least 50 percent Muslim, according to the assessment of persecution in the Open Doors USA's World Watch List (WWL) 2015 and population information published by the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency.

The WWL is an “annual survey of religious liberty conditions for Christians around the world" that was released Wednesday. Communist North Korea topped the list for the 13th consecutive year for the regime’s extreme persecution of Christians. But the other 9 countries among the 10 worst had Muslim populations of 50 percent or greater and were cited for “Islamic extremism” as a main cause for the persecution of Christians. “Approximately 100 million Christians are persecuted worldwide, making them one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world,” said an Open Doors statement announcing the report. “Islamic extremism is the main source of persecution in 40 of the 50 countries on the 2015 World Watch List.” Somalia, which ranks second on the list, has a “large majority” of Sunni Muslims, according to the State Department. The CIA World Factbook list Sunni Islam as the "official" religion of the country, and the Pew Research Center estimates a 99.8 percent Muslim population.

Iraq and Syria are third and fourth on the list with Muslim populations of 99 percent and 87 percent respectively, according to the CIA’s World Factbook. “Violence against Christians by the Islamic State and other Islamic terrorist groups increased in countries like Iraq and Syria. More than 70 percent of Christians have fled Iraq since 2003, and more than 700,000 Christians have left Syria since the civil war began in 2011,” according to Open Doors. Afghanistan, which is fifth on the persecution list, has an 80 percent Muslim majority, according to the CIA. Sudan, according to the CIA is Sunni Muslim with a "small Christian minority. The United Nations Development Programme estimates the Muslim population at 97 percent. Iran (which is 99.4 percent, according to the CIA) and Pakistan (which is 96.4 percent, according to the CIA) are seventh and eighth on the list. The final two countries among the 10 worst for persecuting Christians each have Muslim populations of 50 percent. In Eritrea 50 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim, 30 percent is Orthodox Christian, and 13 percent is Roman Catholic, according to the State Department. Nigeria is 50 percent Muslim, 40 percent Christian, and 10 percent “indigenous beliefs,” according to the CIA.

A Christian church in Mosul, Iraq that was destroyed by members of the Islamic State.

Open Doors USA is a Christian human rights organization which has monitored Christian persecution worldwide since the 1970s. Their WWL measures “the degree of freedom a Christian has to live out his or her faith in five spheres of life—private, family, community, national and church life, plus a sixth category measuring the degree of violence.” This year’s WWL was independently audited by the International Institute of Religious Freedom (IIRF). "Christian persecution," says Open Doors, "is any hostility experienced from the world as a result of one's identification as a Christian. Beatings, physical torture, confinement, isolation, rape, severe punishment, imprisonment, slavery, discrimination in education and employment, and even death are just a few examples of the persecution they experience on a daily basis."

A statue of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus toppled and broken by Islamic radicals in a Christian church in Syria.

Islamic countries have always featured strongly at the top of the annual Open Doors list, but the number has increased over the past decade. On the 2004 list four of the top ten countries were Islamic. The number rose to five in 2005 and 2006, to six in 2007 and 2008, to seven in 2009, to eight in 2010 and 2011, to nine in 2012, to eight in 2013, back to nine in 2014, and again nine this year.

9 of 10 Worst Countries for Persecution of Christians Have 50 or Greater Muslim Populations CNS News

 

[Vigilante]

This is NOTHING...haven't you seen the OUTRAGE over 12 atheist Journalist being shot by muslim terrorists.... what the hell are a few hundred thousand Christians compared to a dozen atheists?

 

[Agit8r]

That's the way that religions are:

"Your sect, by its sufferings, has furnished a remarkable proof of the universal spirit of religious intolerance inherent in every sect, disclaimed by all while feeble, and practised by all when in power."
-- Thomas Jefferson; from letter to Rabbi Mordecai Noah (May 28, 1818)

 

[waltky]

Christianity Facing Mideast Purge Within Decade...

On the brink: Christianity facing Middle East purge within decade, says group
November 9, 2015 - The dwindling Christian population of the Middle East could vanish completely within a decade unless the global community intervenes, say alarmed aid groups who say followers of the Bible are being killed, driven from their land or forced to renounce their faith at an unprecedented pace.

The world has largely stood by as a dangerous tide of intolerance has washed over the region, according to a new study by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. The study includes disturbing data about the plunging numbers of Christians in the part of the world that gave birth to the faith, and makes a dire prediction of what could happen. “It’s an answer that depends on the response of the world,” Edward Clancy, director of outreach for the United Kingdom-based Aid to the Church in Need, told FoxNews.com. “What response is there going to be toward us if we act?”

Syrian refugees near the Christian village of Kaa, Lebanon. The Christian presence may disappear completely within a decade or even sooner according to a recently released study.​

While Christians are under siege from Islamic State radicals in war-torn Syria and Iraq, the report notes that the religion is being targeted throughout the region. Christians who have managed to escape ISIS have fled to places like Europe and Lebanon, while members of the faith also are under increasing pressure in Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations.

The Christian population in Iraq has plummeted from 1.5 million in 2003 to current estimates of 275,000 and could be gone for good within five years, according to the report. The dwindling numbers are due to genocide, refugees fleeing to other countries, those who are internally displaced, and others hiding in plain sight and not allowing their faith to be publicly known. A dozen Christian families flee Iraq each day, according to 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, a Falls Church, Va., nonprofit dedicated to promoting religious freedom worldwide.

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[waltky]

Persecution of Christians in Egypt...

Muslim mob attacks Christians, parade naked woman
May 26, 2016 — An armed Muslim mob stripped an elderly Christian woman and paraded her naked on the streets in an attack last week in which seven Christian homes were also looted and torched in a province south of the Egyptian capital.

According to the local Orthodox Coptic church and security officials, the assault in the Minya province village of Karma on Friday began after rumors spread that the elderly woman's son had an affair with a Muslim woman - a taboo in conservative Egypt. Police have arrested six men suspected of taking part in the violence and are looking for 12 more, the security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi called for the culprits to be held accountable and gave the military a month to restore property damaged during the violence, at no cost to the owners.

In a statement issued Thursday by his office, el-Sissi said Egypt appreciates the role of "glorious Egyptian women" and that "the rights and the protection of their dignity are a humanitarian and patriotic commitment before being a legal and constitutional one." Anba Makarios, Minya's top Christian cleric, told a talk show host on the private Dream TV network that the 70-year-old woman was dragged out of her home by the mob who beat her and insulted her before they stripped her off her clothes and forced her to walk through the streets as they chanted Allahu Akbar, or "God is great." The woman reported the incident to the police five days later, said Makarios, adding that she had initially found it too difficult to "swallow the humiliation" she suffered and go to the police.

Attiyah Ayad, a 58-year-old farmer from a nearby village who witnessed the attack, described how the mob chanted "we must drive the infidels out" as they looted and burned the Christian homes, one of which belonged to his relatives. He said they were armed with firearms, knifes and sticks. "They emptied magazine after magazine, firing in the air to terrorize us," said Ayad, who suffered a head injury from being hit by a rifle butt and his son Ayad, 30, sustained a deep knife wound in his left shoulder. The incident, intensely publicized since Wednesday night, has unleashed a flurry of condemnations on social media networks where users blamed the influence of ultraconservative Salafi Muslims for the attacks and derided authorities for not reacting quickly.

The hashtag "Egypt stripped naked" on Twitter gained traction shortly after it was introduced. Extramarital affairs or sex between unmarried couples are taboo among Muslims and Christians in Egypt. They often attract violent reactions in rural areas, where questions of honor can lead to deadly family feuds that endure for years or result in ostracizing the perpetrators. Christian men cannot marry Muslim women in Egypt unless they convert to Islam first, but Muslim men can marry Christian women. An affair between a Christian man and a Muslim woman takes such sectarian sensitivities to a much higher and dangerous level and often lead to violence if found out.

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[waltky]

Muslims Burn Dozens of Christian Homes in Egypt...

Muslims Torch Dozens of Christian Homes in Egypt
Jun 22, 2016 - More than 80 Christian homes were torched by a mob of Muslim men this week. Why? They heard a rumor one of the homes was going to be turned into a church and therefore, dozens had to be destroyed. Lisa Daftari over at The Foreign Desk has the details:

The attacks, which took place Friday in Egypt’s Qaryat Al-Bayda village, near Alexandria, left two Copts seriously injured and resulted in thousands of dollars worth of damage, according to a Coptic activist. "A great deal of fanatic Muslims gathered in front of the new house of my cousin," Mousa Zarif, a Christian who witnessed the events, told Christian advocacy group International Christian Concern. “They were chanting slogans against us. Among these slogans were, ‘By no means shall there be a church here,’” Zarif said.

Naim Aziz, the Christian man who was building the house, told Daily News Egypt that he was constructing it for his son to live in and not for a church. The attackers then began chanting traditional Islamic afternoon prayer on loudspeakers aimed at Christian families in the village as they torched their cars and homes, even as police began to arrive, according to ICC. Christians in North Africa and the Middle East have been under attack for years and things are only getting worse. Last year, 21 Coptic Christians were marched onto a Libya beach by ISIS terrorists and beheaded. Earlier this year, the State Department officially declared a genocide of Christians and other minority religious groups by ISIS a genocide, with emphasis on Syria and Iraq.

Secretary @JohnKerry: Daesh is genocidal, responsible for crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing U.S. Department of State
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 17, 2016

The burning of churches and persecution of Christians in Egypt, not by ISIS but Muslims living in the country, is a regular occurrence.

Muslims Torch Dozens of Christian Homes in Egypt

 

[Steven_R]

So where is God in all of this?

 

[waltky]

'Religion of peace' is killin' Christians...

Christians Martyred by ISIS: 1,131
October 27, 2016 – A report submitted to the State Department earlier this year documented that between 2003 and June 9, 2014, at least 1,131 Christians – identified by name and place of death – had been murdered by the radical Muslims that comprise the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

In addition, at least 125 Christian churches had been attacked or destroyed by ISIS. The report, Genocide Against Christians in the Middle East, was submitted to Secretary of State John Kerry on March 9, 2016 by the Knights of Columbus and the humanitarian group In Defense of Christians. Eight days later, March 17, Kerry officially declared that ISIS’s ongoing actions against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities constituted genocide. Britain, the European Parliament, the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Iraqi and Kurdish governments have also declared ISIS’s actions genocide.

The report notes that genocide is a crime under federal and international law. It defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: a) Killing members of the group; b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” “Murder of Christians is commonplace” in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, states the report. “Many have been killed in front of their own families. The Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, many of whose flock lived on the Ninevah plain or in Syria, reports that 500 people were killed by ISIS during its takeover of Mosul and the surrounding region.” “In Syria, where the organization Aid to the Church in Need has reported on mass graves of Christians, Patriarch Younan estimates the number of Christians ‘targeted and killed by Islamic bands’ at more than 1,000,” states the report.

In section six of the report, it lists the names and place and "date of martyrdom" of 1,131 Christians who were murdered by the Islamic State. For instance, Alicia Nour was martyred in Mosul on Feb. 1, 2005. Ashoor Younan Botros was murdered in Baghdad on June 24, 2013. On July 1, 2015, Qays Abd Shaaya was martyred by the Islamic State in Baghdad. The 1,131 martyrs are documented from the period 2003 to June 9, 2014. More Christians reportedly were murdered in 2015 and 2016 but names and places of death have yet to be compiled in one document.

In addition to the list of known martyrs, the report, Genocide Against Christians in the Middle East, lists 125 Christian churches known to have been attacked by ISIS. These include, for instance, Saint George Church in Mosul, which was blown up on March 9, 2015; Virgin Mary Chaldean Church, which was attacked by car bomb on June 9, 2008; and the Armenian Church in Mosul, burned on Jan. 25, 2015.

Christians Martyred by ISIS: 1,131

See also:

Muslim Fulani Herdsmen Slaughter Dozens of Christians in Nigerian Village
October 27, 2016 – Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked villagers in the village of Godogodo, Nigeria on October 15 with guns and machetes, burning down homes, killing more than 40 people and injuring dozens more.

It was the second attack on the predominantly Christian village in as many months. The Morning Star News’ field reporter in Nigeria, Obed Minchakpu, spoke with villagers who survived the brutal attack. He confirmed to CNSNews.com that the attackers were Muslim Fulani herdsmen who have been targeting Christians for more than two years. Rev. Thomas Akut, pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Good News Church in Godogodo, told Morning Star News that he and his family barely escaped the massacre.

Reverend Akut added that the attacks have left all 245 members of his congregation homeless, including himself and his family. “This is a jihad,” Akut said. “It is an Islamic holy war against Christians in the southern part of Kaduna state.” “They shot and killed my four children,” survivor Peter Atangi told WorldWatch Monitor. “As we ran for our dear lives, they also set our homes on fire. Many of us have been rendered homeless.” During a previous attack on Godogodo in September, eight men were killed and eight others were wounded by gunshot and machete cuts, village leaders said.

According to World Watch , “a total of more than 300, mainly Christians, have been killed in repeated attacks by Fulani herdsmen in the past five months, while over 5,000 people have been displaced.” A total of 1,229 people lost their lives in 2014 due to violence by the Fulani herdsmen, which makes them the world’s fourth deadliest militant group in the world, after the Islamic State (ISIL), the Taliban, and Boko Haram, according to the 2015 Global Terrorist Index. The Index also ranked Nigeria third in the world for suffering “the highest impact of terrorism.” Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who is himself a Fulani, responded to the previous attacks and violence earlier this year by ordering his security forces to deter attacks by the herdsmen.

But Rev. Danladi Yarima, secretary of the Northern Christian Association of Nigeria, still blames the Nigerian government for not doing enough to prevent the killings by the semi-nomadic Fulanis, who “played a key role in the 19th century revival of Islam in Nigeria,” according to the BBC. “We are disheartened that despite the re-occurrence of the attack, the government has not come out with a security plan to stop it,” Yarima told WorldWatch Monitor. “We expected that the government should have mobilized more security personnel to the area. “Every day, Christians are being attacked and their homes and property destroyed. The killings have continued unabated and we are very worried. We urge the government and well-meaning Nigerians to stop the killings.”

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[waltky]

The Ayatollah is a hypocrite...

Supreme Leader Tweets About Jesus, But Iran is One of World’s Worst Persecutors of Christians
December 26, 2017 – Iranian leaders have been relaying their customary Christmas goodwill messages, but behind the tweets and statements the regime in Tehran continues to be accused of persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

Over recent days supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has posted several tweets relating to the birth of Jesus Christ – some including an underlying political message about undefined “oppression” and “arrogant powers.” “The birth of Jesus marked the birth of mercy & blessings in world for people drowning in darkness, ignorance, corruption, deprivation & discrimination, due to domination of arrogant powers & pressures of degrading systems. Jesus’ message was to save humanity from all this …” Khamenei tweeted to the 413,000-plus followers of his English-language account. In another tweet he said, “The sufferings that the divine Prophet Jesus endured were all on the path of fighting oppressors and the corrupt. It is expected that his followers and all those who admire him follow his model.”

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.​

In a message reproduced on an official website on Christmas Day, Khamenei also made a political point, evidently aimed at the United States and its support for Israel: “Today, some of those who claim to follow this great divine messenger act like the very Pharaohs and tyrants that Prophet Jesus Christ was up against.” Another Khamenei tweet said, “The value of Jesus Christ (pbuh) through the eyes of Muslims is, certainly, no less than his value and status through the eyes of believing Christians.” Despite that tweet – and Khamenei’s use of the word “divine” – Islamic doctrine teaches that Jesus was a prophet, not God in the flesh. Islamic texts also say that Jesus was not crucified (Qur’an 4:157) – denying the central tenet of the Christian faith, Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The Qur’an also states, in 9:30: “the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah … may Allah destroy them.”

Christmas messages also came from President Hasan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani among others. Religious freedom campaigners consider the Iranian regime to be among the world’s worst persecutors of Christians, Baha’i and other non-Shi’ite Muslim minorities. For the past 14 years, Iran has featured in the top ten on Open Doors USA’s annual list of the world’s worst persecutors of Christians, reaching as high as second place in 2010 and 2011. Iran is also one of 10 countries currently designed “countries of particular concern” under U.S. law for egregious violations of religious freedom. Iran carries out more executions each year than any country apart from China, applying the death penalty for offenses including apostasy, insulting Mohammed and other “grand prophets,” moharebeh (enmity against Allah) and “corruption on earth.”

‘Free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies’

 

[waltky]

Christian family shot dead in southwestern Pakistan...

Christian family shot dead in southwestern Pakistan
April 2, 2018 - Four members of a Christian family were gunned down in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, police said, in the latest attack on the minority community.

The family was travelling in a rickshaw when armed men on a motorcycle intercepted them and opened fire in Quetta city, the capital of Baluchistan province. A woman was rushed to hospital. Her father and three cousins were killed. “It appears to have been a targeted attack,” provincial police official Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters. “It was an act of terrorism.” The attack comes a day after Pakistan’s Christian community celebrated Easter on Sunday. Around 2 percent of Pakistan’s population are Christians.

Minority religious festivals are a security concern in the majority Sunni Muslim country where there have been a number of high casualty attacks on Christians and Shi’ite Muslims. Baluchistan, a region bordering Iran as well as Afghanistan, is plagued by violence by Sunni Islamist sectarian groups linked to the Taliban, al Qaeda and Islamic State. It also has an indigenous ethnic Baloch insurgency fighting against central government. In December, a week before Christmas, two suicide bombers stormed a packed Christian church in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 10 people and wounding up to 56, in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

The family killed on Monday had come to visit relatives in Quetta’s Shahzaman road area, where a large number of the city’s Christian community lives. Rome’s ancient Colosseum was lit in red for an evening in February in solidarity with persecuted Christians, particularly Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman who has been living on death row in Pakistan since 2010, when she was condemned for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam.

Christian family shot dead in southwestern Pakistan

 

[waltky]

ISIS admits role in Murders Of 4 Christians In Pakistan...

ISIS Claims Murders Of 4 Christians In Pakistan
April 3, 2018 • Three men and a woman died in the attack. A fifth person riding in the rickshaw — a 12-year-old girl — survived.

ISIS says it was behind a terrorist attack on a Christian family in Quetta, Pakistan, that killed four people one day after Easter Sunday. The relatives had been riding in a rickshaw when motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire on them.

Three men and a woman died in the attack. A fifth person riding in the rickshaw — a 12-year-old girl — survived and was taken to the hospital, Pakistan's Dawn news agency says.

From Islamabad, NPR's Diaa Hadid reports: "By targeting the family on the road, the gunmen found a weak link: Pakistani forces had stepped up security around churches, to stop militants who target Christians on their holiest days. But the roads are still vulnerable. "The family was traveling in Quetta, a garrison town near the Afghan border. It's the same town where ISIS militants stormed a church compound right before Christmas. They killed nine people."

According to Pakistan's Express Tribune, roughly 2 percent of Pakistan's population is Christian.

ISIS Claims Murders Of 4 Christians In Pakistan

 

[yragnitup]

ISIS admits role in Murders Of 4 Christians In Pakistan...

ISIS Claims Murders Of 4 Christians In Pakistan
April 3, 2018 • Three men and a woman died in the attack. A fifth person riding in the rickshaw — a 12-year-old girl — survived.

ISIS says it was behind a terrorist attack on a Christian family in Quetta, Pakistan, that killed four people one day after Easter Sunday. The relatives had been riding in a rickshaw when motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire on them.

Three men and a woman died in the attack. A fifth person riding in the rickshaw — a 12-year-old girl — survived and was taken to the hospital, Pakistan's Dawn news agency says.

From Islamabad, NPR's Diaa Hadid reports: "By targeting the family on the road, the gunmen found a weak link: Pakistani forces had stepped up security around churches, to stop militants who target Christians on their holiest days. But the roads are still vulnerable. "The family was traveling in Quetta, a garrison town near the Afghan border. It's the same town where ISIS militants stormed a church compound right before Christmas. They killed nine people."

According to Pakistan's Express Tribune, roughly 2 percent of Pakistan's population is Christian.

ISIS Claims Murders Of 4 Christians In Pakistan

 

[gallantwarrior]

Waltky, understand that Christians count for nothing for the liberals in this country. Christians are under attack here, too! Freedom of religion only counts as long as the "religion" is approved and sanctioned.

 

[yragnitup]

Under ISIS which is following 100% Islamic law, atheist & pagans will be executed if they don't convert to Islam.
Christians & Jews can live but under extortion & humiliation.