Posted on 09/15/2014 5:28:34 PM PDT by xzins
The situation for Christians in the Middle East continues to get worse, but this time, it isnt at the hands of a terrorist group or band of rebels. Its from one of our supposed allies in the region: Saudi Arabia. As Fox News reports, this past Friday (September 12th), agents from the countrys Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice rounded up 28 Christians at the home of an Indian national in the city of Khafji, and several Bibles were confiscated as well.. Their condition and whereabouts are currently unknown. As Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute told Fox News:
Saudi Arabia is continuing the religious cleansing that has always been its official policy It is the only nation state in the world with the official policy of banning all churches. This is enforced even though there are over 2 million Christian foreign workers in that country. Those victimized are typically poor, from Asian and African countries with weak governments.
More information on the arrests comes later in the article:
An article posted on the Arabic-language news website Akhbar 24 said the arrests came after the Kingdoms religious police got a tip about a home-based church. The report further noted that distorted writings of the Bible were found and musical instruments, noting their referral to the jurisdictional institutions.
The Saudi media reported different compositions of the arrested Christians. Some reports said the Christians were men and women, while the Saudi Gazette wrote that children, as well as men and women, were detained. It was unclear if a court date has been set in the notoriously opaque fundamentalist court system.
Thus far, the only person speaking out for them in Washington is Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia, who has long been known for his human rights advocacy. He is doing what he can to get our ambassador to the country to speak up on their behalf.
Secretary of State John Kerry is heading there as well, but will he talk to the Saudis about them? If recent events are any indicator, I wouldnt get my hopes up to much. At the very least, we should be asking why a country that had gone through such pains to establish itself as voice of moderation on interfaith dialogue, going as far as to sponsoring center dedicated to it in Vienna, still oppressing Christians in such a way. As Nina Shea correctly notes, there is no other country in the world that officially bans all churches. We shouldnt let Saudi Arabia get away with this, but will our leaderships moral rudderlessness and economic ties to the country prevent them from taking any significant action on the issue?
So, the so-called ‘moderates’ believe the same as the jihadists. Isn’t that special.
Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice
Sounds like it was named by WORMWOOD,...
Did Jake see all the headlines back in November 2008?
Probably. I suspect he’s just making a point.
Barry Likes It
Those Christians who were holding unauthorized religious or ANY kind of meetings, handing out Bibles, wearing crucifixes or crosses OUTSIDE for public view, praying in public, wearing inappropriate clothing (clothes that are too tight, too low-cut, too short or see-through)...or generally being very obvious in their demonstration, WILL be sent home.
The KSA is NOT America and anyone who doesn't get that is DOOMED to fail. No one HAS to go there but if s/he does, then s/he will obey their laws or face the consequences.
We are ALWAYS allowed to leave and the exit visa can be ready within HOURS. No one is forced to go there or stay there. Always free to leave. BETTER YET: don't go there unless you are WILLING to obey THEIR laws.
ANY American who goes over there is given an orientation to know EXACTLY what to expect. There are NEVER any surprises.
Our orientation lasted a week ... in Houston.
****All the official EMBASSIES of this world are in Washington D.C., EXCEPT for the Saudi Arabian Embassy. They have a CONSULATE in Washington, D.C.
The Saudi Arabian EMBASSY to the U.S.A. is in HOUSTON, TEXAS. If THAT doesn't give you a "hint" ass to the importance of the KSA, then I don't know what to say.
We’ve been best buddies with Saudi Arabia for years!
Why should we all of a sudden change and support the Christians there? We never have before. Surely the Christians have noticed this the last 50+ years or so.
So do Iran and Russia.
Screw KSA, they have no respect for our laws and are working behind our backs to inflict their foul cult upon us.
They treat women like dogs all in the name of their prophet and then run offshore to their whores and bars. screw em, anything that points out their hypocrisy is a good thing.
Only difference between a moderate Muslim and a radical Muslim is the lack of a caliphate.
Proper response - nuke Mecca and Medina. What happens to their “religion” then?
If Christians won’t speak up for Christians, it just confirms everything the Saudis think about us.
I say we nuke Riyadh and take the oil fields by force. Eisenhower should never have allowed that bunch of savages to nationalize them. If anyone so much as looks cross eyed at us for doing it, nuke them too.
Bulldoze Mecca and make it a golf course.
OK, I’m game. What is ‘KSA” and what does Huston have to do with this?
Americans are the sugar daddy for the Middle East. We pay and die and reap none of the rewards. Instead of Congress supporting America they are in bed and support the ME.
Will a nation that is cracking down on Christians reprimand a nation that is cracking down on Christians?
Common sense people..
The Persecuted Church needs our prayers, it needs our involvement, and it needs its own Middle East homeland or permission to go to other Christian countries as refugees.
I’m not convinced that even with the Kurds that Christians will be safe over the long run. The bottom line is that Kurds are sunni muslims and when they have their homeland, they will eventually value their muslim heritage above any ties forged during their struggle for an independent nation.
Christians had better start fighting for their freedom in the USA, or, as you say, they’ll be looking back on freedom and ahead to a socialist state second-class citizenship.
KSA = Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Huston = Houston, Texas.
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