Persecution

LAHORE, Pakistan (Compass Direct News) – In the wake of Islamists setting fires that killed at least seven people in Punjab Province last month, the latest of several attempts to provoke further attacks on Christians took place in a village on Friday, Sept. 4, when unidentified men tore pages of the Quran and left them at a church.

Police said they were able to cool tensions in Chak 8-11-L Mission Village, near Chichawatni, after the torn pages of the Muslim scriptures were left at the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church and on a nearby road. Sources said they have witnessed similar attempts to ignite attacks on Christians in several areas of Punjab Province since an Islamic mob on Aug. 1 burned seven Christians alive in Gojra over a false accusation of blaspheming the Quran.

Superintendent of Police Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said the pages of the Quran were left at the dividing line between Chak 8’s Christian-inhabited Mission village and the Muslim-populated Maliks village, indicating “it was planted to create tensions between the two villages.” more >>

Iraqi Christians are, for all purposes, unarmed and stuck being the political tool of the Arab or Kurdish government – either of which can be deadly to side with, according to a conflict-zone reporter in the Middle East.

The weak and ever-diminishing Christian community in Mosul, a northern city in Iraq, is locked in a political game where they can side with the nearby Kurdish forces and tacitly agree to support annexation of their area to Kurdistan, or support the Sunni Arab government of Mosul.

Many, however, want a semi-autonomous region in the Nineveh plain – the land where the prophet Jonah was sent to proclaim God’s message, as recorded in the Bible. Christians propose they and other persecuted minorities can govern themselves as a state within Iraq there, and work and live in peace away from the constant threat of militants elsewhere in the country. more >>

Christians have given an ultimatum to the Pakistani government to repeal the country's blasphemy laws which they say are responsible for the attacks against Christians.

“We urge President Asif Zardari to repeal blasphemy law by an executive order immediately. If government fails to repeal blasphemy law up till September 25, 2009 ... Christians shall be forced to launch a movement against government of Pakistan: Pakistan Christian Congress PCC,” said Pakistan Christian Post, which has been at the forefront of calling for the repeal of blasphemy laws in the country.

According to amendments added in the 1980s, “Use of derogatory remarks, etc; in respect of the Holy Prophet; whoever by words, either spoken or written or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.” more >>

The Chinese government has reportedly issued a secret directive to crack down on at least several major house churches in Beijing, a U.S.-based group reported Tuesday.

ChinaAid Association, a religious freedom group with a focus on house churches in China, was informed by sources inside the country that the public security bureau has ordered the Beijing Huajie Plaza to terminate its rental contract with the Beijing Shouwang house church.

The Shouwang house church is one of the largest house churches in the area with more than 1,000 members. For a few years now, it has rented two floors for worship service and Sunday school at the Huajie Plaza. Most of the members are intellects from nearby universities. more >>

A Coptic priest who renovated his home to accommodate Christian ceremonies in his churchless village is not afraid of the death threat Fatwa issued against him, he declared.

The Rev. Estefanos Shehata of the village Upper Ezbet Dawoud Youself, about 124 miles south of Cairo, is fed up with the unfair treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt.

There is no church for the 800 Copts in his area, which means funeral and marriage ceremonies are carried out in the streets, he complained in a recent letter to the Middle East Christian Association. more >>