Arab Spring Turns Into Christian Persecution


For the past year, "Open Doors", a U.S.-based human rights organisation has been compiling the “World Watch List” which maps the religious freedom situation around the world. According to the data collected for the 2013 list, as many as eight out of ten States that have adopted repressive measures against Christians are Islamic. At the dawn of the third millennium, therefore, state Islam presents itself as an element of deep and continuous repression of religious freedom.

According to Ron Boyd MacMillan who works in the “strategy” section of Open Doors, Islamic religious extremism is the number one cause of Christian persecution around the world; this includes Islam at government level and the Islam represented by the opposition.

Contrary to the forecasts made during the early months, two years since it exploded onto the world scene, the Arab Spring has revealed itself to be a key cause of the worsening of Christian life not just in the Middle East but also in the Asia-Pacific region. This is hugely ironic considering the expectations that were triggered by the Arab Spring and how warmly it was welcomed by Western mass media.

"The Arab Spring has turned into an Islamic Winter for the Christians in the Middle East," Boyd-MacMillan said. "In every country where a regime has been deposed - such as Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and Egypt - Islam is still in power and putting pressure on the Christian minority."

The Open Doors list, classifies Saudi Arabia among the top persecutor countries, second only to North Korea which worships the ruling Kim family almost religiously. Open Doors estimates that there are somewhere between 50 to 70 thousand Christians in North Korean forced labour camps out of a total of 400 thousand workers.

The Open Doors List (which was first published in 1991) takes into account the various degrees of repression citizens are subjected to: private life, family life, religious community life and national life. The U.S. Department of State also compiles a list of countries that commit the most serious violations of religious freedom. Its list of “Countries of Particular Concern” includes Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

But the Islamic violence witnessed in recent months has certainly changed the map a bit. One need only think of Syria, where the “jihad” financed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has led to the birth of the “Islamic Caliphate of Aleppo” a city famous for its multiculturalism. Then there is Mali. This African State used to be a shining example of peaceful co-existence but after its temporary conquest by Islamic fundamentalists and the imposition of Sharia law, thousands of Christians were forced to leave.


1 comment:

  1. When will it stop?

    When will all this madness stop? This story started almost 2000 years ago and it doesn’t seem to be drawing to an END!!! We are stuck here in this Holy Land between the sons of Isaac and the sons of Ishmael and no one seems to care. We, the sons and daughters of The Almighty-God, who believe and adore His only begotten Son Jesus-Christ, and thus became His brothers and sisters by adoption. We are still holding the flame of Faith in Him in this troubled region who was the first to witness and acclaim The Lord & Saviour Jesus only to suffer afterwards from all the iniquities of mankind. But, as the Lord said: “No servant is greater than his Master” and thus we are willing to be His witnesses and followers in here till The END!!!
    The civilized world has to always remember the following:

    The Great Christian Civilization

    Civilization originated around 6000 years ago from this Holy region of the Middle-East. The Great Patriarch Abraham was born in Iraq before God-Almighty summoned Him to leave his hometown and go to the Promised Land. All the patriarchs and prophets thereafter were born there, in The Holy Land of Palestine. Then came the forced emigration to Egypt where The Great Moses was born; before God, once again, ordered Him to leave for the recovery of The Promised Land. Then, finally, after all the prophecies made by the great prophets such as Isaiah, The long-awaited for, The Messiah, Jesus-Christ The Son of The Living God was born here in The Promised Holy Land of Palestine before He visited southern Lebanon where He made the famous miracle with the Canaanite woman. After Him many of His Apostles visited Lebanon for their mission…Then, after some 600 years came the other one who managed to stifle this Great Christian Civilization in this Holy region. It had to be exported to Europe where this Great Christian Civilization made Europe to be the most advanced of all…The nefarious division between Christians led to many horrible wars and persecution that made a lot of those persecuted leave Europe for another chance in the new world: America. This led The Great Christian Civilization to reach America and made The Great USA to be at the top of the world and the most advanced civilized nation ever in the tormented History of mankind.

    America has the duty now to preserve and develop this Great Christian Civilization that God allowed it to reach. It has the duty and the obligation, for its own sake and for the sake of all Humankind, to spread it to the whole world; especially to where it originated from: This Holy Land. And by the way, while God Almighty, The Creator of The Universe, allowed The USA to reach the moon and all those remote planets, why not plant crosses on each and every one of them… It won’t cost a thing but it might do wonders by making this Great Christian Civilization spread not only to all Humankind that we know but to the Universe that God finally allowed us to discover.
    “The Mad about Christ”,
    I pray…Therefore I live,
    On This Holy Land of Eternal Lebanon,
    With the Help & Grace of The Almighty-God!!!



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