When can we expect Andrew Bennet, Ambassador of the
Office of Religious Freedom, to give us a report on how many persecuted
Christian individuals have been freed from Muslim nations known to persecute people for their religious beliefs?
Here we have an example of how he helped a Muslim from the Buddhist/Hindu land of Sri Lanka. That's not a great achievement given that Sri Lanka is a reasonable country to deal with. What else have you done Mr.Bennet? Engaging Kazakhstan on behalf of the Ahmadiyya Muslims is, I admit, admirable ... but how about telling us about your progress, permit me a small laugh here ... hahahahhhahahhaha .. if any, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and the other sheikhdoms who are considered to be our partners in
crime NATO. Sadly, the Globe & Mail's reporter Steven Chase forgot to query the Ambassador about those particularly vile partners of Canada. I wonder why. Could it be that Mr.Chase didn't want to embarrass the well-meaning Ambassador with difficult questions?
Here's a list of the various "
Condemnations' the Office of Religious Freedom has sent out to the "culprit" countries. Maybe, this newly opened entity, a brainchild of the Harper govt, is doing some good already. Let's wait and see what they have to tell us about their meetings with Saudi Arabia and all our other sweet and loving partners out there in stinkoland. We are waiting Ambassador Bennet.
You know something, Mr.Bennet? When we learnt of this new platform and your mandate, most of us assumed that Canada was going to vigorously look at
CHRISTIAN persecution in Muslim lands. Know why? Because, Christians are the people most persecuted for their faith. Looking at the list of "condemnations" it seems your office has been devoting more attention to lesser persecuted peoples of this world while ignoring Christians.
Below are a few of the recent news on Christian persecution. Remember
"Christians" Mr.Bennet? It's not that difficult to rescue Muslims from Hindu, Chinese or Buddhist nations and even Muslims of a "lesser stripe" from Muslim lands where Sunni Muslims think they are beneath them .... but how about trying the same kind of dialogue that you used with the reasonable nations of Hindu or Buddhist majority with the nations of Muslim majority to rescue Christians? Does not work much, does it?
Fr. Alexander Lucie-Smith writing at CatholicHeraldUK:
....There are no good guys in the Syrian conflict; people can only choose the lesser of evils....
.....I have just been in contact with my friends in Aleppo who tell me that much of that beautiful city is now in ruins, though not the Christian quarter in which they live. Life in Aleppo is in fact quiet, even “normal”, but resembles Beirut in the 1980s. There is a line down the city dividing east from west. One side is under rebel control and the other is in the hands of the government, and one cannot cross from one side to the other......
....My friends in Aleppo who were so good to me when I visited them, are now praying and hoping for an Assad victory. Can you blame them? The Christians of Syria have no real choice in the matter. They have been a tolerated, indeed a privileged, minority under the Ba’athist regime (as they were in Iraq); if the regime falls, their fate will be that of Iraq’s Christians. They cannot understand, indeed are completely bewildered by, what I told them, namely that the British government is considering arming their enemies. They pray that this will not happen, and so do I........
From CitizenPlatform:
The Northern States chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has expressed its disappointment with President Goodluck Jonathan over his statement that the Boko Haram sect has killed more Muslims than Christians and that the menace is not a religious by nature.
The association in a statement by its spokesperson, Elder Sunday Oibe, said the President’s statement is misleading and unacceptable stressing that Christians and their churches and businesses have been the major targets of the Boko Haram insurgency group.
The statement partly reads “We want to believe that the president was misquoted; we don’t want to believe that with the security apparatus and reports from security intelligence network at his disposal, he made this type of assertion,” CAN said.
“If it is true that Mr. President actually made this assertion, then, we are highly disappointed and sad at this veiled attempt to distort the facts as it concerns the activities of the Boko Haram sect.”
“We say this because there has never been any bomb that has been exploded in any mosque or targeted at any mosque in the entire activities of the Boko Haram sect in the north. The Boko Haram members even said that when a Muslim is killed, it is by mistake.”
From ChristianSolidarityWorldwide:
How the situation looks for Syrian Christians.
The Syrian people have experienced decades of political repression, but in the last two years things have come to a head in a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives. Large parts of the north of the country have been controlled by rebel groups since last year, and now the struggle has begun for city of Aleppo – which has the largest Christian population in Syria.
- Hundreds of thousands of Christians have been displaced by the fighting, or have made the difficult decision to leave their homeland, amid increasing waves of violence and targeted kidnappings.
- A Syrian pastor told us, “Millions are not sleeping in their own beds, forced out of their homes to find themselves with their children, homeless and living in public parks or in the wilderness. Others are not sure if they or their children and loved ones will see the light of a new day.”
- According to the BBC, a Greek Catholic leader reported that over a thousand Christians had been killed, “entire villages … cleared of their Christian inhabitants”, and more than 40 churches and Christian centres damaged or destroyed.
- In April this year, CSW highlighted that two Syrian Archbishops were kidnapped by rebels. They were returning to Aleppo after a humanitarian mission. The bishops are still missing, and neither side in the Syrian conflict has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
It’s vital that we join together in prayer for Syrian Christians at this extremely difficult and dangerous time. The Religious Liberty Partnership, an international coalition of religious liberty organisations including CSW, has asked churches worldwide to pray for Syria..........
From ReligiousFreedomCoalition:
Al Shabaab rebels publicly shoot young man for his faith.
...The insurgents in Jamaame district in southern Somalia had been monitoring 28-year-old Hassan Hurshe since his arrival from a Kenya in 2010 and determined that he had become a Christian while in Kenya, said area Muslim sources whose names are withheld for security reasons.
Al Shabaab members on June 7 brought Hurshe to a public place in the town of Jilib and shot him in the head, they said.
“Many people watched this horrible action, including women and children,” said a witness....
From ChinaAid:
Zhuoqi Gospel Church banned by local government in Alashan, Inner Mongolia. Church members still cannot hold worship service.. On April 28, 2013, local officials from the office of religious affairs in Zhuoqi, Inner Mongolia raided the Zhuoqi Gospel Church. Since then, the church members have continued to endure pressure and intimidation from the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee. They have not been able to meet for regular worship services. Entry into the church’s original sanctuary is prohibited, nor is the pastor allowed to even go back to the church.
It was around 8 o’clock on the morning of the 28th when the congregants were praying at a Sunday church service. Suddenly, about 60 policemen led by many religious affairs officials stormed into the building. Some of the policemen were fully armed as riot police. They busted their way to the podium and took hold of the worship leader, worship assistant, and even the pianist and choir. Presenting no valid legal permit, the police used force to rob the church members of their right to religious freedom.
During the police attack, some female believers were so scared and they fainted. Out of kindness, some reached out to hold the frightened women. But as a result, they were pushed to the floor, punched, and kicked. After witnessing this scary scene, a 70-year-old man fainted. When a 50-year-old woman was just about to hold the collapsed man, three police officers took hold of her and tied her arms behind her back. As she was struggling with the three police, two more walked up to her, punched, and kicked violently at her. After being severely beaten, the woman almost lost her consciousness.
The police also pepper-sprayed the church members. The choking smell quickly spread throughout the sanctuary as many sisters coughed so violently that they could hardly breathe. They could barely open their eyes. ........