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Christianity 'Close to Extinction' in Middle East
The Daily Telegraph (UK) ^ | 12/23/12 | Edward Malnick

Posted on 12/25/2012 9:01:00 AM PST by marshmallow

Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.

The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.

And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.

It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.

The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.

"A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.”

It cites estimates that 200 million Christians, or 10 per cent of Christians worldwide, are “socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs.”

“Exposing and combating the problem ought in my view to be political priorities across large areas of the world. That this is not the case tells us much about a questionable hierarchy of victimhood,” says the author, Rupert Shortt, a journalist and visiting fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

He adds: “The blind spot displayed by governments and other influential players is causing them to squander a broader opportunity. Religious freedom is the canary in the mine for human rights generally.”

The report, entitled Christianophobia, highlights a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a “Western creed” which can be used to undermine them.

State hostility towards Christianity is particularly rife in China, where more Christians.....

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: General Discusssion; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: persecution

1 posted on 12/25/2012 9:01:07 AM PST by marshmallow
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To: marshmallow

Democrats and moslims everywhere are rejoicing.


2 posted on 12/25/2012 9:09:31 AM PST by exnavy (Got ammo, Godspeed!)
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To: marshmallow

I’m not sure this is a bad thing. God is in control.

Pure speculation on my part, but if a pre-trib rapture occurs (which I believe to be the case), then this will have minimal impact on these persecuting states. The Satan-ruled states will then continue headlong to their inevitable destruction.


3 posted on 12/25/2012 9:17:03 AM PST by Eccl 10:2 (Prov 3:5 --- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding")
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To: Eccl 10:2
I’m not sure this is a bad thing. God is in control.

Right. It would be best if all Christians could escape moslem held lands.

4 posted on 12/25/2012 9:37:57 AM PST by bigheadfred
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To: exnavy

THAT is the goal of Islam as I’ve been saying for years.

The goal of Islam is the extermination of all things non-Islamic be it peoples, religions, etc. That is why the perv Muhammad invented this false pack of lies

Islam = Sick sick cult that takes away freedom


5 posted on 12/25/2012 9:51:36 AM PST by Democrat_media (media makes mass shooters household names to create more & take our guns)
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To: marshmallow
I don't know. I got this from the Jordanian Meteorological Department just yesterday...


6 posted on 12/25/2012 10:02:13 AM PST by stormer
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To: marshmallow
Christianity 'Close to Extinction' in Middle East

Christianity is close to extinction everywhere due to the nponstop war on Christianity in particular and religion in general by the godless left.

EXCEPT, that is, Islam. For reasons I can't begin to fathom, they give Islam a pass.

I wonder how much the leftists will like it when the Islamists overrun the country and give their usual demand - "Convert or die!". And, I wonder how much the godless leftists in Hollyweird will love it when their entire industry is turned upside down and the glamorous, shallow women are forced into burkas and ALL of them are forced to pray to a child molester 5 times a day??

Inquiring minds . . . . . . . . .

7 posted on 12/25/2012 10:38:41 AM PST by DustyMoment (Congress - another name for anti-American criminals!!)
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To: marshmallow
And if we did not have our heads up our butts, another article could be written titled, "Islam 'Close to Extinction' in USA."

Here are some educational tools that will forever change your thought processes about Muslims, Islam and Shariah Law:

Watch this: "Three Things About Islam." 8:10 video. Very educational.

Read this: 10 Myths About Islam

Islam is not a religion. It is a cult. A particularly nasty and vile cult. Straight from Satan himself.

8 posted on 12/25/2012 10:45:08 AM PST by upchuck (America's at an awkward stage. Too late to work within the system, too early to shoot the bastards.)
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To: marshmallow

The current occupant of the oval office is happy, along with his co-religionists.


9 posted on 12/25/2012 10:50:43 AM PST by I want the USA back
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To: exnavy

Do “extinction” and “genocide” have the same meaning in Mooslimland?


10 posted on 12/25/2012 11:29:22 AM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: marshmallow
The Hebrew Prophet Ezekiel had a vision in Ezekiel 32. God gave him a view into Hell. Looking down into the pit, he was able to see entire nations layed out neatly in their own areas. The following are the nations he saw:

1. Egypt
2. Iraq
3. Iran
4. Lebanon
5. Turkey
6. Arabian Nations
7. North Africa
8. Southern Islamic Russia & Ajerbijan

This prophecy makes sense to me now. The Lord has called his people out before bringing judgment on these nations.
11 posted on 12/25/2012 12:11:30 PM PST by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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To: marshmallow

Like the exodus of Christians when the Roman legions arrived to suppress rebellion in Judea and destroy Jerusalem, the departure of Christians from the Middle East, forced or voluntary, could be a kind of Isaiah 57:1-2 blessing, as the various factions of the Islamic ummah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ummah square off for their 21st century version of the slaughter motivated by odium theologicum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odium_theologicum (for devotees of the Marxist “religion of history”, think “Stalinsts vs Trotskyites” vs “Nazis”). With various WMD, chemical, biological, and nuclear, it probably won’t persist as long, but woe to those who are caught in the middle.

LIFE AMONG THE BARBARIANS: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20833010# “Timbuktu was a centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th centuries. It is a UN World Heritage site with centuries-old shrines to Islamic saints that are revered by Sufi Muslims. The Salafists of Ansar Dine condemn the veneration of saints. . . . The news that further monuments were being destroyed came one day after Islamists were reported to have cut the hands off two people.”

MEANWHILE IN SYRIA - http://hotair.com/archives/2012/12/24/report-assads-forces-use-chemical-weapons-on-syrian-rebels/ - the 21st century Middle East version of the 17th century European “30 Years War” cranks up with various Sunni states backing one set of factions (Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists), and Shia Iran and Iraq propping up the Assad regime’s forces.

Nevertheless - - -

“HAVE NO FEAR” -http://hotair.com/archives/2012/12/24/2012-has-been-the-best-year-ever-really/ “2012 has been a spectacular year in terms of net global prosperity, accompanied by less hunger, less disease, and less war than ever before. . . . And hey, what about energy scarcity? Pfffft. Thanks to improved efficiencies and new technologies (a.k.a. hydraulic fracturing!), both our total fossil-fuel usage and carbon emissions are on the way down. What’s more, the sane thinking involving the threat of climate change is looking a lot less catastrophic than we have always been led to believe.”


12 posted on 12/25/2012 12:28:20 PM PST by Blue_Ridge_Mtn_Geek
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To: exnavy

I don’t see Republikans protesting the spread of Islam in our country.

Oh, I forgot, they are neutral in their opinion — there is this matter of Church and State, you know.


13 posted on 12/25/2012 12:58:34 PM PST by 353FMG
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To: marshmallow

Bump.


14 posted on 12/25/2012 1:45:27 PM PST by EternalVigilance ("Give 'em Watts, boys!")
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To: exnavy
.

Tell those African-American "christians" ...

who voted 99-percent for the Kenyan Moslem-Brotherhood Boy-Man ...

who rejoices with Allah (may piss be upon him) ...

that Christians in the Middle East are being exterminated ...



Just Sayin' ...


.
15 posted on 12/25/2012 2:27:33 PM PST by Patton@Bastogne (Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin will DEFEAT the Obama-Romney Socialist Gay-Marriage Axis of Evil)
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To: DustyMoment

....Yet the Christian faith is growing by leaps and bounds in many of the global south nations.


16 posted on 12/25/2012 5:08:19 PM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: Biggirl
. . . . . in many of the global south nations.
17 posted on 12/26/2012 10:06:44 AM PST by DustyMoment (Congress - another name for anti-American criminals!!)
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To: Biggirl
. . . . . in many of the global south nations.

Let me try this again. For some reason, the rest of my reply was lost.

Would you please define what you mean by "global south nations"? I don't understand the reference.

18 posted on 12/26/2012 4:52:20 PM PST by DustyMoment (Congress - another name for anti-American criminals!!)
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To: DustyMoment

Philip Jenkins, did a book about the growth of the Christian faith in the global south nations in Africa and Asia:

http://gregorycrofford.com/2012/09/30/the-global-south-christianitys-cutting-edge/

Called “The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity”.


19 posted on 12/27/2012 3:06:45 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: Biggirl

Thank you for the reply, I’m not familiar with the book. I shall attempt to locate it and become slightly less ignorant. I hope I am wrong about the current state of Christianity in America. The left’s nonstop attack on religion in general and Christianity is particular is definitely having a negative impact.

Young adults who have spent 12 years in the public indoctrination centers tend to espouse leftist philosophies more than anything else. From the envirowhackism of Global (BS) Warming, to all things green, no matter the cost, to bypassing or circumventing any relationship with God.

Until or unless we can end the left’s stranglehold on “education” (AKA indoctrination), it will be extremely difficult to wrest control of the ship of state and guide her on a steady course that includes substantially smaller government, an end to government corruption and an end to faux science-related pet projects, the trend toward liberalism will continue.

And, if we do not end the left’s attack on religion (other than Islam), we will lose the favor that God has shown us for more than 200 years. Even He can tolerate only so much!


20 posted on 12/27/2012 4:49:38 PM PST by DustyMoment (Congress - another name for anti-American criminals!!)
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