Christian Persecution Around the World

[Shammu]

More Christians died for their faith in the twentieth century than at any other time in history, says Christian Solidarity International. Global reports indicate that over 150,000 Christians were martyred last year, chiefly outside of the United States. However, statistics are changing: persecution of Christians is on the increase in the United States. What's happening to bring about this change?

According to some experts a pattern is emerging reminiscent of Jewish persecution in post war Germany. "Isolation of, and discrimination against Christians is growing almost geometrically" says Don McAlvany in The Midnight Herald. "This is the way it started in Germany against the Jews. As they became more isolated and marginalized by the Nazi propaganda machine, as popular hatred and prejudice against the Jews increased among the German people, wholesale persecution followed.  Could this be where the growing anti-Christian consensus in America is taking us?"

Tolerance of anti-Christian attitudes in the United States is escalating. Recently, a woman in Houston, Texas was ordered by local police to stop handing out gospel tracts to children who knocked on her door during Halloween. Officers informed her that such activity is illegal (not true), and that she would be arrested if she continued. In Madison, Wisconsin, the Freedom from Religion Foundation distributes anti-Christian pamphlets to public school children entitled, "We Can Be Good Without God." The entertainment industry and syndicated media increasingly vilify Christians as sewer rats, vultures, and simple-minded social ingrates.  The FBI and the Clinton White House brand fundamentalist Christian groups as hate mongers and potential terrorists. The Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago warns that plans by Southern Baptists to hold a convention in the Windy City next year might foment "hate crimes" against minorities, causing some Christians to fear that speaking openly about their religious beliefs will soon be considered a crime. All this, while Christianity itself is often a target of hate-crime violence. We remember the students at Columbine, and the United Methodist minister who was fatally beaten and burned in a remote part of Chattanooga, Tennessee, to name a few of the recent examples of interpersonal violence aimed at believers.

THE REAL ENEMY

Manly P. Hall once wrote, "They are the invisible powers behind the thrones of earth, and men are but marionettes, dancing while the invisible ones pull the strings." Satan's string pullers have patiently manipulated unregenerate architects of American society for over five decades, networking both visible and invisible principalities to discredit Christian causes. Indicators reveal the propaganda blame-game against western believers is working.

Even a casual observance of the facts reveals growing isolation of Christians as a people group, especially school age believers. Faculty and peer efforts to convince public school children that America was not founded on Christian ideals, and that our forefathers actually wanted a secular society, permeates public school interaction. History revisionists labor to eliminate any and all contradictory historical evidence from public school curriculum, and mockingly stereotype Christians as unenlightened fringe.

A few years ago, Dr. Paul Vitz, then professor of psychology at New York University, worked with a committee that examined sixty social studies and history textbooks used in public schools across the United States. The committee was amazed to find that almost every reference to the Christian influence of early America was systematically removed. Their conclusion: the writers of the commonly used textbooks exhibited paranoia of the Christian religion and intentionally censored Christianity's positive role in American history.

Intolerant, Christ-hating censors of religious expression target the media and public school curriculum because this is the best place, outside of the churches and families, to indoctrinate children and thus manipulate the future political and cultural landscape. If one succeeds in separating Godly principles from public education and the media, they deny citizens the knowledge of good and keep them from embracing the laws of God. To that extent, they are pawns of evil and subvert and destroy both the message and the messengers of righteousness.

REAPING THE WHIRLWIND

In an article entitled "Our Violent Kids," Time Magazine reported "an upsurge in the most violent types of crimes by teens." Through television, "by the age of 16, the typical child has witnessed an estimated 200,000 acts of violence, including 33,000 murders," the article went on to say.

A major study by Dr. Brandon Centerwell of the University of Washington's Department of Epidemiology concludes that "exposure to television" is related to approximately one-half of the homicides committed in the United States, or approximately 10,000 homicides annually. Exposure to television and other forms of propaganda is also related to a majority of rapes, assaults, and acts of violence according to the study.

Censoring the Christian model and denigrating biblical values has resulted in a generation where every day in the United States:

437 children are arrested for drinking or drunk driving
211 children are arrested for drug abuse
1,629 children are in adult jails
30 children are wounded by guns
10 children are killed by guns
135,000 children bring a gun to school

Social scientists claim this generation's inability to define absolutes, and a growing pattern of anti-Christian behavior, may ultimately result in the collapse of the American superstructure, as situation ethics, AIDS and other forms of sexually transmitted diseases, the redefining of the family unit, and other abandonments of biblical standards of morality come to their dangerous and natural conclusion.

WILL WE EVER LEARN?

History students compare the French Revolution and the horror of persecution and torture under Robespierre, with the Revolutionary War in America that resulted in unprecedented cultural and monetary success. While citizens in America rejoiced in newfound religious liberty and freedom, more than twenty thousand people died in Paris's guillotines. The years to follow in France brought a reign of terror leading up to totalitarianism and Napoleon.

Why were the American and French Revolutions followed by such contrasting societal conclusions? The difference was that the American Revolution was fought on Christian principles, while the French Revolution was anti-God. The forces behind the French Revolution were out to eliminate Christianity as the enemy of France. A statue of a nude woman was placed on the altar of the church in Notre Dame, and the God of the Bible was proclaimed dead. Soon afterward, the French government collapsed.

Is the Fabian process of gradualism taking modern America down a similar path?   Perhaps. For the past five decades Americans have allowed the liberal Left to defend the use of public funds for pornography, explicit sex education, and anti-Christian curricula. The Hollywood elite have denigrated Christian values and mocked the virtues of purity. The highest courts in the land have ruled with contemptuous decree against God, against prayer, and against the free expression of religion.  Is it any wonder we have become the most profane and violent society in the industrialized
world?

[Shammu]

JUST THINK OF IT

America's Founding Fathers understood that all government is based on either a theistic or anti-theistic foundation. Adepts of history like George Washington understood that countries whose systems of government embrace national anti-theistic views ultimately come to ruin. Strong religious convictions therefore played a role in the development of the United States, which was established on Christian principles and open to all people of good will. In 1892 this was argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. After exhaustive deliberation, the Court said, "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. [It is] impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."

Imagine that. A nation whose laws and institutions are based on the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. Why, such a place would surely become the leader in education, invention, and the arts. Such a place would probably become a haven of religious liberty for more types and religions of people than has ever existed anywhere or at any time on earth. Instead of religious persecution and intolerance, such a place would offer hope and opportunity to the huddled masses of the earth.

[Shammu]

C&P post from;
http://www.incommunion.org/Lieuwen.htm

Persecution of Christians Worldwide
A brief overview of some of the worst offenders
and what you can do about it
by Reader Daniel Lieuwen

More Christians have been killed for their faith in the past century than in all the centuries of Christianity combined. As millions of were Orthodox Christians in East Bloc countries, the faithful of the Orthodox Church have a special responsibility to fight against such evils.

While persecution is now much less frequent in Russia and Eastern Europe than it was in the Soviet era, it has become increasingly common place in many other countries.

A.M. Rosenthal recently wrote in The New York Times: "Eleven countries where Christians are currently enduring great religious persecution are China, Sudan, Pakistan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Cuba, Laos, and Uzbekistan. They evidence a worldwide trend of anti-Christian persecution based on two political ideologies -- Communism and militant Islam."

It must be understood that this is by no means an exhaustive list -- for example Indonesia was left out. Nearly every Muslim country persecutes its Christian minority. In Iran, people who convert to Christianity are frequently killed by the government. In other countries (e.g., Iraq, Syria), family members who kill a Christian convert are not punished. Many atrocities occur in other countries as well.

The worst horrors are in the Sudan. A civil war has been on-and-off since independence in 1956 between the Arab, Muslim north and the black (Christian and animist) south. The north has been working toward the Arabization and Islamization of the country -- they imposed Islamic law in the south in 1983, which caused a big flare-up in the smoldering civil war. Matters were made worse when an Islamic military government overthrew a democratic government in 1989. One-and-a-half million people have died over the past ten years -- most the result of government imposed "famines, warfare, and the displacement of millions of people from their homes." Food and medicine are denied to those who refuse to convert to Islam. Men and even children are crucified. Many women are raped. Many women and children are enslaved. They can be bought for as little as $15.

In China, Christians have been beaten to death. They are frequently tortured and imprisoned for many years. Heavy fines and confiscation of property are also frequently employed.

[Brother Love]

Thanks DreamWeaver


Brother Love

<))><

[Shammu]

Christians were martyred last year, chiefly outside of the United States. However, statistics are changing: persecution of Christians is on the increase in the United States. Anti-Christian attitudes in the United States is escalating. A woman in Houston, Texas was ordered by local police to stop handing out gospel tracts to children who knocked on her door during Halloween. Officers informed her that such activity is illegal, and that she would be arrested if she continued. In Madison, Wisconsin, the Freedom from Religion Foundation distributes anti-Christian pamphlets to public school children entitled, "We Can Be Good Without God." The entertainment industry and syndicated media increasingly show Christians as sewer rats, vultures, and simple-minded social ingrates.  The FBI brand fundamentalist Christian groups as hate mongers and potential terrorists. All this, while Christianity itself is often a target of hate-crime violence. We remember the students at Columbine, and the United Methodist minister who was fatally beaten and burned in a remote part of Chattanooga, Tennessee, to name a few of the recent examples of interpersonal violence aimed at believers.

1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.

A casual observance of the facts reveals growing isolation of Christians as a people group, especially school age believers. Faculty and peer efforts to convince public school children that America was not founded on Christian ideals, and that our forefathers actually wanted a secular society, permeates public school interaction. History revisionists labor to eliminate any and all contradictory historical evidence from public school curriculum, and mockingly stereotype Christians as unenlightened fringe.

Christ-hating censors of religious expression target the media and public school curriculum because this is the best place, outside of the churches and families, to indoctrinate children and thus manipulate the future political and cultural landscape. If one succeeds in separating Godly principles from public education and the media, they deny citizens the knowledge of good and keep them from embracing the laws of God. To that extent, they are pawns of evil and subvert and destroy both the message and the messengers of righteousness.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

America's Founding Fathers understood that all government is based on either a theistic or anti-theistic foundation. Adepts of history like George Washington understood that countries whose systems of government embrace national anti-theistic views ultimately come to ruin. Strong religious convictions therefore played a role in the development of the United States, which was established on Christian principles and open to all people of good will. In 1892 this was argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. After exhaustive deliberation, the Court said, "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."

A nation whose laws and institutions are based on the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. Why, such a place would surely become the leader in education, invention, and the arts. Such a place would probably become a haven of religious liberty for more types and religions of people than has ever existed anywhere or at any time on earth. Instead of religious persecution and intolerance, such a place would offer hope and opportunity to the huddled masses of the earth.

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Bob

[JudgeNot]

DW,
I couldn't have said it better...
I would bet that less than 10% of parents really know of the indoctrination taking place in 'public' schools, and the pure hate this indoctrination entails.  There is nothing more hateful than a socialist speaking against intolerance.
JN

[Saved_4ever]

And so as good Christians we continue to pray for our country, it's leaders and the guidance of the Lord.  We continue spread the good news of Jesus Christ and His saving Grace regardless of all these things.

No one can or will subvert the Lord and His goals and unless we truly believe this in the deepest parts of our hearts we will give no real glory to the Lord.  If we follow the word and act accordingly we can do no more.  

If this country turns completely over to the world then that is how it must be.  We must remember that BROAD is the way that leads to distruction.  It is quite obvious that we are truly a minority in the world.

[AveCaesar]

Everyone should read the book called "Persecution" by David Limbaugh.  It has numerous accounts of the ridiculous things that they tell children in public school, and how the media and people mislead Americans into thinking that some basic excercises of our religious freedom is somehow "against the law."

Also visit and, if the Lord leads you support, the Ministry at "Persecution.com" The Voice of the Martyrs, they aid Christians being persecuted around the world.
Most of this Persecution comes from either Muslims, the "Religion of Peace" as our Liberal Socialist media would have us believe, or the Communists themselves i.e. China, Vietnam and parts of Eastern Europe i.e Belarus.
Peace

[Tibby]

Rush's little brother David is great, but I would stay away from the Voice of the Martyrs. A propaganda machine that pulls on the heartstrings of Christians to make more money, thats all they are. Just another evangelical money machine.

[Shammu]

U.S. Court Calls for Deportation of Chinese Christian
Court believes Christian's story, says China has the right to maintain social order.
by Boaz Herzog | posted 09/06/2005 09:30 a.m.

For more than five years, Xiaodong Li and about half a dozen friends gathered weekly in their hometown of Ningbo, China, to study the Bible and sing hymns. Then one Sunday morning in April 1995, in the middle of one of the services inside Li's apartment, three cops stormed in, handcuffed Li, and escorted him to the local police station.

The officers grabbed his hair and kicked his legs, forcing him to kneel. They hit and shocked him with an electronic black baton until he confessed two hours later to organizing an underground church. Later, they locked him inside a windowless, humid cell with six other inmates until his friend and uncle bailed him out five days later. After his release, police forced him to clean public toilets 40 hours a week without pay. He lost his job as a hotel spokesman.

Li, 22 at the time, likely faced two years in prison. A court hearing was set for later that year. Li began plotting an escape. He applied for a visa. Unaware of Li's looming trial, a government agency issued him a passport. And on November 4, 1995, Li left the country.

Two months later, a Carnival Cruise Lines ship docked in Miami. Li, a food server on board, walked off and never returned. He moved to Houston, hoping to go back to his homeland when China's government eased religious restrictions. Instead, conditions worsened. His friend was imprisoned for participating in their underground church. And police interrogated Li's family, who still live in China, after receiving Bibles, religious magazines, and newspapers that Li had sent them.

In 1999, Li applied for asylum on the grounds that the Chinese government had persecuted him for his religious beliefs. He missed the application deadline, but an immigration judge agreed with his arguments, granting him a status that allowed him to remain in the United States until conditions in China improved.

But in 2003, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the judge's decision. It ruled that Li was punished for violating laws on unregistered churches that it said China has a legitimate right to enforce. Li, the board concluded, feared legal action or prosecution, not persecution.

In August, a three-judge panel of the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the board's ruling. The decision has alarmed refugee and religious-freedom advocates. They say the ruling, unless overturned, will make it much more difficult for future asylum-seekers to prove religious persecution.

The appeals court decision "sends a chilling message that the United States is beginning to turn its back on people fleeing religious persecution," said Dori Dinsmore, the former advocacy director for World Relief, an international organization that assists refugees.

Last year, U.S. immigration courts completed about 65,000 applications for asylum. Of those cases, about 20 percent of the applicants were granted asylum, the plurality of which came from China. Asylum allows refugees to work in the United States and later apply for permanent residence. To gain asylum, applicants must prove they are refugees escaping persecution because of their nationality, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, race, or religion.

"Ultimately," Dinsmore told CT, the Fifth Circuit's ruling means that many more asylum applicants "will be deported back into the hands of the people persecuting them."

The ruling has broad implications for worshipers across the globe. Ann Buwalda, founder and executive director of human-rights group Jubilee Campaign USA, told CT that adherents of other faiths could soon be denied U.S. asylum because some of their religious practices are considered illegal in their homelands. For example, she pointed to persecuted practitioners of Falun Gong exercises in China, and Muslims who convert to Christianity in Iran.

"Essentially," Buwalda said of the Fifth Circuit ruling, "you've removed religion as a basis of gaining asylum."

Chris Bentley, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau, declined to comment on the impact Li's case could have on other asylum applicants. The agency is "reviewing the judges' decision, and then we'll take appropriate actions," Bentley said.

Li's Houston-based attorney, Garrett White, said his client, now 32, plans to appeal, both to the full ring of Fifth Circuit judges and to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Alliance Defense Fund has joined Garrett as co-counsel.

Persecution a 'Moral Judgment, Not a Legal One'
That an immigration judge on up to the Fifth Circuit found Li's story of prosecution credible makes it all the more perplexing to his backers how the court failed to recognize his persecution.

Li was among 30 million to 60 million Chinese citizens who worship in illegal independent house churches. China officially recognizes five religions: Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Islam, and Taoism. So-called patriotic religious organizations sanctioned by the government supervise religious groups. Protestants such as Li must register with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement committee. About 10 million to 15 million citizens have registered as Protestants, according to Chinese government reports.

Registered religious groups have faced numerous restrictions for decades, said Caleb Weatherl, a researcher with the China Aid Association, a Texas-based advocacy group for persecuted Chinese Christians. For example, he said all church instructors must be approved by the Chinese government.

The Chinese law against unregistered religious activities is "simply an institutional form of persecution," according to the immigration judge who tried Li's case.

Not so, the U.S. Attorney General's Office argued. In prosecuting Li for engaging in illicit religious activities, China was simply motivated by a desire to maintain social order, not persecute based on his religious beliefs, the office contended.

The line between religious belief and religious activity in Li's case is a fine one, according to the Fifth Circuit judge writing the opinion in the case.

"While we may abhor China's practice of restricting its citizens from gathering in a private home to read the gospel and sing hymns, and abusing offenders, like Li, who commit such acts, that is a moral judgment, not a legal one," he wrote.

Because the Chinese government tolerates Christianity, so long as it's practiced in a registered group, the Fifth Circuit concluded that reasonable and substantial evidence supports the Board of Immigration Appeals decision that Li was punished for illegal activities and not for his religion.

Andrew Painter, senior protection officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said he plans to soon meet with officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice to discuss Li's case and the harm the court ruling could cause to future asylum seekers.

Painter said the Fifth Circuit decision "seems to miss the point" and sets an "artificial distinction between religion and religious activities that would not appear to be justified."

Because of asking for donations, ad I can not, link this story to the web.

[Soldier4Christ]

Communist, Islamic regimes dominate annual ranking

The hard-line Stalinist regime in North Korea remains atop a leading monitor's list of the 50 countries that most severely persecute Christians.

Open Doors, in its 2006 "World Watch List," says there are reports of tens of thousands of Christians suffering in North Korean prison camps. While no precise figures are available, Open Doors estimates hundreds of Christians were killed by the Pyongyang regime last year.

Many North Koreans have become Christians after crossing the border into China – in many cases to escape famine – and living among local believers. When the North Koreans return home, some are exposed as Christians and face torture and death, Open Doors said.

"North Korea is the most repressive nation in the world," said Open Doors USA President Carl Moeller. "… It breaks my heart to hear some of the atrocities against our brothers and sisters there."

The annual list ranks countries according to the intensity of persecution, based on evaluations and testimonies obtained by Open Doors' indigenous contacts, field workers and church members.

Open Doors has launched a Prayer Campaign for North Korea that coincides with the North Korea Freedom Coalition's North Korea Freedom Week, April 24-30.

Second on the World Watch List is Saudi Arabia, followed by Iran, Somalia, Maldives, Bhutan, Yemen, Vietnam, Laos and China.

In addition to North Korea, countries with communist governments in the top 10 include Vietnam, Laos and China. Islamic-dominated countries are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, Maldives and Yemen. Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan.

Open Doors said more than 70 expatriate Christians were arrested last year during worship at private homes in what has been called the kingdom's largest crackdown on Christians in a decade. The U.S. State Department, in its annual reports on religious persecution, has determined religious freedom does "not exist" in Saudi Arabia, where the strict Wahabbi interpretation of Islam is the only religion allowed. Any conversion from Islam to another religion is punishable, in accord with Islamic law, by death.

In Iran, religious freedom for Christians deteriorated further with the victory of mullah-backed parties at the beginning of 2004. Then, with the election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June, a new wave of persecution of Christians began. Ahmadinejad hailed his election triumph as a new Islamic revolution that will spread throughout the world and pledged to restore an "Islamic government." Since then, many Christians have been rounded up for harassment, arrested and beaten, Open Doors said. One house church pastor was killed last November.

Yemen was the only country to join the top ten this year, at No. 8. Last year, several Christian converts were beaten and arrested for their faith, Open Doors said.

Afghanistan dropped out of the top 10, moving from No. 10 to No. 11.

In addition, conditions for Christians deteriorated last year in Uzbekistan – from No. 15 to No. 12 – as the government enacted measures restricting religious freedom after suppression of the popular uprising in Andijan.

In India, an apparent rise in violence against Christians by radical Hindus reacting to evangelism moved the country's ranking from No. 34 to No 26.

Bangladesh went from No. 46 to No. 39 after seeing a rise in intolerance and atrocities against minorities, Open Doors said.

Improvements were witnessed in Vietnam (No. 3 to No. 7), Laos (No. 4 to No. 9), Afghanistan, Sudan (No. 19 to No. 27), northern Nigeria (No. 25 to No. 28), Colombia (No. 36 to No. 44) and southern Mexico (No. 31 to No. 48).

Church leaders in Vietnam and Laos said they saw improvement as their governments allowed construction and renovation of church buildings and conducting of training. In Laos, Christian leaders in the south engaged in many church activities with little or no government interference.

[Shammu]

The Criminalization of Christianity, around the world....................


Abdul Rahman, the Afghani man who dominated headlines two weeks ago, has been safely spirited away to Italy. Rahman had been imprisoned and threatened with a death sentence for apostasy (i.e. converting from Islam to Christianity).

His case created an international uproar, as the U.S., the United Nations and even Pope Benedict put pressure on Afghanistan to release Rahman and drop the charges against him. The outcry against this religious persecution in Afghanistan was so deafening that the authorities ultimately relented and released Rahman, suggesting that he was mentally deficient and unable to stand trial. After his release, Rahman told Italian journalists that his exodus to Italy was necessary because “In Kabul they would have killed me, I'm sure of it.”

The unity of the international community against this horrid case of religious persecution was impressive and played no small role in securing Rahman’s release and saving his life. Unfortunately, the widespread persecution of Christians around the world continues unabated and receives almost no attention from the international media. For instance, over the last several months, nearly 2,000 Christians in one African nation have been rounded up and imprisoned. Yet these victims of religious persecution have received nowhere near the attention Rahman received.

At this very moment, the government of Eritrea, a small country on the northeastern coast of Africa, which is bordered by Ethiopia, the Sudan and the Red Sea, is perpetrating vicious human rights abuses against its Christian population.  Although Eritrea’s draft constitution reportedly allows freedom of religion, the ruling party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), has severely restricted religious rights in the country.

As the U.S. State Department reported March 9, 2006, only four religious groups -- Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Catholics and members of the Evangelical Church of Eritrea -- were approved by the PFDJ and allowed to meet legally. “Members of the non-registered churches continued to be arbitrarily arrested throughout the year (2005),” the report said.

Religious persecution has steadily worsened in the country since May, 2002, when the PFDJ shut down all religious institutions except the four mentioned. A recent report from Human Rights Watch observed:

Members of Pentecostal Christian churches are arrested for possession of Bibles or for attending communal worship. In 2005, the government intensified its persecution of adherents of unregistered religions by raiding wedding parties at private homes. Some clergy of a modernizing wing of the Eritrean Orthodox church were also arrested in 2005. Many of those arrested are beaten or tortured during their arrest or while in captivity. 
 
J. W's. have been mistreated. Some have been detained for a decade for refusing to participate in national military service even though the official penalty is incarceration for no more than three years. The Eritrean government defends its practices on the ground that the unrecognized churches have failed to register, but some religious groups applied for registration in 2002 and have not been registered. The government announced in April 2005 that it soon would register the Seventh Day Adventist denomination, but as of November 2005, it had not done so.

Over the last year, hundreds of Christians have been imprisoned and forced to endure deplorable conditions for the “crime” of being part of an “unregistered” religious organization. Compass Direct reported that at least 250 guests, including the bride and groom, were arrested at a wedding on May 28, 2005. While some were released the next day, 129 individuals remained imprisoned. Reports say their Bibles were confiscated and burned, and they were subjected to insults, mockery, and physical abuse.

The Christian Post reported that in October 2005 “two hundred Christians were arrested and their churches and affiliate humanitarian aid programs were forced to shut down in the latest report of legal actions against Christians in a series of crackdowns on Christian weddings and church officials.”

It isn’t just members of the unregistered churches who are being persecuted. Compass Direct reported in August, 2005, that 78-year-old Abuna Antonios of the Eritrean Orthodox Church was stripped of his patriarchal authority by the government controlled Holy Synod for, among other things, “his high-level request that the government release some imprisoned Christian ‘traitors’ from jail” and his objection to government interference in the church. Although the Eritrean government initially denied having stripped Antonios of his responsibilities, a formal declaration of his dismissal was released in January 2006.

Others also have trouble. The U.S. State Department noted, “There were some complaints that the government discriminated against the Muslim community and Catholics because the government offered tax relief to Orthodox churches but not to some mosques and Catholic churches.”

On November 2005, Compass reported 1,778 Eritrean Christians were confirmed to be imprisoned for their religious beliefs, including at least 26 full-time Protestant pastors and Orthodox clergy.

That number has continued to increase in 2006. In January, at least 40 pastors, elders, and laymen from five Protestant churches, including the Church of the Living God, the Full Gospel, Rema, Hallelujah, and Philadelphia churches.

Human Rights Watch described the conditions in which these prisoners are held:

Prisoners are often held in secret prisons, including underground cells. Because of the large number of arrests, less prominent prisoners are packed into cargo containers or in other overcrowded prisons. In addition to psychological abuse, solitary confinement and abysmal conditions, escapees report the use of physical torture. Prisoners are suspended from trees with their arms tied behind their backs, a technique known as almaz (diamond). Prisoners are also placed face down, hands tied to feet, a method of torture known as the “helicopter.”

There are dozens of other reports available on Eritrea’s religious persecution. Yet none of the stories regarding the arrests of dozens, even hundreds of Christians in Eritrea have merited an iota of the attention that one sole Apostate in Afghanistan received. Still, Rahman’s story has stirred up an unprecedented international outcry for religious freedom around the world. Now it is time to turn the spotlight on Eritrea, and make the PFDJ feel the pressure to set their religious prisoners free.

I can't post the link because of advertisment.

My note; Now do you feel persecuted, because you are in a country with out those restrictions.

[Soldier4Christ]

Benin Islamic Militants Destroy Church And Training Center

Islamic militants in Benin destroyed a church established by Christ Power Ministries (CPM) in the latest attack against the indigenous evangelical mission group in the African nation, missionaries told BosNewsLife Friday, March 2.

Christian Aid Mission, which supports CPM, confirmed the church was destroyed just three days after it was opened. There were no reports of injuries. About four months earlier militants also destroyed a CPM training center where over 2,000 Christian workers, including 1500 'disciples' and 650 children's ministry workers were educated, missionaries said.

It came as a major setback for the organization as the center apparently gained recognition for its effectiveness and members of neighboring Christian communities interested in starting similar projects visited the center to observe training methods and activities.

In addition two CPM mission schools were reportedly ransacked and destroyed by Islamic militants. It was not immediately clear which group was behind the several attacks in recent months.

ISLAMIC LAW

Missionaries said however they fear that radical Muslims, who "subjugated North African countries under Islamic law," are rapidly moving southward "in their quest to convert the entire African continent."

In a statement obtained by BosNewsLife, CPM leader Claude Sossa suggested he had experienced "the devastating effect" of the apparent Islamic infiltration of his country, "as 30 percent of Benin's population is now Muslim," at least 10 percent higher than previous estimates by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

However Sossa, who oversees 130 church congregations, five mission schools and one 'School of Discipleship' made clear he wants to continue his work. "We have lost our [training] center after many years of work. But we continue to love those who destroyed it, because Jesus died for them and I believe that many of them will come to the Lord," he said. "The struggle continues," the mission leader added.

VOODOO PRIEST

The son of a voodoo priest, Claude Sossa claims he had "a life-changing encounter with the Lord" in 1985. He then established CPM in an effort to reach unreached tribes and led a program to train future native missionaries. Claude also rescues orphaned and abandoned children and over 300 children are said to live in one of CPM's three orphanages.

In addition Claude's CPM has provided financial assistance to more than 200 families who adopted an abandoned child, while nearly 300 children reportedly receive free education at one of CPM's five Christian schools.

Hundreds of other Christian missionaries are also working in 45 mission fields, "targeting 32 of the 62 tribes living in Benin with the Gospel of Christ," Christian Aid Mission told BosNewsLife. The US-based organization began supporting CPM in 1996 when its Africa Director Rae Burnett witnessed what he called "the incredible work accomplished by Claude Sossa and the missionaries he had trained."

[Soldier4Christ]

Jailed Mexican Evangelicals Fear New Massacre Trial

There was concern Wednesday, February 21, about the plight of dozens of evangelical prisoners in Mexico's southeastern state of Chiapas who rights watchers say have been wrongly convicted of involvement in the massacre of 45 Tzotzil Indians nearly a decade ago.

Netherlands-based Open Doors, a group supporting Christians persecuted for their faith, said 76 men, half of them evangelical believers, were victims of "random arrests" following the mass killings of Indians on December 22, 1997, in the village of Acteal by paramilitary forces.

"Most of these men have been spending eight years behind bars...Open Doors is convinced that most of these prisoners are innocent," the group told BosNewsLife.

Open Doors, which has been paying the legal costs of the defendants, said lawyers are fighting for a "presidential pardon" for their clients after a federal court lowered an initial ruling from 36 to 25 years imprisonment.

LAWYERS THREATENED

"Lawyers have rested their defense case as they were threatened by prosecutors, but are are working on a procedure to obtain a presidential pardon."

Open Doors said the case "could turn nasty again" as the state of Chiapas reportedly wants to reopen the trial. The defense team believes that the authorities of Chiapas are trying to prevent a search for the real killers of the Tzotzil Indians, the group explained. In addition a further 27 men may be detained for their alleged involvement in what became known as the 'Acteal Massacre,' Open Doors said

The "tragic massacre" of Acteal was the result of what Open Doors investigators described as an "ideological and political conflict" between rebels of the anti-government Zapatista Army of National Liberation and farmers supporting the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (IRP).

Following the murder of yet another IRP member, an armed conflict broke out between the two groups near a Catholic monastery where 300 people were gathering to receive Red Cross clothing. In the violence 45 Trotzil Indians were killed, including 37 women and children.

[Soldier4Christ]

Vietnam Secret Police "Lies" About Fate Jailed Dissidents

Vietnam's secret police has apparently "lied" about the release of key dissidents who were still detained late Wednesday, February 21, dissidents and BosNewsLife established.

"We are sorry that the Vietnam Communist secret police have messed us with their fake news," said Viet Si, the spokesman of the dissidents group International Movement for Democracy and Human Rights in Vietnam. BosNewsLife and its affiliates were among the first to report on the arrests Monday, February 19 of officials from the anti-Communist Vietnam Progression Party (VPP).

"As of now Feb 21, [VPP President] Nguyen Phong and [VPP Technical Director] Nguyen Binh Thanh, still have been detained at police headquarter of Thua Thien, 1st Tran Quang Khai St., City of Hue, Vietnam. VPP Secretary General Hoang thi Anh Dao is also still in police custody at 42 Hung Vuong Street, City of Hue," Viet Si said.

He said that international pressure of world political leaders and media, including BosNewsLife and its affiliates have played "a major role in helping release" political and religious dissidents in the past. "That's why we have to voice out our pleas immediately when our defenseless dissidents are arrested and or detained," he added.

Vietnamese officials were not immediately available to explain the apparent confusion over the release of the dissidents. There has also been concern over the arrest and detention of Christians, including priests and hundreds of Degar Montagnard Christians, human rights groups said.